Long Beach Area History
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/206635
Long Beach Area History2024-03-28T22:02:03ZRobinett, Velma (audio interview #1 of 1)
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/224418
Robinett, Velma (audio interview #1 of 1)
Robinett, Velma (6/9/1910 - 2/12/2010); Briegel, Kaye, interviewer
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Velma Robinett was interviewed in her North Long Beach home.
TOPICS - family background; farming; schools; rural life; WWI; and churches;farming; churches; family background; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; and oil industry;Signal Hill Ebell Club; North Long Beach Women's Club; family business; farming; churches; and WWII;
4/9/1990
SUBJECT BIO - Velma Robinett's family farmed and operated a dairy on twenty acres in Signal Hill before oil was discovered. After oil was discovered, the leased the land the oil drillers and to oil related businesses and moved away. At the time of the interview, the land was part of the Signal Hill Auto mall. In this single interview, Robinett discusses being born in Missouri and coming to Signal Hill as a little girl. She helped out on the family farm including delivering milk in a horse and buggy. When her family moved off the farm, she continued to attend school and graduated from Poly High. Then she married the son of the owner of the oldest plumbing company in Long Beach and they moved to North Long Beach when that area was still regarded by her family as "out in the country." At the time of the interview, she continuing to live in her North Long Beach home and participating in neighborhood civic activities as well as managing her family's real estate investments. The interview was conducted as part of a project to document the history of Signal Hill.
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Velma Robinett was interviewed in her North Long Beach home.
TOPICS - family background; farming; schools; rural life; WWI; and churches;farming; churches; family background; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; and oil industry;Signal Hill Ebell Club; North Long Beach Women's Club; family business; farming; churches; and WWII;
2022-10-21T00:00:00ZMaxfield, Virginia (audio interview #1 of 1)
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/224417
Maxfield, Virginia (audio interview #1 of 1)
Maxfield, Virginia (1/14/1922 - 11/29/1993); Briegel, Kaye, interviewer
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Virginia Maxfield was interviewed in her Long Beach home. It was a very nice townhouse located in relatively new development adjacent to California State University Long Beach.
TOPICS - family background; oil wells; childhood; schools; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; WWII; sports; and Four Drillers;oil industry; Desk and Derrick; Auto Dismantlers Association; Long Beach Petroleum Club; and Quota Club;
10/30/1989
SUBJECT BIO - Virginia Maxfield's family worked in Signal Hill most of her life. Her father operated an oil field supply company and, as an adult, she worked for him. Later she and her husband operated an auto wrecking yard nearby. She has experienced observed many changes in the area. In this single interview, Maxfield talks about being born in Huntington Beach where her father worked in the oil boom. The family soon moved to Long Beach where he went to work on Signal Hill. Soon he successfully moved into the oil field supply business. Later, Maxfield worked for him keeping books and managing his office. She took a leading role in the women's service club, Desk and Derrick and other service clubs Then she and her husband operated an auto wrecking yard in Signal Hill until the city of Signal Hill took over their land to make way for a new auto mall. At the time of the interview, she was living in Long Beach but she and her husband were planning on moving to Utah. The interview was conducted as part of a project to document the history of Signal Hill.
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Virginia Maxfield was interviewed in her Long Beach home. It was a very nice townhouse located in relatively new development adjacent to California State University Long Beach.
