760 24 26018 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4d0b45564bd7790c7df3db46713e63bc.jpg ea70f1870be72f266ebe0e54485c2ed0 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_C092-0013 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1962-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Olsen House in Charlevoix Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring Barbara Gilbert seated among an interior view of the fireplace and dining room of the Olsen House located in Charlevoix, Michigan, as taken on June 12, 1962. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Charlevoix (Mich.) Architecture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/839c79e0fce5ae3168dcc9be561fd7b1.jpg d1a88dc09e771345f067ad7418a93151 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_C092-0016 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1962-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Olsen House in Charlevoix Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring an exterior and patio view of the Olsen House located in Charlevoix, Michigan, as taken on June 12, 1962. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Charlevoix (Mich.) Architecture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ff9b88b1f74aeb13344ee6d1884b5198.jpg 2a4ed39b304e7c55a1df8b2e1ca39039 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_C092-0020 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1962-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Olsen House in Charlevoix Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring an exterior and patio view of the Olsen House located in Charlevoix, Michigan, as taken on June 12, 1962. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Charlevoix (Mich.) Architecture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/953ceca673a4de3013f17a56b96716a7.jpg 51eaf46185678c28f27c2bf9bee0a8ad Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_C092-0028 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1962-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Olsen House in Charlevoix Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring Barbara Gilbert seated on a stone fence outside the Olsen House located in Charlevoix, Michigan, as taken on June 12, 1962 along what appears to be the shores of Lake Charlevoix. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Charlevoix (Mich.) Architecture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2f92870eb01136c7bb1c2f36efc5e72f.jpg 9ae446b8f79fa85a7126e404f3cbad1d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Douglas R. Gilbert Photographs Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R., 1942-2023 Description An account of the resource Photographs scanned from negatives and transparencies from the Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183). Douglas R. Gilbert (b. 1942) is an American photographer from Michigan. He was born in Holland, Michigan and is the son of Russell W. and Carmen (Andree) Gilbert. Gilbert earned a B.A. in social sciences and art at Michigan State University in 1964, an M.S. in photography from the Institute of Design at Illinois Institute of Technology in 1972, and a M.S.W. from Salem State College in 1993. He is married to Barbara (McDonald) Gilbert, and has three daughters, Robyn, Rachel, and Anne. Gilbert took a serious interest in photography at the age of fourteen. In 1963 he joined the staff of Look magazine in New York as the second youngest photojournalist in the magazine's history. As a Look photographer from 1964 to 1966, he photographed folk musician Bob Dylan, the Newport Folk Festival, Simon and Garfunkel, the New York City Financial District, the children and facilities at the Manhattan School for Seriously Disturbed Children. From 1967 to 1969, Gilbert did several shoots, including that of folk singer Janis Ian for Life magazine. After moving to Chicago, Illinois in 1969 to attend the Illinois Institute of Technology, Gilbert conducted notable photo shoots of business and political figure Lenore Romney, and pursued more personal and artistic photography, focusing on urban and rural landscapes in Illinois and Michigan. He then joined the faculty of Wheaton College, where he taught from 1972 to 1982. In 1993, Gilbert graduated from Salem State College, Massachusetts, with a Masters in Social Work, and later pursued a second career as a psychotherapist. Douglas Gilbert died in June 2023. Throughout his photography career, he pursued both freelance commercial work as well as artistic work. His art photography is characterized by its classic black-and-white format, and features people, places and objects shot great attention and sensitivity. Gilbert's works are held in the permanent collections of the Art Institute of Chicago, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, The Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, and the Grand Valley State University Art Galleries, as well as in numerous private and institutional collections. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960-2011 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="%E2%80%9Dhttps%3A//gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783%E2%80%9D">Douglas R. Gilbert Papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Subject The topic of the resource Photographs Photography -- United States Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections and University Archives. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource Image Type The nature or genre of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-183_C092-0029 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Gilbert, Douglas R. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1962-06-12 Title A name given to the resource Olsen House in Charlevoix Description An account of the resource Black and white photograph featuring an exterior and shoreline view of the Olsen House located in Charlevoix, Michigan, as taken on June 12, 1962. Photograph by Douglas R. Gilbert. Scanned from the negative. Subject The topic of the resource Charlevoix (Mich.) Architecture Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/783">Douglas R. Gilbert papers (RHC-183)</a> Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3337a696d854ab32469667b784cf4444.jpg 49bef3d9dd495fe7a2ff2dfe4f0bb114 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OlsonBarbara Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1979 Title A name given to the resource Olson, Barbara Description An account of the resource Barbara Olson Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng 1979s https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/4d6300f98b5151ccd1a9fec1dfa5d6f0.jpg 584a86f112e8f771f5a3697de18d6c5d Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OlsonByron Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Olson, Byron Description An account of the resource Byron Olson Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Michigan Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dee4331f721592104291915d391f8beb.mp4 d9b42f6799dca90af854fca675bfdaf5 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/2c9f160d7adb6775526e5827e3ccec7b.pdf 00841b6aeee8aece153ed9a2c982825c PDF Text Text ORAL HISTORY INTERVIEW CHARLES OLSEN Born: September 7, 1921 Muskegon, Michigan Resides: Interviewed by: James Smither PhD, GVSU Veterans History Project, Transcribed by: Joan Raymer, December 13, 2013 Interviewer: Now Mr. Olsen, can you start by giving us some background on yourself? Sure, I was born in Hackley Hospital on the 7th of September 1921. My mother name was Goldie Margaret Walker Olsen and my father‟s name was Charles Arthur Olsen. Charles Arthur Olsen was in the 126th Infantry in WWI and was severely wounded and he kind of brought me up in a military tradition. Interviewer: What kind of work was he doing while you were growing up? What kind of work? I did every kind of work that a father could get his son to do. Interviewer: What kind of work did he do? What did he do for a living? He was a machinist, he was a machinist at the Muskegon Motor Specialties company and he had a job all through the depression. 1:00 My mother died when I was eight and my dad raised me and he did a good job. Interviewer: You said he had you doing all kinds of work. Yeah, we built a house as an example, out in Jenison and we built that house in 1936, 37, 38 and 1939. We built it standard and beautiful and it‟s been kept up. Interviewer: Did you finish high school? I graduated—I was supposed to graduate with the class of 1939, but I flunked English in the last quarter and I ended up graduating in February of 1040. In the meantime I had 1 �already decided to go into the service, so dad took two of my high school buddies and me to get in the RCAF [Royal Canadian Air Force], because the British had already started fighting the Germans. 2:01 The Germans—this is the same week the Germans moved into Poland, so we went to get into the Royal Canadian flying corps. The other two guys from Muskegon got in and they were going to take me and one of the pilots, that was in the office, looked at me and he said, “Shorty, how long are your legs?” I said, “That‟s how long they are”, and he said, “You come with me”. So, he took me in a car and took me out to the airfield and dumped me in a primary trainer, with a back pack, and said, “Kick the right rudder bar”, so I kicked the right rudder bar and he said, “Now, kick the left rudder bar”, and I said, “Shit, I can‟t reach it”, and he said, “That‟s what I thought, your legs are too short to be a pilot”. So, right then I decided I wasn‟t going to be a pilot the air corps, and we didn‟t have an air force yet. So, then we came back and in the meantime I had decided to join the guards as soon as I was eighteen. 3:01 All the guys that were in the Guard, from his division, were all friends of my father from WWI, Colonel Caldwell and the company commanders and things. So, I joined the guard right away and because I had been to CMTC for two summers and I was way ahead of most of the guard unit in training. Interviewer: Tell us a little bit about the CMTC. What was that and what were you doing there? Citizens Military Training Corps was established about the same time they established the CCC. The Citizens Military Training Corps was designed not to give the families money like the CCC did, but to build bodies of young men, who were militarily minded, and teach them some things. The whole story was, you went to the nearest army base, to 2 �your home, for a month and you did military training in the morning and athletic training in the afternoon. 4:03 You got three square meals a day and a good army uniform and you got good army training. You got to shoot all the rifles and whatever other weapons you were going to be using. It turned out I went to Fort Custer and at Fort Custer we had all infantry type things. I enjoyed it and I was very active in the Boy Scouts here in Troop Seven in Muskegon and in the Sea Scouts after I got a little older. In fact, I was a Sea Scout First Mate when I went with the guard. It was the CMTC that kind of pre trained me for my duties in the guard, which I didn‟t know about. At that time the army was changing from the old nineteen year old rifle to the new M-1, which was named for Mr. Garand. 5:00 So, when I got into the guard, here in town, on the very first night, the first sergeant is standing up in front of the company and said, “Sergeant Hart is going to announce the arrival of a shipment of new rifles and he‟s going to tell yo all about it”. Sergeant Hart was an old guard guy and had been there for twenty years. He only wanted to be there, really, one of the guys that only get paid once a quarter, so he walked out with the M-1 in his hand and my face has never been able to disguise what I‟m thinking and I‟m standing right in the front row. He was a little bitty guy, a hundred and five pounds, and he said, “This is a Garand”, and I shook my head and the first sergeant said, “Olsen, why are you shaking your head?” I said, “Because Sergeant Hart don‟t know what the fuck he‟s talking about”. 6:02 He said, “What do you mean”, and I said, “That‟s not the Garand, a guy by the name of Garand made it”. I said, “That‟s the U.S. Army rifle, M-1 caliber 30, bla, bla, bla”, and he said, “How do you know this?” I said, “Because I just came from two summers of CMTC”, and he said, “Do you know any more?” So, I listed off everything about the M-1 and he turned to the deputy, or the exec, 3 �and he said, “Bring him to the 1st platoon as infantry trainer”, so that‟s where I ended up there. Interviewer: Now, when you were with the training corps, you were out at Fort Custer, was Fort Custer a lot smaller than it was going to be later? Was there building going on there? It was kind of a left over from WWI and it was a pretty good size. Interviewer: I know a lot of building went on during the war and it got to be a very big base. 7:00 I sure, but I‟ve never been back to Custer since. My wife went back there the first of June while I was in Japan in 1948 for an operation. Interviewer: But, you’ve not been back to see it? Okay, so we’re going to go back to your story here. You’re in the Guard, you’re now having to show them how to use the M-1. Then the next thing that happened was the government announced that we were going, we the National Guard per say, were going to be called to active duty on the 8th of October, 1940 for one year, just like they‟re doing now, so we all gathered up and the first thing we had to do was take a physical. About thirty percent of the guys that took the physical couldn‟t pass it to go on active duty, so we left them here. We assembled and went through some vaccinations and we ended up in Camp Beauregard, Louisiana, and subsequently transferred about thirty miles away to Camp Livingston. 