Godino, Peter N (Interview outline and video), 2005
Oral history
Veterans History Project (U.S.)
United States--History, Military
Veterans
Video recordings
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American
United States. Army Air Corps
Peter Godino was born in Italy on November 16, 1921. In 1930 he and his mother and siblings came to the United States to live with his father in Pennsylvania. When he was eighteen he enlisted in the Army and was placed in the Army Air Force. He trained at Bolling Field, Washington D.C. and served there until he joined the glider program in 1942. He trained with gliders in Wisconsin, but was reassigned to gunnery training. He received gunnery training in Las Vegas then joined a bomber crew at Wendover Field, Utah. The crew was assigned to the 461st Bombardment Group and they were sent for further training at Fresno, California. They eventually received orders to go overseas and wound up at Torretto Airfield, Italy. They began flying missions in April 1944, bombing targets in Regensburg, Vienna, Budapest, Ploesti, as well as in Yugoslavia. His bomber was eventually shot down and he was one of three survivors from his crew. He was then captured and taken to Mauthausen Concentration Camp, Stalag Luft IV, and finally Stalag Luft I.
Godino, Peter N.
Veterans History Project collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan
In Copyright
Goedert, Robert (Interview outline and video), 2013
Michigan--History, Military
Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American
United States. Air Force
Goedert was born on January 23, 1926 in Oak Park, Illinois. He became an ordained Dominican Priest in 1951 and served in New Orleans from 1952-1960. In 1960 he enlisted in the United States Air Force and served as a Catholic Chaplain. Father Goedert served in the Air Force until 1988, when he retired at the age of 65.
Goedert, Robert
Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)
Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives
Caledonia High School (Caledonia, Mich.)
COVID-19 pandemic, 2019-2020
Epidemics
Grand Valley State University
Grand Rapids (Mich.)
Poetry
Goerhing, Meri T.
University Archives. COVID-19 Journaling Project
Grand Valley State University University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives.
Mrs. Samuel Reed from Alexis J. Goffan, Aug. 10, 1897
United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
United States. Army
Military pensions
Traverse City (Mich.)
Letter from Alexis J. Goffan, guardian of Arthur B. Smith, requesting a copy of the discharge and death certificate of Smith's father.
Goffan, Alexis J.
Civil War and slavery collection (RHC-45): http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/472
No Copyright - United States
Goins, Donald (Interview outline and video), 2009
Donald Goins was born in 1921 in Sigma, Michigan, and grew up in Zanesville, Ohio. His family farmed and ran a produce trucking business that made regular trips to the Southern United States to market. Although Goins is African- American, he did not fall victim to the racially charged environment where he did business. He was drafted into the United States Army and entered the service in 1943. Goins completed basic training at Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana, and then stationed on a series of air bases in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas, and eventually worked as a mechanic repairing B-29 bombers. He recalls having to be careful while traveling through the south due to fear of lynching, but also being offered the opportunity to train as an officer.
Goins, Donald
Military chaplains -- United States -- History -- 20th century
Newspaper clipping about Rev. Robert Bedingfield, a Protestant chaplain at the Naval Academy in Annapolis during the Vietnam War.
Golder, Ed
Adriana B. and Peter N. Termaat collection (RHC-144)
Goldrick, Martin (Interview outline and video), 2009
United States. Marine Corps
Martin Goldrick was a Marine Officer who served during the Vietnam War from 1969 to 1971 as a Platoon Commander, then as a Civic Action Officer working with Vietnamese civilians. He discusses combat operations in detail, as well as some of the issues confronting him as a Civic Action Officer. He also discusses morale and race issues within his units.
Goldrick, Martin
Paul Golembiewski, 2025 (Interview video and transcript)
Personal narrative
PFAs (Perfluorinated chemicals)
Groundwater--Pollution
Rockford resident and horticulturist Paul Golembiewski reflects on decades of living and working near the former Wolverine Worldwide tannery, sharing detailed observations of chemical dumping, environmental damage, and community health concerns tied to PFAS contamination.
Golembiewski, Paul
Living with PFAS (project)
In copyright
Michigan
Allendale (Mich.)
Universities and colleges
Signs (Notices)
Sign at main Campus Drive entrance at Lake Michigan Drive to Grand Valley State Colleges (1973-1983).
Golland, Dave
In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted
Marching band spelling out LAKERS on the football field
Students
Football
Sports
Marching band spelling out LAKERS on the football field at a GVSC v Franklin game.
Gregorio Gómez video interview and transcript
Young Lords (Organization)
Puerto Ricans--United States
Civil Rights--United States--History
Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.)