TOPICS - family background; oil wells; childhood; schools; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; WWII; sports; and Four Drillers;oil industry; Desk and Derrick; Auto Dismantlers Association; Long Beach Petroleum Club; and Quota Club;
2022-10-21T00:00:00ZMcClanahan, Peggy (audio interview #1 of 1)
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/224416
McClanahan, Peggy (audio interview #1 of 1)
McClanahan, Peggy (5/5/1913 - 11/16/1996); Briegel, Kaye, interviewer
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Peggy McClanahan was interviewed in the Signal Hill Community Center where the interviewer met her at a meeting of the Signal Hill Historical Society. After the main part of the interview, she drove the interviewer around and pointed out the locations of
TOPICS - oil industry; Burnett school; Auto Exchange and Wrecking Company; Japanese farmers; Long Beach Polytechnic High School; family background; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; Richfield compressor plant explosion;Kid Mexico; law enforcement; oil wells; housing; government policy, and movies;
10/5/1981
SUBJECT BIO - Peggy McClanahan grew up in Signal Hill and lived there most of her life. In fact, she lived in the same house and observed many changes as she went to school, worked and then raised her own family. In this single interview, McClanahan discusses her family's arrival; in Signal Hill. She began attending Burnett school and then graduated from Poly High School. She worked in an auto repair and wrecking yard where she kept the books and did all of the office work. After she married, she and her husband bought the house where she grew up and where she was continuing to live at the time of the interview. She experienced the 1933 Long Beach earthquake and the more serious Richfield compressor plant explosion that followed. She also was the recipient of political favors Kid Mexico bestowed on individual local voters as well as the parties he threw for everyone. At the time of the interview, McClanahan was continuing to keep an eye on local politics and supporting the local historical society. This interview was conducted as part of a project to study the impact of oil on the development of Long Beach.
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Peggy McClanahan was interviewed in the Signal Hill Community Center where the interviewer met her at a meeting of the Signal Hill Historical Society. After the main part of the interview, she drove the interviewer around and pointed out the locations of
TOPICS - oil industry; Burnett school; Auto Exchange and Wrecking Company; Japanese farmers; Long Beach Polytechnic High School; family background; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; Richfield compressor plant explosion;Kid Mexico; law enforcement; oil wells; housing; government policy, and movies;
2022-10-21T00:00:00ZDiaz, Nami Nakashima (audio interview #1 of 1)
http://hdl.handle.net/10211.3/224415
Diaz, Nami Nakashima (audio interview #1 of 1)
Nakashima Diaz, Nami; Briegel, Kaye, interviewer
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Nami Nakashima Diaz was interviewed in her home in Signal Hill. It was neatly kept and in a small group of homes built in the 1960s, after the oil boom.
TOPICS - childhood; education; family background; Japanese farmers; Mexican farmers; anti alien land laws; and Japanese Association;family background; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; Depression; Western Star Vegetable Fertilizer; and oil wells;childhood; education; Eva Anderson; Long Beach Women's Symphony; Santa Anita Racetrack; internment; Jerome, Arkansas; WWII; and FBI;
12/18/1989
SUBJECT BIO - Nami Nakashima Diaz lived most of her life in Signal Hill. Although she was born in Long Beach, her family moved to Signal Hill while she was a little girl. She remembers the hill as an agricultural area covered with flowers, vegetables and fruit until oil was discovered. When oil was discovered under her family's land, they moved to west Long Beach and her father used his small income from oil to open a fertilizer business. He was successful in selling Western Star Vegetable Fertilizers to Japanese farmers all over southern California. Diaz graduated from high school and continued studying violin and playing in the Long Beach Women's Symphony until she married. In this single interview, Diaz discusses the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, after which her father was one of the first to be detained. Soon Diaz and her brothers and sisters learned they had to leave as well, but her mother who was of Mexican descent, stayed home. They were sent to Santa Anita racetrack to live in horse stalls. After a few months, Diaz was sent home along with others married to non-Japanese. But the FBI kept her and even her new baby under surveillance. At the time of the interview, Diaz was again living in Signal Hill; the interview was conducted as part of a project to document the history of Signal Hill.
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - Nami Nakashima Diaz was interviewed in her home in Signal Hill. It was neatly kept and in a small group of homes built in the 1960s, after the oil boom.
TOPICS - childhood; education; family background; Japanese farmers; Mexican farmers; anti alien land laws; and Japanese Association;family background; 1933 Long Beach earthquake; Depression; Western Star Vegetable Fertilizer; and oil wells;childhood; education; Eva Anderson; Long Beach Women's Symphony; Santa Anita Racetrack; internment; Jerome, Arkansas; WWII; and FBI;
2022-10-21T00:00:00Z