8:09 Interviewer: Now, how did they get you down to Camp Beauregard? On a train Interviewer: Alright 4 �On a train, jammed on a train, get on it and go. Interviewer: How long did it take to get down there? I‟m going to say a day and a half. Interviewer: Did you get to see anything on the way down? Not much, not much Interviewer: What was Camp Beauregard like when you got there? It was a WWI camp, not very large; it was kind of—just like Fort Custer here in Michigan. We stayed there from October until February and in the meantime they were building this new camp, Camp Livingston, about twenty miles away. As soon as Camp Livingston got partially done, they started to move parts of the 126th and the rest of the 32nd Division into Camp Livingston. 9:02 Pretty soon the whole 32nd Division was there with two, or three, other outfits. Interviewer: Describe a little bit the kind of training you were getting on Louisiana. Starting like right back in CMTC many of the guys were—at the same time the Japs started, so they made a mistake, from my viewpoint. They drafted guys from Michigan and I‟m going to tell you this, because there‟s one guy that‟s very important. In drafting all these guys from Michigan they got the athletes and all that stuff, you know, everybody was only eighteen and could physically pass it, so you‟re now in the army. So they ended up by sending a bunch of Muskegon guys to us, to G Company, okay, with the 126th. In the meantime, because of my CMTC training, I had enough knowledge and training that my battalion commander said, “You‟re going to need to be thr new trainee training NCO, you and four other NCO‟s”. 10:12 And he said, “You got to run these guys through twelve weeks of basic training as fast as you can, because we don‟t know what‟s going to 5 �happen”. Well, we didn‟t, we knew that maneuvers were scheduled for 1941 and stuff like that. So, he took all the guys from Muskegon and one of the things that was really interesting to me was there was a number one football player who wouldn‟t give me the time of day while I was there in high school because I was so little. He was Ray Ahrens and he came down in that first batch. Here I am standing out to train all these guys and here‟s all our football players and that sort of thing, and as that turned out, Ray took to military training real well. 11:00 To make a long story short, he got his training in, went to OCS and became and officer, went to the South Pacific almost immediately and was killed almost immediately. He was one of the first draftees from Muskegon to get killed in combat. That was, I thought, interesting, and we trained then until the division got orders to move. The training was just field training, marched twenty miles a day with a full pack five, six, eight days in a row and rested a day, and sleep in little pup tents at night. It rained quite a bit in the winter in Louisiana and we had to try to stay dry and stay warm to stay alive. It was good for us and good for the country. Interviewer: How did the Michigan guys hold up when it got hot? Good, yeah, good, it was hot like it is here in the summertime, but the guys held up. 12:04 See, our battalion, the 2nd Battalion of the 126 was E, F and G companies and headquarters of the 2nd Battalion. F Company came from Grand Haven and E Company from Holland, I think. Interviewer: D was Holland E Company was Holland? Interviewer: I’m not sure what E was, but D was Holland 6 �The 2nd Battalion, and then we were G Company, a rifle company and we did all the typical training that was required. At that same time, because I‟d got into this thing with the RCAF when I was in high school, they said—see the other two guys were accepted by the RCAF, and they went on to do the training and one of them became a qualified fighter pilot, went to Europe, ended up in Europe and the last time I heard of him was in 1947 or 1948 and he was a Lieutenant Colonel in our air force by that time. 13:02 The other guy got almost completely through the training and he started to get sick, so they washed him out, and I don‟t even remember his name. But, I was interested in doing something other than walking around with a big, heavy pack on my back and two duffle bags in my hands and a rifle on my shoulder and a tin hat. So, I went to see my first sergeant and I had heard that over a Camp Beauregard, which was only about five miles away, that there was another thing called the Army Signal Corps Army Air Corps office, and they were looking for cadets. So, I asked the first sergeant if I could go over and see these people and he said, “We don‟t know what‟s going to happen to us, but you‟ve been with us for almost two years now and we want to keep you around”, and I said, “Thanks sergeant”, and that Saturday came and I scooted over there anyhow. 14:00 I walked into this air corps office and told the guy what I wanted and he looked at me, and I told him about my RCAF thing and he said, “Well, you obviously can‟t be a pilot”, and I said, “No, but I can be a damn good bombardier”, and he said, “Well, see if you can take this test, because you‟re very fortunate they dropped the two years of college requirement to be an aviation cadet two weeks ago. Now we‟ve got this test 2CX. If you can pass the 2CX, you‟re in the air corps”. So, I took the test and it wasn‟t that hard. A lot of it was about things about local events, which I had been able to find anyhow, because I was 7 �kind of a history major. He looked at my paper and he said, “We‟re going to transfer you to the United States Army Air Corps today”. I said, “Ho, ho, ho”, because I had been married about eighteen months before that. I said, “Are you going to transfer me as..." because they made me a private, and he said, “No, we‟re transferring you today and you‟re going to be a sergeant”. 15:04 Because you‟ve had all your training, we‟re going to send you down to an air force cadet training center and yo won‟t have to take all this basic training, so you‟ll be able to go into aviation training more rapidly. I said, “There‟s one thing I want to tell you, my testicles hurt”, and I had lifted up two big duffle bags to put them on a truck about a month before that and got a double hernia and didn‟t realize it. I had all kinds of pains down there, so he said, “Go to the hospital and see what they‟ve got to say”. In the meantime, he said, “We‟ll let your outfit know that you are now in the air corps, so go back and get your stuff”, so I went back to where the company was and went and saw the first sergeant. He shook his head and said, “God damn you, you‟re not going to the air corps, because I‟m going to bust your ass to private”. 16:02 I said, “Go ahead, because they‟re going to make me a sergeant just as soon as I get back over to Beauregard”, and he said, “Well get your stuff and get the hell out of here”, he was really unhappy I was leaving. A couple of other guys that were in my squad, from in town here, they thought about doing the same thing and whether they ever did, or not, I don‟t remember. Interviewer: Now, when was this that you made the switch? This would have been 19--Interviewer: Sometime in 1941 8 �Yeah, I‟m trying to think of the month. Springtime, no fall, fall of 1941, so I went to the hospital and got the operation, came back here and spent some time with my father and step mother in Glenside, where my father and I had built a house. It took three years to build it and we took pictures of it yesterday. It‟s still standing and in good shape, but of course, now there are houses everyplace. 17:01 In those days it was all woods from the Grand Trunk to our house, to Jenny Stimmer on the corner, it was all woods. Interviewer: So, you get to go home, you get a leave, and then where do you go from there? I went back to Kelly Field as a cadet. When I was at brought in there as an air corps sergeant, they took one look at me and said, “We can‟t put you on the line working on airplanes, because you don‟t know anything about them, but yo do have all your basic training, so what we‟re going to do is send you to bombardier school”. Wait a minute; I should back up a little. Just before this they said, “We‟ll send you to training”, and they hadn‟t decided yet that I was going to really be a bombardier. He said, “Well, find yourself a job here and we‟ll phone you in for work every day, so we know where you are, and yo don‟t have nothing to do”, so I went home and told my wife, “I got a job with nothing to do. All I‟ve got to do is report in every day and I can have Saturday and Sunday off”. 18:03 Well, we thought that was great, still getting sergeants pay, and we thought that was a pretty good deal. So, I did that for a while and then they shipped me to the aviation testing center in San Antonio, Texas. It‟s Lackland Air Force Base now and it used to be Kelly Field. At that time there were a thousand guys coming, just getting drafted, college guys and stuff that were going to be cadets. You went in there and three officers, air corps officer, asked you why you were there, you had to know what 9 �you wanted to do and all that sort of thing, how old you were and what you had done in the past. So, this one Captain said, “Well, what do you want to do?” I said to him, “Well, I‟m going to be the best God damn bombardier you ever saw”. 19:04 Nobody wanted to be a bombardier, they wanted to be a pilot, everybody wanted to fly an airplane. I didn‟t, I was outnumbered , so the other guy turned to the two Lieutenants and he said, “He wants to be a bombardier”, and the two Lieutenants said, “Let‟s let him”, so he said, “Okay, go out that door”, and he said, “We‟ll put your name on the transfer sheet today”. Normally you put your name on a transfer sheet and three days later it would appear and you had to come back and get in line to find out where you were going. When you walked out that door, names and the guy never knew where they were going, so when I came out of the door, the guy said, “Where are you going?” I said, “I‟m going to bombardier school someplace, I don‟t know”, and the Lieutenant said, “You‟re going to San Angelo, Texas”, so I went home where my wife was staying and talked to her and she said, “Okay, when do we start packing?” 20:01 She was pretty flexible, so we ended up going to bombardier school. In the meantime she found herself pregnant and I guess I had something to do with that. Then it appeared that she was going to have the baby about the same time as I was going to graduate and I was doing damn good in school. I was the number one bombardier in the class and there was another guy by the name of Olsen that was number two, so there were two of us and we had a fantastic circular air. I think he had a hundred and twenty five feet and I had a hundred and twenty four, and that‟s a hundred and twenty five feet from the aiming point whatever altitude yo bombed at up to eleven thousand feet, or down on the deck, so that was a good average. I said to my wife, “I think you better go home, because the baby is going to be due just 10 �about the time I graduate”, so she said, “Okay”, so we got ahold of my dad and he said, “Yeah, she can come and live with us until you come home”. 21:03 So, then I started training and finished up as a bombardier and a 2nd Lieutenant. Interviewer: Alright, now tell us a little bit about the training process itself. What kinds of planes were you flying in when you did this? We were flying the twin engine, I don‟t remember the name of it, a twin engine bomber, a training bomber and we only dropped about eight bombs at a time, which I don‟t remember---ET-6 was a single engine airplane, but I don‟t remember, I think it was—I just don‟t remember. Interviewer: But, it was a trainer, it wasn’t one of the regular combat aircraft you get later? No, it was a trainer with a pilot, co-pilot, two bombardiers and the loaded bombs, practice bombs. Interviewer: Now were you working—were you using a Norden bomb sight yet, or were you using other ones? No, we were working with the Norden from WWI and it was very interesting to see how it worked. 