Bluffs and Piasa Bird, 2016

Browse Items (76 total)

  • Tags: Granite City
Thumbnail Title Description Date Date Added
Nevart Hagopian Oral History Interview This oral history interview with Nevart Hagopian was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History.

Nevart Hagopian is a survivor of the Armenian genocide who left Armenia with her mother at the age of 12 in 1920 and migrated to the Lincoln Place neighborhood of Granite City. In the interview, she discusses the Armenian community and culture in Lincoln Place.

Hagopian primarily speaks in Armenian in the interview, with Vartan Kassabian serving as a translator. Father Kassabian was a priest for St. Gregory Armenian Church in Granite City.

Note: The original archive copies of the interview transcript and biographical summary had grading marks and corrections on them. We converted the transcript and biographical summary to editable text and made the corrections to remove grading marks.
November 18, 2001 May 5, 2020
Norma Mendoza Oral History Interview This oral history interview with Norma Mendoza was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History.

Norma Mendoza moved to Lincoln Place after she got married in 1960 and lived there until 1966. In this interview, she describes her experience working with the Mexican Honorary Commission, the diversity of the community, food and entertainment within the community, arranged marriages, different aspects of her career, and the local army depot.
November 28, 2001 March 15, 2018
Richard and Susan Depigian Oral History Interview This oral history interview with Richard and Susan Depigian was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History.

Richard and Susan Depigian discuss life in Lincoln Place and their Armenian heritage. They share information about the customs and traditions, as well as the “clans” that developed out of, their heritage. The ethnic diversity of Lincoln Place is addressed. Both Richard and Susan discuss their parents experienced during the Armenian genocide.
November 17, 2001 February 20, 2018
Ron Holland Oral History Interview In this oral history interview, Ron Holland describes his role as bass player for the Granite City band Rising Sons, as well as the music culture and other local bands in St. Louis and Granite City. He also describes how the band changed after he was drafted into the Vietnam War in 1968. September 7, 2018 September 14, 2018
Route 66/Nameoki Road near its turn onto Madison Avenue in circa 1933 This circa 1933 photograph shows a section of Route 66, Nameoki Road, near its turn onto Madison Avenue in Granite City. Circa 1933 April 10, 2018
Ruben Mendoza Oral History Interview This oral history interview with Ruben Michael Mendoza was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History.

The interview centers on Mr. Mendoza’s life as a soccer player and coach. Mr. Mendoza begins his interview by painting a picture of what life was like living in Mexico, and his first encounters with the game of soccer at age ten. He moves back to Lincoln Place when he was sixteen. He tells about where soccer was being played back in the St. Louis area; describing his journey to the Public School Stadium where most of the soccer games were played. It was there that he reunited with his love for soccer, and decided to join a team in St. Louis. Mr, Mendoza tells about his experiences playing against teams from Germany, Mexico. Italy, and many others.

There were two interviews conducted with Ruben Mendoza as part of the course. The other interview was conducted by Jennifer Haselhorst.
October 28, 2001 August 25, 2018
Ruben Mendoza Oral History Interview This oral history interview with Ruben Mendoza was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History.

In this oral history interview, Ruben Mendoza discusses his career as a soccer player and coach. He describes growing up in Lincoln Place and moving to Mexico at the age of eight in the late 1930s, where he discovered soccer. After moving back to Lincoln Place, he played soccer for St. Louis teams and played for the United States in the 1958 World Cup and in the 1952, '56, and '60 Olympics. He also discusses how he expanded soccer programs in Lincoln Place, Granite City, and the larger Metro East region as a coach starting in the 1960s. This interview had no transcript in the original archive. It was transcribed by Madison Historical staff.

There were two interviews conducted with Ruben Mendoza as part of the course. The other interview was conducted by Lisa Smithe.
October 30, 2001 September 2, 2018
Sally Burgess Oral History Interview In this oral history interview, Sally Burgess discusses her work as director and executive director of the Hope Clinic in Granite City, Illinois, which provides abortion care and counseling to women. She describes the various challenges of her work - both in providing abortion care to patients of the clinic and dealing with anti-abortion activists. October 13, 2016 February 9, 2017
Sandor Toth Oral History Interview This oral history interview with Sandor Toth was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History.

Sandor (Alexander) Toth is the son of Hungarian immigrants and has been a lifelong resident of the Lincoln Place neighborhood. In this interview, he talks about his childhood at Lincoln Place, the diversity of the community, and his career at the Commonwealth Steel Mill.
October 27, 2001 March 18, 2018
Stephanie Robbins Oral History Interview In this oral history interview, Stephanie Robbins describes her experiences as an attorney in Madison County. She discusses her role as the first female assistant state's attorney in Madison County in the 1970s, particularly her success in helping to achieve rape convictions. She further talks about her experience as a special public defender, as well as the Democratic Party Machine in Madison County in the 70s and Madison County's reputation as a "judicial hellhole." She also briefly discusses her short time as a Spanish professor at SIUE in the early 70s and her experiences as a woman in law school. January 30, 2018 May 7, 2018