Personal narratives
Social justice
Community activists--Illinois--Chicago
Gregorio Gómez is known as the “G Man” at one of Chicago’s longest running underground poetry venues, “Weeds,” at 1515 North Dayton Street. Opened in 1964, “Weeds” still serves the Lincoln Park neighborhood; the building has existed there since 1928. Today “Weeds” is known as “the neighborhood bar without a neighborhood.” In the 1980s, prior to the Harold Washington campaign, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez organized a reorganizing event at “Weeds.” It was a small party reunion and the place was packed. The purpose was to remember the Young Lords’ work and the Puerto Ricans who were displaced from Lincoln Park. Mr. Jiménez was assisted by Iris (Martha) Ramos, who, before the Young Lords were political, was one of three different presidents of the Young Lordettes. Ms. Ramos had previously been married to Benny Pérez, one of the original Young Lords club founders, who also turned political when the Young Lords became a human rights movement on September 23, 1968. She was also the sister of Manuel Ramos who was a Young Lord killed by off duty policeman James Lamb on May 3, 1969. Mr. Gómez emigrated from Vera Cruz, Mexico to Chicago in 1963. And he has been in the poetry community for nearly three decades. He has been the Managing Director of the Latino Chicago Theatre Company, which has been in the forefront of theatre and arts in Wicker Park. Mr. Gómez’s work has been published and recorded in numerous venues, including Stray Bullets: A Celebration of Chicago Saloon Poetry (1991) and Poetry for Peace Anthology, published by the Peace Museum of Chicago. In 1986, White Panther Party Minister of Information, Bob “Righteous” Rudnick, now deceased, approached the owner of “Weeds,” Sergio Mayora, about staging “Poetry Slams.”. Soon after that Mr. Gómez started to MC. Some of the patrons are a mix of newcomers and old timers, a few white pacifists and anarchists, some revolutionaries, primarily Blacks and Latinos. Early poets who presented their work at “Weeds” includes Chris “Man Defender” Chandler, “Sultry” Sue McDonald, and Susie “Mellow” Greenspan. Poet and Young Lord Alfredo Matias is a regular at “Weeds,” along with Sergio Mayora who always recites his two poems, and Mr. Gómez himself. As Mr. Gómez reiterates, “I stand for hundreds of Poets who will never be famous.”
Gómez, Gregorio
Gonzalez, Norma Buenostro (audio interview and summary)
Holland (Mich.)
Deported
La Probadita
Mexican store
Migrants
Factory
Hart Main Street Program
Oceana Hispanic Center
Immigrant
Hispanic
Self-recorded interview by Norma Buenrostro Gonzalez, May 18, 2016. Norma’s parents are originally from Michoacán, Mexico. Her family came to the United States in 1999, and she grew up in Holland, Michigan. Later, Norma and her older sister moved to Oceana County to live with their aunt and uncle, who own a Mexican store named La Probadita in downtown Hart. As Norma’s family never worked as migrants or pickers while she grew up, she was astonished by how big the agricultural business was in Hart. Norma has spent time volunteering with the Hart Main Street Program, the Oceana Hispanic Center, and her church. She hopes to see more positive relationships built between farmers and workers in the future.
Gonzalez, Norma Buenostro
Growing Community (NEH Common Heritage)
Gooch, Morris (Interview outline and video), 2008
United States. Navy
Morris Gooch was born in Monroe, Michigan in 1951. He enlisted in the Navy during the American war with Vietnam because he felt that it was the patriotic thing to do. While in the service, Morris worked as a torpedo man traveling to South Carolina, Spain, Hawaii, and Guam. Morris remained in the Navy for 13 years and ended up as a Navy Alcohol Safety Action Program Instructor. After his time in the service, Morris began working as a field engineer for a company that dealt with submarine construction.
Gooch, Morris
Good, David (Interview outline and video), 2004
David Good is a World War II veteran who served with in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1946. In this account, Good discusses his pre-enlistment, enlistment and basic training. He discusses his work as an electronic technician aboard the USS Alaska at sea in the Pacific. He also covers the ship's visit to Tsingtao, China, after the Japanese surrender.
Good, David
Defenseless but Fighting: A Personal Battle with PFAS and Infertility
Personal essay by Bryan Goodman discussing the impact of PFAS on his family and fertility.
Goodman, Bryan
Goodman, Donald (Interview transcript and video), 2019
United States—History, Military
Other veterans & civilians—Personal narratives, American
Donald Goodman was born on January 12, 1932, in Chicago Heights, Illinois. Goodman graduated high school in 1949 and went on to attend the University of Illinois Chicago, which at the time had a campus at Navy Pier, for three years. In 1950, he rejected his admission into the Air Force and enlisted into the Army due to the shorter tours of duty offered by the latter service branch. For Basic Training, he was sent to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, for three years where he participated in rigorous practice drills of combat scenarios which he described as overly chaotic and nerve racking. He also recalled how the racial integration of the Armed Forces was difficult for some recruits to mentally overcome and how the Army was subtly preparing its recruits, mentally, for a potential war with the Soviet Union. After Basic, Goodman was promoted to Corporal and became a Company Clerk. At one point, Goodman was assigned to lead a ‘Prison Chase’ job with two other soldiers to retrieve five prisoners who were being held on charges of going AWOL near Chicago. He and his two men enjoyed a night in Chicago before retrieving and delivering the Army prisoners to Fort Sheridan the next day. During his service on the base, he lived with his wife in an Army trailer and his son was also born in the base’s hospital. In June of 1954, Goodman was discharged from the Army and moved his new family back to Chicago Heights where he became a middle school teacher in 1956 and later a high school teacher. During President Johnson’s Great Society initiative, his school district received large sums of money from the federal government which he used to help establish a reading, writing, and math program at a local college. Reflecting upon his service in the Army, Goodman believed his military training, in both recognizing and assuming authority, allowed him to control his classes by maintaining discipline. He owed a great amount of gratitude to the Army for helping him grow mentally into the ambitious person he is today. Goodman also kept in touch with one of his old Sergeants, was ultimately glad he enlisted into the Army, and was grateful he was never injured during his time in service.