22:04 If yo did your things right, and put the data in right that came from charts and graphs and everything in the airplane is right, level, wings level, and everything like that, then the bombs hit where they were supposed to hit, otherwise god knows where they hit, but they hit the ground, fortunately. So, I stayed there then and went from—I graduated and then I went to Ellington Field in Texas to a B-26 organization, the B-26 twin engine bomber. We were supposed to go to the South Pacific, so we did maneuvers for a month and a half doing that in Texas and doing all air 11 �to ground machine gun firing, or torpedoes, or bombs. 23:00 then they called up one say and said, “Send you families home, because we‟re going someplace away from the base”, so I sent my wife back to my dad‟s place and gathered up stuff that I had, which wasn‟t very much, and the train came by and we got on the train and we thought we were going someplace to get a new airplane, and that‟s what everybody said the guys were doing. So, we rode on the train for about a day and a half. Well, we ended up in New Jersey. Interviewer: Along the way, did you have any idea where you were? No, we were on the train, a dark train and we never could get off. They might bring us some C rations and they might not, and the train was full of guys all going overseas and had to go to this station in New Jersey. We got in there and they said, “Okay, you B26ers are going to go to Nova Scotia and you‟re going to go to Europe, you‟re not going to go to the South Pacific. You‟re going to go to Europe, to England, or maybe Ireland before you start flying out of England”. 24:15 “You‟re going to start flying bombing missions out of England.” So, we got on a British transport, HMS City, a big British transport and it was a good old transport and the main thing I remember was that it was very crowded and secondly, we got creamed codfish balls on toast for breakfast. Interviewer: You got the British menu. Day after day, from the port and we also had a full American hospital, nurses and the works on that boat, and I probably don‟t want to put this in, a black engineer battalion. The engineer battalion was down as deep in the boat as they could put them and those poor guys couldn‟t go on deck, or anything, because of the nurses, that‟s the reasoning they gave us. 25:07 They put us in someplace to stay, there were sixteen of us in a 12 �stateroom and we had no more than got started out on the ocean and everyone got sick but me. Of course, I‟d done some, a lot of Sea Scout work, sailing and stuff and I didn‟t get sick. The guys were lying in their beds and puking in their helmets and stuff and I‟m dumping their God damn helmets and cleaning them out and bringing them back. Finally all those guys get to feeling good and then I got sick. Then I got my helmet and started to puke and they‟re taking care of me. The next thing you know, we ended up in northern England. Interviewer: Now, on the way over were you sailing in a convoy, or by yourself? Initially we were in a convoy and then for some reason we turned around and went back to Nova Scotia for a day and a half, and then we ended up in a four vessel convoy, four vessels and a destroyer. 26:03 We thought then that we were headed for England and that‟s where we ended up. Right away we went through an orientation, and then they said, “Your airfield for B-26‟s is not done yet, so we‟re going to send yo to Ireland to do some training there. They got some B-26‟s there where you can train. Interviewer: Alright, now when was this that you got there? Forty three, six—it was April—it might have been about November or December of 1943. So, we went to Ireland, we got there and they had two airplanes. There were thirty six B-26 crews already there and here comes nine or ten crews with me, so there‟s no way we can start flying very much. 27:00 This is kind of funny—as we started to come to the airfield I saw this sign and it said, OLD BUSHMILLS IRISH WHISKEY, a huge sign and the first night we were there we all went to the officers club to get a drink. Brand new 2nd Lieutenant‟s overseas with a pocket full of money and they ain‟t got anything to sell us. They got no beer, they got no booze and they said, “Sorry we got 13 �nothing, we can‟t get nothing”, and I said, “Bull shit, there‟s got to be booze, there‟s a sign right down here that say‟s OLD BUSHMILLS IRISH WHISKEY less than a mile. There was an officer sitting alongside of me, and I hadn‟t even noticed him, he was an air corps Bird Colonel, and he looked over at me and he said, “Lieutenant, you sound like you want to go and get some booze for us”, and I said, “I‟ll tell you what, I was a sergeant for a lot of years and I know that when I get some cigarettes”, and I had already found out there were no cigarettes in Ireland. 28:07 I said, “If I can get some cigarettes from the PX, I can take the cigarettes and trade them for booze”, and he shook his head and said, “I‟m not even going to ask about this, what do you want to do?” I said, “I want a Jeep, a trailer, a driver and as many big cartons of cigarettes of various kinds that you can give me.” So, he got a hold of somebody and here comes a young officer and he said, “What do you want?” I told him and he said, “What are you going to do with them?” I told him, “I‟m going to give them away”, and he said, “You can‟t give these cigarettes away”, and I said, “Yes I can, the Colonel said I could”. We loaded the trailer and went down to Old Bushmills. It was pretty neat when I think about it—went in and I talked to the boss man and told him what I wanted to do and the boss man said, “No way, we can‟t take your cigarettes and give you whiskey”. 29:02 I said, “Okay”, and we‟d seen another distillery down the road. We walked out of this place and here‟s three buildings shaped like big kegs, fifty feet high and eighty feet long, and this is where they were storing all the Old Bushmills. A little short guy came out of this one, he had black pants on, a black hat and an apron and he said, “Aye, what yah doing?” I said, “I came up to see if I could trade cigarettes for booze”, and he looked at me like this and said, “Did you say trade cigarettes for booze?” I said, “Yeah, but I saw the number one man in 14 �there and he said, “We can‟t do it”. He said, “Come with me”, and he took me through the door and we went inside. The first thing he did was reach up and get a barrel jar about that high, walked over to this big vat, huge vat, filled it with about this much Old Bushmills Irish whiskey in that class. 30:04 My sergeant‟s standing there with me, he filled his glass, and he said, “Here drink this”. I never drank Irish whiskey before in my life, and I drank very little of anything, but beer, because my dad wasn‟t a drinker. So, I drank a little bit of the stuff, and Jesus, it burned my mouth, burned my face and spilled it down my chest. He said, “I can trade you case for case, Irish whiskey for cigarettes. He said, “How many cases do you think you got?” I said, “I got thirty, there are thirty cases”, and he said, “What have yo got?” I said, “I got Lucky Strike, I got Pall Mall”, and he said, “We don‟t have to learn that, save more”, and he said something to another guy and he want and got another guy and pretty soon there‟s about ten guys there to get those cigarettes. By the time I could get out of there—in the meantime it started to rain and by the time I could get out to the Jeep it was pouring. 31:03 Fortunately I had a raincoat in the back of the Jeep and the Jeep had a canvas cover with no sides, so they loaded up the truck and all I know is they couldn‟t get any more in there and he said, “If you get anymore cigarettes, come back”. I didn‟t think I would ever be back over there, but I said, “Yes sir, I‟ll do that”, so I went back over to our airbase and went to the PX and got ahold of this young PX officer and I said, “I got some booze for you”, and he said, “How many bottles you got?” I said, “Were not talking about bottles, we‟re talking about cases”. I said, “The back of the trailer‟s full and the back of the Jeep is full”. He just shook his head and went to the telephone, and the next thing I know the Colonel‟s down there and the colonel said, “My God, how did yo do this?” I told him, “You trade 15 �cigarettes for booze”. 32:00 He said, “Now, we‟ll keep you around here for a while and we‟ll let you do that again next month”. I didn‟t want to sit there in Ireland doing nothing for another month, because there was nothing to do. There were no planes to train on, no training area, there were very few girls around and the guys that were already there had all the girls lined up. So we just kind of sat around for a couple days and in comes two C-54‟s, empty. A Colonel got out of one of them, an air corps Colonel, and they assembled all of the B-26 guys, and they said, “Did you guys come over here to fight in the war or fart around in Ireland?” We said, „We came to fight the war”, and they said, “We don‟t have B-26‟s for you, we don‟t have B-26 bases, but we got the hell shot out of us over in Germany the last three days and we lost something like thirty airplanes on both raids, and we need pilots, navigators, bombardiers, crewmen and anybody that can fly an airplane”. 33:06 he said, “We‟re going to take you over, if you want to go, transfer you to the 8th Air Force and put you in B-17‟s”. I looked at my pilot of the B26‟s and I like him anyhow, he was a kid just out of civilian life, no military training, he knew how to fly a B-26, but he was afraid of it, he was just afraid of it. The co-pilot, now, was an ex Texas crop duster, his name was Carroll Cooper, I think it was Carroll. Anyhow, he was the co-pilot and he could fly that airplane, and he wanted to go to the B17‟s, I wanted to go to the B-17‟s and when I said I was going to the B-17‟s, all the participants said, „We‟re coming too”, so we ended up in an assembly area, in England, where they could put crew together. 34:04 They formed us then into ten man groups that would be a full crew for a B-17 and started us to do some B-17 training. After about a week of that they shipped us out to various bomb groups and I ended up in 379. Interviewer: Where were they based? 16 �Kimballton, that‟s up close to Oxford, not too far away, a big base and they‟d been in operation, I‟d say, three months. They‟d taken some hits , so they took our whole—we had two crews of us, of B-26‟s and the group commander was a real smart West Point Officer, and he said, “I‟m not putting you guys in here together”. 35:01 He said, I‟m going to put you in other crews” and then he said, to the one officer, “Didn‟t you lose your bombardier yesterday?” And this guy said, “Yeah, I did Colonel”, and he said, “Here‟s your new bombardier”, and he grabbed me by the jacket and he said, “You‟re going to be his bombardier”, and I said, “Oh, good”, and he said, “Get your stuff”, and then this guy, his name was Arvin Dahl, and he had about twenty missions in already. In those days when you got twenty-five in you could get a Distinguished Service Flying Cross and you‟re allowed to go home. Of course, not many people got in twenty-five. They ended up either dead, or a POW, but this guy was a damn good pilot. I go assigned to him and flew a couple of practice missions, and as it turned out, the head bombardier of that squadron was a guy from Jackson, Michigan and when he found out I was from Muskegon we became buddies right away. 36:04 He was a Captain, a young Captain, and he said, “You stay with Dahl, because Dahl is a damn good pilot”, and he said, “ Get five or six missions in with him and we‟ll see if we can find a good job for you. He wasn‟t worth a damn with that bomb sight, but they didn‟t know anything about my abilities, so I rode with Dahl and we had three missions. I remember, we took off and went to regular formation, and the way we bombed was in a tight formation and when the lead ship dropped his bombs, everybody else kicked there‟s, so we got great pattern. So, it depended on the pilots to have everything level and the air speed exactly as planned and the same altitude and air speed and then the bombs all go together in a big pattern. 17 �So, I went with Dahl on two of these missions and we came back at the end of the second one and Dahl said, “How do you like this?” 37:00 I said, “Fine, but I‟m not doing anything that some sergeant couldn‟t do, kick a switch and kick these things out the door. Interviewer: Because you weren’t using your Norden bomb sight, only the lead plane did? It was there, and we were flying, at that period, we were flying deputy, off of the leader. I had nothing to do, I just sat there with the door open and when the lead opened his doors, I opened my doors. When his first bomb cracked the door, mine cracked, and all the rest of the guys cracked, so we‟re all doing the same thing. So, then on the third mission we were going to Kiel and we turned into a town called Flensburg, which was the initial point and we turned and got headed towards Kiel and the day before the group bombardier, who was a Major, had given me and the other bombardiers, a series of pictures and he said, “Here‟s some viable targets you‟re probably going to have to hit”, and one of them was Kiel and he had some circles on Kiel. 38:04 He told us what these probable target were, and as it turned out this target come to this Gestapo headquarters in the town of Kiel. We‟re turning off the I-V, with the leader, and the leader comes out of formation and went up about twenty feet and Dahl said we are now the lead group. He said, “The group leader can‟t control his airplane, so he‟s going to go to the back of the formation and we‟re now the group leader”. He said, “Olsen, you‟ve got to find the target town”, and I stuck my head down and fortunately I was a good navigator. I stuck my head down in the site and I see the town and they had smoke pots burning all around the town, so the smoke covered the whole town. 39:00 From thirty thousand—twentyfive thousand feet, actually, you couldn‟t see hardly at all. So, I stuck my head in the site 18 �and lo and behold, I had a crack in between the smoke and I looked in and I saw a park. I remembered from studying that target that the park was about a block from the Gestapo headquarters. In the center of the park there was a [?