Fall 2001 Granite City Oral History Interviews (43 total)

These oral histories were conducted for the History 447: Approaches to Oral History course taught by Anne Valk in the fall 2001 semester at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The majority of the interviews are with residents of Granite City, many of them residents of the Lincoln Place immigrant community.

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
	Mary Spaich Oral History Interview	This oral history interview with Mary Spaich was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History. In this interview, Mary Spaich discusses growing up in the Lincoln Place neighborhood of Granite City. She was born in Granite City in 1916 to Serbian parents who had immigrated from Yugoslavia in 1914. She describes her life in Lincoln Place and changes in the area since her childhood.	November 16, 2001	April 29, 2020
	Arthur Bedian Oral History Interview	This oral history interview with Arthur Bedian was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History. Author Bedian lived his whole life in Lincoln Place and was born to an immigrant father from Armenia. In this interview, he talks about his father’s experience immigrating through Ellis Island, growing up in Lincoln Place, the community center, and his time and service in the Armenian Orthodox Church. There was no audio recording of this interview in the original archive, but there is a transcript and biographical summary.	November 18, 2001	September 2, 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
	Marvin Moehle Oral History Interview	This oral history interview with Marvin Moehle was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History. Marvin Moehle was born and raised in Lincoln Place. In this interview, he talks about his family business, the diversity of the Lincoln Place community, and his Macedonian heritage. There is no transcript with this interview but there is a biographical summary.	December 1, 2001	September 2, 2018
	Robert Burress Oral History Interview	This oral history interview with Robert Burress was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History. In this oral history, Alton resident Robert Burress discusses former businesses and buildings in the Alton area and changes in the community from the mid-20th century to 2001. This interview had no transcript in the original archive. It was transcribed by Madison Historical staff.	October 18, 2001	September 2, 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
	Ione Gorham Oral History Interview	This oral history interview with Ione Gorham was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History.	November 17, 2001	June 13, 2018
	Luis Ybarra Oral History Interview	This oral history interview with Luis Ybarra was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History. Luis Ybarra was born May 6, 1957. He talks about his lifelong residency in the Lincoln Place neighborhood. Born in 1957 to Mexican immigrants, Luis worked for the Madison County Highway Department and was a member of the Mexican Honorary Commission. Among many other topics, Luis talks about his personal history, life, and times in Madison County.	November 3, 2001	March 18, 2018
	Henry Ybarra Oral History Interview	This oral history interview with Henry Ybarra was part of oral histories conducted in the fall 2001 semester of History 447: Oral History. Mr. Ybarra speaks about his time growing up in Lincoln Place as well as his family in and trips to Mexico. He utilizes photographs to guide his father, uncle, and other family members and their experiences in Mexico. Mr. Ybarra emphasizes his sense of pride about bring a resident of Lincoln Place. Among the many topics Henry Ybarra talks about are his lifelong residency at Lincoln Place, working at Prairie Farms Dairy, his Mexican heritage, yearly trips to Mexico, and his family.	November 14, 2001	March 18, 2018