Goodman, Donald J.
Grand Valley State University Libraries, Special Collections & University Archives, 1 Campus Drive, Allendale, MI, 49401.
Goodspeed, Harrison (Interview outline and video), 2007
Harrison Goodspeed was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan in 1924. Harrison thought that he would soon be drafted, so he enlisted in the Army after high school in order to have a choice in the position that he would hold. Harrison served as a platoon leader in the 80th Infantry Division in France, Germany, and Luxemburg and provides some detailed combat stories, as well as observations on conditions in Europe after the war.
Goodspeed, Harrison
Out of the Woods: A Romance of Camp Life
Book covers
Covers (Illustration)
Graphic arts
Publishers and publishing
Pictorial bindings
Binding of Out of the Woods: A Romance of Camp Life, by George P. Fisher, Jr., published by A.C. McClurg, 1896.
Gookin, Frederick W. (Designer)
Gorashko, Alexander (Interview outline and video), 2009
Alexander Gorashko was drafted in 1942 was assigned to the Army Air Corps. He began training as a radio operator, but then switched to gunnery school, and was assigned to a B-24 crew as a tail gunner. He and his crew were sent to the 15th Air Force in Italy, and flew 14 missions before being shot down over Hungary, including raids over Romania and Auschwitz, and a mission in support of the landings in southern France. After being shot down, he was captured and sent to a POW camp in Pomerania, and was eventually forced by the Germans to march eastward to escape the advancing Russians. The Germans continued to move prisoners around as Allied forces approached from east and west, and Gorashko was eventually liberated by American and British soldiers
Gorashko, Alexander
Binding of Among the Farm-Yard People, by Clara D. Pierson, published by E.P. Dutton & Co., 1925.
Gordon, F.C.
Binding of Among the Meadow People, by Clara Dillingham Pierson, published by E.P. Dutton & Co., 1901.
Gordon, Frederick Charles (Designer)
Gordon, George (Interview outline and video), 2014
George Gordon was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1925. He grew up in Lacrosse, Wisconsin and Winnetka, Illinois and graduated from high school in 1943. In April 1943 he received a draft notice for the Army, but enlisted in the Marine Corps. He trained at San Diego and Camp Pendleton, California and specialized with the BAR (Browning Automatic Rifle). In December 1943 he was sent to Guadalcanal in the South Pacific where he joined C Company of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Marine, Regiment, 3rd Marine Division. In June 1944 he partook in the invasion of Guam where, after neutralizing a Japanese machine gun nest, he was awarded the Silver Star. At the start of 1945 his unit sailed to Iwo Jima but did not land, and instead returned to Guam to clear out Japanese stragglers and prepare for the invasion of Japan. He remained there after the Japanese surrender and returned home in December.
Gordon, George
Ginny Gordon interview (1 of 2, video and transcript)
Oral histories
Alternative education
Women in higher education
Interview with Ginny Gordon by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Ginny Gordon was an Executive Administrative Secretary in Grand Valley's Central Administration during the creation of William James College who provided administrative assistance and helped guide the new faculty in the college's infancy. In this interview, Ginny discusses her experience being a part of the William James College community since the very beginning, the pioneer spirit of the founding faculty, and the profound interest in alternative education at that time. This interview is part 1 of 2 for Ginny Gordon.
Gordon, Ginny
William James College faculty and student interviews (GV016-16)
Ginny Gordon interview (2 of 2, video and transcript)
Interview with Ginny Gordon by Barbara Roos, documenting the history of Grand Valley State's William James College. William James College was the third baccalaureate degree granting college for Grand Valley. It was originally designed to be an interdisciplinary, non-departmentalized college consisting of concentration programs, rather than majors. The college opened in 1971 and was discontinued in 1983 during a reorganization of Grand Valley State. Ginny Gordon was an Executive Administrative Secretary in Grand Valley's Central Administration during the creation of William James College who provided administrative assistance and helped guide the new faculty in the college's infancy. In this interview, Ginny discusses the quality of community found within William James College, the hiring of Adrian Tinsley during the second year of the college, and how the sense of community at WJC contributed to the quality of education. This interview is part 2 of 2 for Ginny Gordon.