} lake and when I‟m looking at that thing, I‟m looking at the lake. I called Dahl and I said, “Level everything up”, and I did all the things that I had already prepared for, tightened it all down and shook my head, and I was thinking I was already on the lake. I said, “Tighten the formation up”. He didn‟t remember what he had to do to get these guys tight, closer, and I just rolled in a little bit of left turn and the site swung around like that and there‟s the cross, right on the Gestapo headquarters just as the bombs went away. 40:04 God was with me and I was just plain lucky, and we hit the target. We got home and there was this thing going on. We got back to the airfield from the raid and the leaders went to the Colonel's mess for being busy, just the leaders and what was good about that was that the colonel had a cow and he gave me a glass of milk. Nobody had milk the whole time they were on the base, but the Colonel, so if you were flying the lead ship you got a chance to get a glass of milk. We went in there and there were three groups like our group and no group in the 8th Air Force that day, as I remember it, hit the primary target, but us. A guy came in with a Corona and the Colonel said, “How did you do?” The guy shook his head and said, “Not very good Colonel, we only hit the target one out of three”. 41:04 And he said, “Okay, what target did Olsen do?” “He threw them in the dirt.” “What did Joe Brown do?” “He threw them in the dirt.” He said, “What did Dahl and Olsen do?” He said, “Olsen got lucky, he found it and fired”. The old man looked at me and said, “You‟re lucky and from now on, you‟re going to be a lead bombardier”. Dahl said, “Do you know what that means?” I said, “No”, and he said, “That means you‟re going to get 19 �promoted real rapidly”, and I had only been a Lieutenant about six months, a 2nd Lieutenant. Then I flew two more lead missions with Dahl and Dahl went down and he went home. Interviewer: Alright, about when were these missions going on? Early September of 1943 Interviewer: I’m trying to keep your timeline straight, because earlier we had you crossing the ocean after that. Is this before the landing in Europe and all that? 42:07 Yes Interviewer: Okay 6th of June, 1944, and incidentally, I was the last high two bombardiers who dropped that morning. Interviewer: I was just trying to make sure we have everything in order, so basically, September, or so, of 1943, you’ve flown eight missions with Dahl, you had one over Kiel, do you know where—were the other ones all over Germany? I was flying with all kinds of pilots and most of them were Lieutenant Colonels and Majors, good leading groups. I had a Captain navigator that had about eighteen missions, a guy by the name of Jack Firestone, he was a good navigator. We had a good navigator and a good pilot to get you to the vicinity of the target then it was up to you to do your thing with the Norden and whatever else had to be done. There are lots of things that had to be done, like taking the safety wires out of the bombs. Forget that, get hit with the safety wires in and they‟re not going to go off. 43:00 Somebody‟s got to do that and somebody‟s got to check and see that it‟s been done, but I enjoyed, really enjoyed what I 20 �was doing. I wasn‟t really scared. The flak would go off right in front of us and the airplane would go down and the fighters would come in and shoot at them and they would shoot at us, and as long as we weren‟t getting full of holes—I was real lucky, the guys in my airplane were not getting hurt and maybe it was because we were the lead duck and the rest of them were getting all the crap. Dahl finally finished and I started flying with these Majors and Colonels and finally the group executive officer, the Lieutenant Colonel, he said, “You‟re going to be my bombardier from now on”. I said, “How about Firestone, having Captain Firestone as navigator?” He said, “Firestone‟s got ten more, we just extended him for five”, and I said, “Can you do that?” He said, “We did it”. 44:00 It was good for me because it put me in a lead position, which was safer than most of the other airplanes. Did a good job, had good pilots, we did a tremendous record and I got a thing just the day before yesterday—what was that thing we got, was it last week, from the 379th? It was last week. I got a certificate about that big from the excommanding General of the 8th Air Force and it logs all the things I did while I was with the 379th. A beautiful certificate, and I was going to bring it along, but I forgot it, because I didn‟t know this was going to happen. Anyhow, it got down to D-Day and when we finally got to do it, they had put it off a couple of days; I got to be the last high altitude bombardier to drop before the guys hit the beach. 45:01 Nothing great shakes, and I wanted to make sure I didn‟t get the guys hitting the beach. When the cross hairs went like that the bombs are supposed to go away and I went like that and stopped them with my finger and said one, two, three, and I took my finger off so they could go, so I delayed the fall of the bombs, but they still hit France and still hit where some of the Germans might be down there. You never knew, because you couldn‟t see exactly. 21 �Interviewer: when you were flying that particular mission, had you done that kind of thing before? Trying to do that sort of high level ground support? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we had targets all over Germany and England, and things like that. I don‟t have my diary with me, so I couldn‟t tell you exactly. Interviewer: Over the months that were leading up to D-Day, the allies diverted a lot of their bomber forces to the transportation networks in northern Europe. And were you doing that, were you attacking railroad junctions and things like that, or bridges? We were attacking, basically, airfields and factories. 46:03 If we hit a town it was incidental. We didn‟t bomb any towns yet. Interviewer: Were you attacking things like rail lines and transportation systems? Yes Interviewer: Were you doing that in France and Belgium, or just doing it in Germany? No, France, Belgium, Holland, mostly Germany when we could get it. It depended a lot on the weather. The weather blew in kind of from England over Europe like that, so you start out on a clear day and it would be foggy by the time you got to your target and then you had to find the target. On one mission I couldn‟t find the target in time to turn to get home. Well, we had to take those bombs back and normally we don‟t want to do that, so I looked in the sight and it was a little bitty airfield in Germany, right on the edge of France. I looked at this airfield and I swear I saw three, FW-190‟s, fighter planes, on the rim. 47:02 So, I told the pilot what I had an he said, “Drop them”, so I synchronized on them and the rest of the guys didn‟t have—and this was the pilot in an eight year old 22 �aircraft, and didn‟t have time to tighten up and get a real tight pattern, so a bunch of them went in the woods beyond the airfield. You know what was in the woods? A hospital and we didn‟t know that until we got home and looked at the board. The guy came in and said, “Jesus Christ, you guys hit a German hospital”, and we said, “They‟re Germans, what else can you do about it. He said, “You didn‟t do it on purpose did you?” I said, “Hell no, we were just trying to get out of there”, and that was the end of that. Interviewer: Now, over the course of that time, what kind of losses, between late 1943 and the middle of 1944, what kind of losses was your bomb group taking? Were you losing a lot of planes then? Yes, very many and we were getting a lot of guys in that would be there less than thirty days. 48:02 Interviewer: So, they weren’t very experienced and in the experienced crews the experienced pilots would get hit? We had one guy, a friend of mine, and his name was Charlie Martin, he was a navigator and he flew a couple missions with me. Charlie would go up to these new crews that were coming in from the states, and they were big five pound notes, four dollars and five cents a pound at that time, and he‟s give these pound notes to these guys. As soon as they got on the base they wanted to meet the old guys, so they‟d go to the officers club, to the bar. Old Charlie Martin would go up to the bar and he‟d tell these guys he was short of money. Charlie had about eighteen or twenty missions on him at that time, and they‟d lend him some money. Hell, they‟re reaching in their pockets and they‟re taking out these five pound notes like they‟re toilet paper, they were big white things. Charlie would three or four of those from a new company crew and he‟d go out of there with 23 �five, or six, of them at the end of the night. 49:01 He‟s put them in his drawer, write they‟re name down and come payday, he knew damn well that he might not be there and they might not be there, so Charlie and I would go to town when we‟d get off and spend his money and come back. Come the end of the month if any of those guys were left Charlie would reach in there and with the money that was in the box, pay them back with their own money and then Charlie would borrow some more. Interviewer: Did you have fighter protection while you were flying these missions? Early on, the first ten, we had some and after that the 47‟s came in, the 38‟s came in, the 51‟s came in, and we had all kinds of fighters. Interviewer: Now, did that make the missions any safer? Yes, yeah, yeah, they kept the fighters away from us. Not a hundred percent because the Germans were flying in gaggles of about thirty fighters. 50:02 A big gaggle would form and they‟d swoop in as a group, but if they started as a group and fifteen of our fighters head towards them, then they fly in a group, one that wasn‟t tight, because if the group was tight they had a real heavy volume of defensive fire and if the group was loose they don‟t have that heavy volume. We lost a lot of guys, but I don‟t know anything about the numbers. Interviewer: Now, once you got—so basically you’re doing this for the better part of a year. Now, how long did you continue to fly bombing missions, because you made it as far as D-Day? Yeah, I flew thirty-two missions. Interviewer: So, how long did that go? Through the rest of the war, or did you get out? 24 �No, no, when I got my thirty-two in they sent me back to the states to train guys in B29‟s. Interviewer: When did they send you back to the states? 51:00 This would have been early 1944. The middle of 1944 Interviewer: The middle of 1944, because you made it to June. The 6th of June, 1944, no it was 1945, early 1945. Interviewer: Early 1945, all right I started training people at Drew Field in Florida and they joshed me about--the Germans gave up first and then the Japs gave up. Interviewer: How was flying In a B-29 different from flying in a B-17? It was bigger, slower, and I didn‟t really like it. I liked the B-17, because it was agile, and again, I didn‟t get a lot of practice in B-29‟s, I wasn‟t there that long. Interviewer: Right Again, I wanted to get into a different job, so I had done some things to do that before the Japs got done. Then they said, “The Japanese are done, we‟re done”, and they had a point system depending on how long you‟d been there. 52:01 I‟d been in since 1940, so I‟ve got five years in and how many decorations you had, and all that stuff. If you had a certain number of points you go now and within a week I was in Chicago and in two more days I‟m back in Muskegon, and they didn‟t even know I was coming, but the war was over as far as we were concerned. Interviewer: Once you got back home then, what did you do? First of all I had to find a place to put my wife and one child and we were just about ready to have another one. I had to arrange with Hackley Hospital to have her and find a 25 �place to live. That‟s kind of funny, because I had an uncle who was in real estate in Fruitport, his name was Reynolds. I told him about my problem and he found me a beautiful house on seven acres, and he took me out there. 53:00 It was empty and it had a little fire on the outside of the kitchen, because the person who had lived there before got accused of killing his wife, so somebody came and set fire to his house, but they put that fire out. That was the only thing that was wrong with that house, and it was adequate for us, my two kids and me. I had worked for Brunswick prior to the war and they wanted me to come back and work for them at thirty-five cents an hour. They weren‟t going to pay me for what I learned to do as a Captain, they just wanted to pay me, because they were required to pay me and give me my job back. Fortunately the guy that was—my father and I built a house in Glenside before the war, and the man that lived next door, his name was Coffman, he was the chief engineer for Brunswick. So, he gave me a job at forty-five cents an hour. Forty-five cents an hour, and that was the kind of money we were getting and it went not very far. 54:01 Then it was the time that they decided to reform the guard and I got the word asking, “Would you like to reform the guard battalion here and drill two nights a week, and draw Captain's pay two days?” So, in a month that would give yo sixteen days, almost, and that was good money in those days, so that‟s what I decided to do. Interviewer: So, did you work at Brunswick while doing this? Yeah Interviewer: So, you did both things. How long did that go on? About three years, actually, until 1948 Interviewer: What was involved with organizing a new guard battalion? 26 �The difficulty was, you were starting from scratch. All you had was an empty armory down here, you had no officers, no enlisted men, and no recruitment, so you had to get in all your equipment, all your officers, all your men and train them. I was pretty proficient at that and I got two accommodations from the Governor for my work there. 55:06 About the same time my wife was getting fed up with me going to the armory all the time. On days I wasn‟t getting paid I still had work to do, so I would go down to the armory and get behind my desk and do my work. She said, “Why don‟t you either get in the army, go back in the army, or get out of the guard, one of the two”, and she was right. In the meantime we had—she was pregnant with another child, I don‟t know why that happened, but it did, so I decided to resign from the guard. I tried and put my resignation in, but they wouldn‟t accept it. So, I wanted to get my air corps reserve commission back and I went down town here to the recruiting office, and they said they couldn‟t do it and I had to go to Kalamazoo, so I went to Kalamazoo to the office. In the meantime the Army Air Corps is turning into the U.S. Air Force. 56:04 These guys said, “Well, the best we can do is bring you in as a sergeant in the air force, and we can‟t bring you back in as a Captain. Across the street was the army recruiting office, so just for the hell of it I walked across the street to the young Lieutenant in that office, told them who I was, and he said, “What do you want to do?” I said, “I would like to go back on active duty as an infantry Captain”, and he said, “When?” I said, “What do you mean, when?” He said, “I can send you back to active duty as fast as you want to go”, and I said, “As an infantry Captain?” He said, “Yeah, would you like to go in the airborne?” I said, “Yeah”, so he said, “Okay, we‟ll have you on the way. How soon do you want to go?” I said, “Seven, eight, or ten days?” He said, “You‟ll be gone tomorrow”, and he cut orders the next day 27 �and made me a Captain, infantry/airborne. 57:03 He sent me to Fort Benning for two weeks to jump school, I come back and go to Japan. Interviewer: What year was this? 1948, and in Detroit we had this little house, put it up for sale, God it was a beautiful house, we went and looked at it the day before yesterday and you have never seen such a wreck in your life. Nobody‟s done a thing to it in fifty years, I‟m sure and we were just sick when we saw it, I was at least. So, I went to Japan, got to Japan and met the regular commander and he said, “Okay, you‟re going to be in the 180 search and rescue and stationed in Camp Shimofani, but I think something is going to happen in the next couple of days that will cause us both to change our minds”. Two days later he called me in his office and he said. “As of today, you and I are in the 17th Infantry”, and I said, “Not in the airborne?” 58:05 He said, “Not in the airborne, straight infantry. We now got orders to leave for the 7th Division and we‟re going to form the 17th Infantry here at Camp Shimofani, and I‟m going to be the commander of the 180th until they go home and I‟ll be the regimental commander of the 17th”. So I went back in the business of reorganizing again like I did in Muskegon, only now I got draftees coming in, I‟ve got soldiers coming in from other divisions that guys wanted to get rid of, a lot of AWOL‟s, and a lot of them should have been in jail. So, we brought them in and spent the next two years training them and dumping a lot of them out of the army because they weren‟t qualified for anything and none of them had been in the army. Interviewer: Were a lot of those men draftees” Yeah Interviewer: Now, what part of Japan were you in? Where was your camp? 59:01 28 �At that time we were stationed at Camp Shimofani, just outside of Sendai in northern Japan. Interviewer: What was the area around there like? Was it mostly rural? Oh yeah, rice paddies and we were about five miles from the ocean and the ocean kind of went like this, so you‟d go twenty miles north and go to a place where there were oysters and good fish from the ocean. But, we had to start from scratch and we got some soldiers for the regiment that had been in the 17th before it was downgraded to zero and in Korea, and had been an occupation period and reorganizing in Shimofani. Interviewer: So were there some men in that unit who had been in Korea after WWII? Yeah Interviewer: So, they had some people familiar with it. Yeah, yeah—we got a lot of draftees and a lot of sergeants from the states and officers from the states. 00:03 Interviewer: Now, were you having to build a camp or was it there already? We had to build—people had to build the unit with people and stuff and equipment. Stuff was there, but it had been brought in during the war and it was all over and stuff. There were plenty of Jeeps and plenty of everything, but you had to find it and get it legally yours and this was quite a battle. Interviewer: We’re continuing our story here with Charles Olsen and we had gotten to the point where you are now stationed in Japan with the 17th Regiment, 7th Division and what was your official job there? 29 �At that time I was the headquarters commander. I had been the C company commander when it was formed and I put in for a regular army commission. 1:01 In order to get a regular army commission rather than my National Guard one, army of the United States commission, and I didn‟t have a reserve commission yet then either, I had to take a series of tests. I did and the result of that was, I had to be in three different jobs in one year, three different commanders, and be rated by all three of them and then they would decide whether or not I was going to be a regular army 2nd Lieutenant and then they would give it to me after that. So, that‟s what was kind of in the back of my mind. I tried to go to school—I knew I didn‟t have any college, so I tried to go to school at night. I did this whenever I could at various places and you‟ll see as we go along. I had a couple jobs where I was able to control what was being taught by the colleges, locally, and I could get the courses in that I needed, whether anybody else could use them or not and that worked good for me. 2:00 Interviewer: While you’re there in Japan, before the Korean War starts, what kind of condition was Japan in, in the area that you were? Very poor, farming, people didn‟t have much to do at all, no way to make a living. The British trained all of us who had wives and kids over there, on how to use servants, and then the government gave us—I think we had six in our house to take care of the house, take care of the kids, and they couldn‟t just give the Japanese money, something about their psyche, so they gave them a job. One guy did nothing but fill the coal bin at our house and two other houses. He was the coal guy and he was getting money to feed his family. They did this for a lot of Japanese. 3:02 We had three girls, yeah, three girls, 30 �the coal guy and then I had a young man that was—I called him Junior, and Junior was good except he stole the cigarettes all the time. Interviewer: Alright, now was there a school on the base where your kids could go when they were old enough? Yeah, a nice school, a nice school, about a block and a half from where we lived. Good teachers from the states and then all of a sudden this thing happened with the North Koreans coming into South Korea and the stuff hit the fan then. Of course, the 7th division was then ordered to come into South Korea and in the meantime the 24th Division, 25th Division, 1st Cav Division were committed down there real early, so we went in, the 7th Division went in right behind the Marines at Inchon. 4:00 Interviewer: You go in at Inchon in the fall of 1950 then when they make that landing. Yeah Interviewer: All right now, can you describe landing at Inchon? It was funny because we were combat loaded. Combat loaded, they get their weapons off the boat and the only ones we were going to use as soon as we hit the beach. The Marines got off first and that cleared all the Japs out of the port area, so when our boat came in the first guy in the one vehicle was the battalion commander. His vehicle was way down here and for combat loading he didn‟t need a vehicle yet, so we had to get all of our guys off and our vehicles off and then we started to North Korea. Interviewer: Now, you’re landing at Inchon, and are you moving—were you facing much opposition as you went forward, or were you following other units? 31 �Some, yeah, the regulars in some companies were getting in fights now and then and a couple of my friends got killed. 5:01 Interviewer: How far did your unit go into North Korea? My company then—well, then I was transferred from Charlie Company to Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion and the battalion commander usually, kind of, is his assistant operations officer and he would send me out to the companies to do some other things. One of the companies I was working with was the first company to get to the Yalu River and there‟s an interesting thing you can read in here. In that company there was a pioneer platoon and they did demolitions and stuff like that. We got an order from headquarters to blow a hole in the ice of the Yalu River by eight o‟clock tomorrow morning, because there were some Generals coming in and they wanted to pee in the Yalu. Interviewer: Okay So, we got the stuff and I told Sergeant Hailes there‟ll be a hole in the river. 6:01 He said, “Captain, what do you want to blow a hole in the river for?” I said, “There‟s some God damn delegate coming down here to piss in it tomorrow morning and I hope no Chinese shoot across the river”, because the Chinese were on the other side of the river. The Chinese started shooting at the same time, so we blew a hole in the river and I went down there and looked and kicked it with my foot and said, “Yeah, we got water”, and I took a pee in the river myself. I was the first one to pee and then Hailes took the whole platoon. These Generals came in and got all their pictures taken from the PIO and then they went down and took a leak in the river. It‟s never been established that was why they were all there, but there‟s some famous pictures of these Generals standing looking at the river. 32 �Interviewer: Alright, now how long was it after that the Chinese counterattacked? They were in the process right then by attacking the 3rd Marines. They had, as I understand it from reading history, that our intelligence people had been told by the Chinese, “If you do anything along the Yalu River to harm our electrical generation plants”, and there‟s three of them up there, “we‟re going to knock the shit out of you”. 7:12 They had millions of Chinese and they still have. Interviewer: They had three hundred thousand of them, actually, in North Korea by that time. Yeah, and so, one of our guys got eager and started doing some things against one of their hydro-electric plants and then here they come. Then we got the word to leave the Yalu and go down to, I wasn‟t to say Inchon, but we hooked around the base like so, and we held the beach so the Marines could get out. Interviewer: That was— Hungnam Interviewer: Yeah We held them until the Marines could get out and then the navies come in and let us out. 8:04 Interesting sight, we were short of Jeeps and the navy were—we were ready to pull out and one of my master sergeants came up to me and said, “Captain, I know where there‟s thirteen marine corps Jeeps with radios on them that they can use to talk to the Marine corps fighters”, and I said, “Where are they?” He said, “They‟re in a warehouse down there and they‟re going to blow the God damn things up, because they couldn‟t get them out”. I said, “Go down there and get them all, put our markings on the bumpers, and take our and push them off the LSD to shove them in the water”. He said, “We can‟t 33 �do that”, and I said, “Just do it, I‟m going to end up going down to Inchon with new Jeeps as far as I can”, so we did just that, and it was good, because it gave me the opportunity to use the radio and talk to the fighters. Interviewer: Right As the rest of the war proceeded, so I kind of ended up as a forward air controller, because the Air Force took our forward air controllers all the way out of the battalion level and sent them all the way back to regimental level. 9:11 Regimental level is too far back, they got to be up front where they can see. Interviewer: They didn’t have air controllers or observers up on the front lines? No, all they had was us. Interviewer: During that time when you’re up in North Korea and you’ve gone from one side of the peninsula, kind of across, to the ocean on the other side, was your unit doing much fighting in that time, or mostly just moving? There was a certain amount of fighting. Interviewer: Did they have to defend against Chinese attacks when they ran onto them now? Oh yeah, and we lost, in one two day march across the river we called “No Name”. It was frozen about half through and we crossed it and it was about twenty miles in to [?], and we got in a good fight with the Chinese. 10:05 We lost three good officers, they made the same mistake, all three of them at the same time. Instead of staying on the ridges like they‟d been trained to do, and like they had been doing for several days and weeks, they cut down off the ridges and down through a flat valley, to get back up on the 34 �ridges over there and the Chinese were on the ridge there and just shot the hell out of them. Interviewer: After that phase, you get evacuated out of Hungnam. Does the 7th Division then go back on the line somewhere else? Yeah, then they pulled us all out and sent us back south and gradually launched us into the fray to go back up north. Interviewer: Now, did you stay with your unit as they went forward? Yeah, for another six months or so, and then my time came up to come back to the states. 11:05 Interviewer: So, in the meantime, were you with—were you doing much attacking or mostly in kind of defensive positions? Both, defense and attack and I got promoted to Major as a regimental intelligence officer by this time. Interviewer: What kind of work then did you have to do in that job? As a regimental intelligence officer? Keep track of what the “Gooks” were doing and what they were about to do to us, and do what we could do to make sure they do it. Interviewer: How would you get your information? Line crossers, we had one group of twelve boys and we called them “Buffalo Bill Scouts”. We sent them, they were Korean kids, and we sent them across the lines. The scouts would go up and they‟d be gone for two or three days, come back and tell us what they saw, so we were usually at forward control and the General—we got a new regiment of command and a guy by the name of Bill Quinn and he became a four star sooner or 35 �later, a damn good General. 12:06 He was a damn good officer and he could get vermin [?] with both hands. I never saw a guy get vermin like he could. Interviewer: Now, over the course of this time, did you come under fire? Were you in danger in certain points in this, or were you pretty well safe, because you were farther back? Well, I was far enough back that I didn‟t get hurt too bad. In one case I decided, my intelligence execs, eight men, went across the river to a little town and there was a school and a big school yard and they came back and said, “Every house in that town is made ten meters bigger by piling ammunition. The Chinese had piled ammunition around every single house, so literally that town is an ammunition dump. 13:00 I called my division two and they said, “What do you think you can do?” I said, “Blow the son of a bitch up”, and he said, “Do you want to do that?” I said, “I sure as hell do and if I don‟t they‟ll be shooting back at us within the next two or three days”. We were in the process of going forward and back, so I got a thing called my I & R platoon and I got them over there and they went from house to house and told these people that they had to get out of the village because they were going to be destroyed. Before they could go, they had to take all of this ammunition and there was more than you could imagine, mortar shells, machine guns, pistol and rifle shells. We piled them up in the middle of the soccer field and we dug about an eight foot deep hole, got some guys with shovels right away, we filled this hole and took the fuses off a bunch of stuff and put them down in the bottom and the villagers came and brought a huge pile of ammunition. 14:00 I sent the villagers out of the village and out of the way so they wouldn‟t get hurt, because I knew I was going to have one hell of an explosion. Then I got my guys over on the river side, in 36 �the vehicle and sent them across the river. We kept firing ammo and we got over on the beach where we wouldn‟t get hit by anything, we thought, and we fired the stuff. I blew a hole about twenty yards across and twenty yards down, and it blew a lot of this ammunition a hundred and fifty yards. Tanks shells that long and that big around flying through the air like this, and whenever they hit the ground they went off. Somehow we were across through the edge of the river bank and the damn thing went over our heads and went into the water and went off, but we latterly destroyed that town and fully destroyed the ammunition too. Interviewer: Was the town within your lines, or was it in the middle between where you were and the Chinese were? 15:01 At that time it was kind of in between. Interviewer: But, the Chinese didn’t interfere with the operation, or your guys going forward? They weren‟t in a position to do it, they were trying, but right at that spot they weren‟t. We kind of had the forward pressure. Interviewer: Are there other things, or incidents in Korea that kind of stand out in your mind there? No, I did my S-2 job and I could see—because my regimental commander had been a G2 in WWII and he kind of brought me along and taught me things I didn‟t know. One of the things I started to do was, we had two helicopters for taking casualties out and I said, “Wait a minute, these helicopters are going up sometimes looking for casualties and they‟re coming back empty, you know then, and I said, “I‟m going to use them to find “Gooks””, so the old man said, “Go ahead”. 16:02 So, I took one of these helicopter‟s 37 �and we‟d go up looking for “Gooks” and we‟d find a company, or a battalion with our Red Cross helicopter, and radio back where the “Gooks” were and shoot the hell out of them, or get somebody from one of the battleships, or somebody who could reach them and bring fire in on them. The old man thought that was great and he said, “I don‟t know why you decided to play bombardier again, but we sure killed a lot of “Gooks””, and we had “Gooks‟”, and we had “Gooks” spread all over the sides of the mountains. Interviewer: Weren’t they doing aerial observation by then? The Air Force was trying to do what they could do, but it wasn‟t good. I hate to have this go in writing, but the Air Force operation, in that phase, of close air support, was not as concentrated as it should have been. It wasn‟t as good as the Marines had. The Marines had their own coordinators and they talked to their own guys and they got guys so close it scared you. 17:03 I got one Bronze Star for doing just that, getting in a forward position with my Marine radio and we were getting the hell shot out of us from the Chinese on the ridge. I got down where I was exposed and I got six Marine Corsairs, they came in and found these guys, shot the hell out of them, while I sat there and talked to them and directed their fire. That allowed our guys to pull off that hill and the next day when we tried to go back up on that hill the “Gooks” had left, so we went up on the hill. Interviewer: All right We lost several people, in fact, Raymond Harvey got the Congressional Medal of Honor, and that‟s where he was hit, in that battle. Interviewer: The infantry divisions, at least in WWII, had their own aerial observers. They had guys in Piper Cubs who would go up, and now did the 7th Division have its own aerial observers? 18:02 38 �Not really Interviewer: So, you were kind of filling a role there that wasn’t being done otherwise at that time. Just because I had the experience to do it with Now, you get through that time served there, in the field in Korea, and then when that gets done, where do you go next? My wife is in Japan with the kids, she went home to Muskegon, and at that time she got an apartment out by Black Creek and I was going to come as soon as I could. Well, than I rotated and got an assignment with the 5th division, 2nd Infantry Regiment, at Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. So, I went home, gathered up my family and went to doing that. I run that battalion, 2nd Battalion of the 2nd, for about two years, again training, a basics trainer, and training draftees to go to Korea at that time. 19:01 Then I went to The Commanding General Staff College, and when I finished the Commanding General Staff College, they sent me to the University of Washington ROTC and from there I went to Vietnam, Nam had started and I had a tour as an advisor, mainly to the Vietnamese Army Commander. Interviewer: When was that? I don‟t know when that was. Interviewer: Was it in the early sixties, at that point? Yeah, it would have been 1962, or 1963, things kind of run together there. Then I came out of that and went to Leavenworth again and this time as an instructor in leadership for the Commanding General Staff College. 39 �Interviewer: Tell me a little bit about the experience as a trainer in Vietnam. What were you doing and what was that like? 20:01 I was operations and intelligence advisor to the Vietnamese army commander and my orders were, “Where he went I went”, and I was informing on what he was doing and what he should be doing, and then our General would try to get him to do it, which sometime he could and sometimes he couldn‟t. Interviewer: What sort of impression did you have of this fellow or of the Vietnamese army at that point? The Vietnamese army sucked, because the North Vietnamese were not into it yet and their enemies didn‟t want to kill the VC. I said to General Duong, Tranh Van Duong‟s the name [more commonly known as Duong Van Minh], was the son of the Ambassador to France, so he was educated militarily in France. Militarily well educated and spoke English like a trooper, and everybody in Vietnam was little. 21:00 When the little guys got together with all the American guys then the American guys all of a sudden said, “This is my little guy”, and if they had to go to meeting they would bring their little guy along. Well, because I‟m little and General Duong was big, he called me his “Little guy”. That was funny, and the first dinner we had together he took his chop sticks and he reached over and took a big hot pepper and he ate it and said, “We love hot peppers”. I liked them, but I didn‟t love them, and I took my chop sticks and put a couple in my mouth. I mean it was fire, but I ate them and from then on the General would introduce me to other Vietnamese officers and he would say, “This is my little guy, and he likes hot peppers”, and that was funny. 40 �Interviewer: Were you there at the point when President Diem was assonated? 22:00 The night before he was assassinated, I had been doing something that afternoon with General Duong‟s operations officer and he said to me, he said, “Do not come to work tomorrow morning, stay in the hotel downtown”, the hotel downtown where we stayed. This guy was a dope user and you never knew whether he was straight, or whether he was under the influence of opium, this Vietnamese Colonel. You had to kind of sort out what was going on in his head, and I said, “What‟s going to happen?” He said, “Don‟t come out here to the airbase, we‟ll let you know when it‟s safe”. I said, “Is there some shooting going on tomorrow?” He looked at me like this and said, “I think so”, the day they were going to have the coup. 23:01 I decided to go to work anyway and hell, I sit downtown with a war going on five miles from me, so I went to my office, my boss was a armor type and he liked to stay inside and not get out. He‟d had a tank division, so I got the word then from General Duong‟s assistant to come across the street where General Duong‟s office was to see General Duong. So, I went over and saw him and he said, “There‟s been a coup and the Vietnamese Special Forces types, airborne, have killed the president and Mr. Nhu and the bodies are now in a 133 [M113] armored personnel carrier, and they‟re going to be here shortly and I would like to have you identify the president and Mr. Nhu, so you can tell your General that yes, they‟re dead and you saw them”. 24:04 So, I waited until 133 came and opened the door and there‟s these two guys and this Vietnamese major had just taken grenades and thrown them between these two guys and jumped. It was an armored vehicle and these two grenades went off and blew these guys all to hell. So I called my boss and went home and told my boss across 41 �the street, my boss called, and this was kind of funny, my boss called his boss, who was a Brigadier General, and he said, “Get Olsen to come up and see me”, so I went up to see him and I told him the same story I‟m telling you. He said, “You better tell General Harkins”, and at that time Westmoreland hadn‟t been there yet. Harkins was his commander, so we went over and saw General Harkins and General—I don‟t remember his name. I and my boss and he went in to see him and he said, “Who‟s got the story?” My one star said, “Olsen‟s got it”, and I looked at my boss, and he said, “What do you know about it? Why didn‟t Olsen tell me?” 25:07 Harkins said, “You get out of here I can‟t use you at all”, so he left. So, then he asked me what happened and he said, “You truly saw these vehicles?” I said, “I can take you to where they are right now”, and of course, they‟d hidden them, but he said, “Okay, that‟s good enough, get your ass out of here”, so I got out of there. That was kind of neat and then besides some other jobs I had to do, then I came home. Interviewer: How much longer did you stay in Vietnam at that point? Three months, about three months Interviewer: In general, what impression did you have of the situation there? Did you figure that things were going to get worse? Yeah, I thought that they were really going to go to pot unless we could get in there and do some work ourselves. So, I went back then to being an instructor at Leavenworth again, which I enjoyed, and it was good work. 26:02 I could take college work and in the meantime I was working on my tests and my college degrees. I had gotten a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland, Military Science and Management, and I was working on the fringes of my masters, so I just kind of did my job. So, I went 42 �back to the commanding general staff college and I was there two years and then they sent me to Alaska to command Fort Greeley in Alaska, and that was a nothing job. I mean, three hundred thousand acres, but really nothing to do. Interviewer: Where is that in Alaska? It is a hundred and five miles south of Fairbanks. Interviewer: So, that’s not really anywhere. On the Alcan Highway, right on the road and the base is being used now more extensively than it was then. Interviewer: So, did you go up there? What? Interviewer: Did you go to Fort Greeley? Oh yeah, I went to do the job and got there and found out there was a new Bird Colonel that had just arrived to command it and they found out the second day that he was an alcoholic and didn‟t hardly draw a sober breath. 27:07 He couldn‟t say his name when I asked him what his God damn name was and that was a scary thing for about three months. The regular General from Fairbanks came in at the end of about three months and called me down to his helicopter and he said, “Olsen, what‟s going on with Cooper?” I said, “Sir, I can‟t talk about Cooper, he‟s my boss”, and he said, “I want you to tell me what the hell is going on”. This guy was an airborne General, and I said, “He‟s an alkie and he drinks morning, noon and night. You wouldn‟t know it until you talk to him, but he can‟t remember anything, he can‟t get anything done, and if you want anything done around here either the secretary‟s got to do it, or I‟ve got to go in and leave my work”, I was the operations officer, “and get the things done”. 28:00 He said, “Well, hang on 43 �and we‟ll get another Colonel in here as quick as we can”, so, they did, and they waited about six months and they got another Colonel in and I ran the post. This guy came in from Vietnam, yeah, from Vietnam and an artillery officer. I thought he was going to be good at first, but he turned out to be another drunk, so we had two drunks in a row. General Lemmon was the CO of the United States Army in Alaska, and came up and he said, “Olsen, how are you doing?” I said, “Sir, I‟m about to get out of the Army”, and he said, “Why?” I said, “I will not work for drunks and this guy is the second one you foisted off on to me”, and he said, “You know, just three days ago we heard it from the medics that this guy is a drunk and we‟re in the process of getting rid of him right now”. He said, “I‟m going to move you down to my headquarters as my logistician”, and I said, “I‟m not no God damn logistician, I‟m in operations”, and he said, “When I‟ve seen you, you do whatever you‟re told, you get the job done”. 29:06 He said, “That‟s what I want in my G4. I want somebody to get me whatever I want”. I said to him, “What do you really want right now, General?” He said, “I want sixteen, eighteen foot fishing boats for Valdez “. I said, “Do you want me to go get them?” He said, “Yup, when are you going to go?” I said, “I‟m going to go down to where the God damn things are made and get them shipped up here, just give me the funds to do it with”, and I said, “I‟m not a good G4”, and he said, “That‟s alright, just stay in the job”. But, then I found out I wasn‟t going to get promoted to “bird”, because of some other things that had happened, so my wife and I just quit. I had thirty years and I wasn‟t going to make anymore. It was a great career and I enjoyed it. Interviewer: Now, what kind of work did you do after you got out of the army? First I started teaching in colleges. 44 �Interviewer: What were you teaching? 30:02 Leadership, management, history, whatever was needed teaching, I taught. Interviewer: Where were you teaching? City University Interviewer: City University--City University Seattle, and I got a masters from them in Business Administration and I got another master‟s in Public Administration, but I found out that the team that I was teaching, really didn‟t want to learn, they wanted that VA check and they wanted the check they were getting from the welfare, so I said, “I don‟t need this anymore”, so I decided to be retired, and that was 1972, I think. Interviewer: To look back on the whole thing now, what would you say, maybe, was the most valuable, or most important thing you took out of your time in the army? A damn good paycheck at the end of every month until the day I die. 31:05 Free medical care for my wife and me and my kids, but we don‟t have any kids that are small anymore. Interviewer: Alright, anything else you would like to add to the record here, before we close out the interview? No, I think I‟ve told you about everything I can tell you. Interviewer: You told me quite a bit, that’s for sure. I‟ve told you things that she, my wife, hasn‟t heard before. Interviewer: That’s part of what we’re here for. Alright, thank you then for coming in and doing this, it’s been a real privilege. Are you going to make copies of this? 45 �Interviewer: Yes sir 31:32 46 �47 � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OlsenC0619V Title A name given to the resource Olson, Charles (Interview transcript and video), 2009 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olson, Charles Description An account of the resource Charles Olson was born in Muskegon, Michigan in September of 1921. In 1940, he decided to join the National Guard, and shortly afterward, his unit was federalized and sent to Louisiana to train. He had wanted to fly, so while in Louisiana, he applied to join the Army Air Corps, and was accepted into bombardier school. He was sent to England at the end of 1943 and flew 32 missions in a B-26 over Europe before returning home to train B-29 crews in 1945. He left the Army briefly, but soon rejoined the Michigan National Guard, and went back on active duty in 1948. He was sent to Japan, and participated in the Inchon landing and the invasion and retreat from North Korea in 1950. He remained in the Army into the 1960s, and served as an adviser in Vietnam in 1963. While working at the MACV Headquarters in Saigon, he wound up having to identify the bodies of the assassinated Vietnamese President Diem and his brother. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James (Interviewer) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans Video recordings World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American United States. Army Air Corps United States. National Guard Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2009-06-12 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/39685d728341ef2589e3c8ac4d1d78ad.jpg 7b4874aa15b0aaf7e24630beba9256e9 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OlsonDale_Photo01 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Olson, Dale Description An account of the resource Dale Olson, Director of the Educational Studies Institute Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College administrators College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/1b2a0a1f07f40ad2b6e3b6c97b255a05.jpg 4f642a709e41bfc458f62a8cace5ecda Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OlsonDale_Photo02 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Olson, Dale Description An account of the resource Dale Olson, Director of the Educational Studies Institute Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College administrators College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/8ae3bbab2fcbbcf86f421ea9932af8ef.jpg 8972d810dce35bd42deeace320f7de02 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Faces of Grand Valley Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource University Communications Description An account of the resource A non-comprehensive collection of photographs of Grand Valley faculty, staff, administrators, board members, friends, and alumni. Photos collected by University Communications for use in promotion and information sharing about Grand Valley with the wider community. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1960s - 1990s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived GV012-03. University Communications. Vita Files Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copryight Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University College administrators College teachers Colleges and universities -- Faculty Michigan Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-03 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Language A language of the resource eng Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OlsonDale_Photo03 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. University Communications Title A name given to the resource Olson, Dale Description An account of the resource Dale Olson, Director of the Educational Studies Institute Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University – History College administrators College teachers Universities and colleges – Faculty Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived University Communications. Vita Files, 1968-2016 (GV012-03) Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. Special Collections and University Archives Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource In Copyright Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Language A language of the resource eng https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/f24aec8960b328ffe84a7d2a7ecb3d54.mp4 3dda262550d8baea9722b30db14f4438 https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d275f72e77a042db08aa66553216c164.pdf b7817589861323b867b0f827f9019dde PDF Text Text Grand Valley State University Veterans History Project Roy Olson (36:06) (00:10) Background Information • Roy was born in 1922 in Minneapolis • His father had been from Sweden and his mother from Norway; they met in Arizona • Roy’s father died when he was 7 years old and he left with his mother and brother to live in Michigan • His mother was able to make it through the Depression on his father’s pension checks from WWI • Roy graduated from high school in 1941 and began taking pre-dental classes at college • Roy had been taking classes for 2 years when he was drafted into the Army Medical Corps (03:50) Training • Roy was sent to Fort Custer in Battle Creek, MI for induction and then to Camp Grant in Illinois for training • Roy was in Illinois for 6 weeks and decided to volunteer to lay a snare drum in the bugle corps • He was then transferred to Company C and began working at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC • Roy became a corpsman and was in charge of the venereal disease clinic (06:20) Walter Reed Medical Center 1943-1944 • Roy described the medical center as “a monstrous place” with a campus, various departments, and a hospital • He stayed in a barracks with about 30 other men and they all got along well • They often played pool at the community center and were allowed to leave the base on their time off • Roy worked with mostly outpatient cases • Penicillin had just been invited and he was dealing with many cases of gonorrhea and syphilis • He also volunteered to help transfer some men to other hospitals and traveled to New York City and San Diego • Roy occasionally had duty in the psych ward (15:00) Transferred • Roy was told he was being sent to the Pacific and had to go through basic training again in Texas • In training they had some long marches, crawled under barbed wire fences while being shot at, climbed many walls, and went bib whacking �• • • • Roy took a troop train to Seattle and then boarded a liberty ship headed to Hawaii There were about 3,000 others on the ship and they hit rough storms on their trip; everyone got sick and the trip took much longer than expected Everyone was going to be leaving for Australia, but Roy was told he had to remain with 4 others of the original 3,000 men They were to stay in Hawaii and work at an emergency hospital for 1 year (20:20) Hawaii • Roy worked 2 jobs while at the hospital; one as a clerk and the other in orthopedics • After the bombs were dropped in Japan he was transferred to a different larger hospital in Hawaii • Roy continued to do clerical work in the other hospital (23:15) Discharged • Roy went back to Michigan and took the summer off before going back to college • After finishing pre-dental in one year he continued on to dental school and ran his private practice for 10 years • Roy then decided that he wanted to get back into dental surgery and went back to grad school • He then began teaching at the University of Chicago for 10 years • Roy again began running his private practice, but this time in Illinois for about 15 years • He retired in 1991 and moved back to Michigan (25:50) Hawaiian Hospitals • Roy had occasionally worked night duty assistant doctors • He also helped to run errands for patients • They were working near Waikiki Beach and he often spent time there swimming • Roy went to church on the weekends and traveled all along the islands • He remained working in the hospital for 4 months after the war had ended • Wingdings � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Veterans History Project Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. History Department Description An account of the resource The Library of Congress established the Veterans History Project in 2001 to collect memories, accounts, and documents of U.S. war veterans from World War II and the Korean War, Vietnam War, and conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, and to preserve these stories for future generations. The GVSU History Department interviews are part of this work-in-progress, and may contain videos and audio recordings, transcripts and interview outlines, and related documents and photographs. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1914- Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Afghan War, 2001--Personal narratives, American Iran Hostage Crisis, 1979-1981--Personal narratives, American Korean War, 1950-1953--Personal narratives, American Michigan--History, Military Oral history Persian Gulf War, 1991--Personal narratives, American United States--History, Military United States. Air Force United States. Army United States. Navy Veterans Video recordings Vietnam War, 1961-1975--Personal narratives, American World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smither, James Boring, Frank Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-27 Language A language of the resource eng Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project interviews (RHC-27)</a> Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context OlsonR Title A name given to the resource Olson, Roy (Interview outline and video), 2008 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Olson, Roy Description An account of the resource Roy Olson was born in Minneapolis in 1922 and later moved to Michigan where he graduated from high school in 1941. He then began taking pre-dental classes at college and was a sophomore when he was drafted into the Army Medical Corps. Roy had basic training in Illinois for 6 weeks and was then transferred to work at the Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington DC. Roy worked in DC for a year and was then sent to work in two other hospitals in Hawaii for about another year. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource McCauslin, Kelly (Interviewer) Spring Lake District Library (Spring Lake, Mich.) Subject The topic of the resource Oral history Veterans History Project (U.S.) United States--History, Military Michigan--History, Military Veterans United States. Army. Medical Corps World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American Video recordings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Relation A related resource Veterans History Project (U.S.) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2008-11-21 Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/455">Veterans History Project Collection, (RHC-27)</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf video/mp4 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/ba4cebee715129522556b422e7d85c2c.jpg 4bf119dbb7ef351d0e5ab02d5de1e230 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_MX225 Title A name given to the resource Omaha class light cruiser Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Omaha class, US CL (light cruiser), April 25, 1945. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy World War, 1939-1945 Military education Warships--Recognition Slides Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-04-25 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/9b7c8cafad3ffdfe71c0d8652240d8b9.jpg 79c0136e47512f2f41c66474244f2a9a Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Naval Recognition Training Slides Subject The topic of the resource Slides Military education Airplanes, Military--Recognition Warships--Recognition World War, 1939-1945 Description An account of the resource Slides developed during World War II as a training tool, for top-side battle-station personnel on board ship and for all aircraft personnel, by the US Navy. In 1942 a Recognition School was established by the Navy at Ohio State University where the method of identification was developed. In 1943 the school was taken over by the US Navy. The importance of training in visual recognition of ships and aircraft became even more evident during World War II. Mistakes resulting in costly errors and loss of life led to an increased emphasis on recognition as a vital skill. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides (RHC-50)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-04 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1943-1953 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source <a href="http://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/477">Naval recognition slides, RHC-50</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-50_MX226 Title A name given to the resource Omaha class light cruiser Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource United States. Navy Description An account of the resource Omaha class, US CL (light cruiser), April 25, 1945. Subject The topic of the resource United States. Navy World War, 1939-1945 Military education Warships--Recognition Slides Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Naval recognition slides (RHC-50) Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1945-04-25 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c85601985276623764c4681434f20edc.pdf 2efb73004b9e1792ce0dd7bcb6102093 PDF Text Text Young Lords In Lincoln Park Interviewee: Omar López Interviewers: José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections Date: 2/7/2012 Biography and Description English Omar López was Minister of Information for the Young Lords. He was born in Mexico and first came to Chicago in 1958, settling in the Humboldt Park Neighborhood where he has lived ever since. He first met some Young Lords in Lincoln Park when they were hanging out on the streets as a local Puerto Rican street gang. When the Young Lords transformed themselves officially on September 23, 1968 into a human rights movement, he saw them once again. This time those same young men were providing security for José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez and Fred Hampton (of the Black Panther Party) who were speaking together at Loop Jr. College where Omar a student and fighting for student rights and bilingual education. Mr. López joined the Young Lords in 1969. In 1973, he founded the Mexican Teachers Organization.Mr. López continues to work actively on behalf of Latino and immigrant rights. In 2006, he ran as a Green Party candidate for the House of Representatives in Illinois, 4th District. That same year, on March 10, he convened one of the largest mass demonstrations on behalf of working class immigrant rights in U.S. history. �Mr. López continues to be proactive in the Humboldt Park area, with immigrant rights, the Latin American Defense Organization (LADO), and the Young Lords. He is the Executive Director of CALOR, a clinic that especially serves Latinos affected by HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Spanish Omar López era el Ministro de Información para los Young Lords. Nació en México y llego a chicago en 1958, estableándose en el vecindario de Humboldt Park donde sigue viviendo. El primero conoció alguien de los Young Lords en Lincoln Park cuando estaban en las calles como una ganga puertorriqueña. López los vio de nuevo cuando los Young Lords se transformaron, oficialmente en el 23 de Septiembre de 1958, de in ganga a un movimiento de los derechos humanos. Esta vez los jóvenes estaban protegiendo a José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez y Fred Hampton (del Black Panther Party) quien estaban hablando juntos en Loop Jr. College donde López estaba peleando por los derechos de los estudiantes y educación bilingüe. López se hizo parte de los Young Lords en 1969. En 1973 el fundo el Mexican Teachers Organization. Señor López continúa trabajando por los derechos de Latinos y emigrantes. En 2006, el corrió por el Green Party como candidato para la Case de Representantes de Illinois, del 4th distrito. El 10 de Marzo del mismo año el reunió una de la más grandes demonstraciones, de gente que luchaban por los derechos de los inmigrantes de clase obrera, en la historia de los Estados Unidos. López continua siendo proactivo en la aria de Humboldt Park, derechos para inmigrantes, la “Latin American Defense Organization (LADO), y los Young Lords. El es el director ejecutivo de CALOR, una clínica para Latinos que han sido afectados por HIV/AIDS u otras enfermedades. �Transcript JOSE JIMENEZ: If you can begin by telling us when you arrived in Chicago, where you lived at, and where you came from in Mexico. OMAR LOPEZ: Okay. Yeah. Well, I came to Chicago, or I was brought to Chicago at age 13, and from the beginning we came to live in Humboldt Park. I’m talking about 1958. Nineteen-fifty-eight and it wasn’t what it is today or what it has been in the last 30, 40 years. I mean, then the neighborhood wasn’t even beginning the transition yet between white dominant community to then Latino-Puerto Rican community. But that’s where we landed from the beginning. As a teenager, I hung around a lot in Maplewood and Division. There were some of [00:01:00] the young Puerto Ricans and Mexicans, and we used to get together on a hot dog stand that was there. And that’s where I also began to hear, for example, about the different programs like the YMCA’s intervention programs, things like that. And of course, that’s where we used to go from Maplewood and Division, that’s where we used to go out to our little fights in Humboldt Park and other places against the Polish-Italian gangs that were in that particular community. So it was even way back then that I used to have a hillbilly friend. They used to talk to me about the Young Lords too. Kenny Smith was his name, and he used to travel a lot. I mean travel like from Lincoln Park to Humboldt Park, and that’s how we used [00:02:00] to -- that’s when I started hearing about the Young Lords also. He would tell me that -- we used to have a little scrimmages with a group, it was called Chi-West and he’s, “Oh, well, we got to go get the Young Lords we’re 1 �at over there in Armitage, the playground in Armitage.” So that was the first beginning when I started hearing about the Young Lords. So most of my adolescence was in the Humboldt Park community, but already having contact with other communities, Latino communities like Lincoln Park. Interestingly enough, through Kenny Smith was a hillbilly. That’s how I started to be in touch with the Young Lords at the time. JJ: About what year was this? OL: [00:03:00] Oh, I’m talking about beginning between 1961 and 1966, because the other groups were just forming also in the community. We had groups like the Trojans and others that were just beginning in the Humboldt Park community. But then the Young Lords came later. My contact with the Young Lords came later, probably about when Kenny Smith used to come around and talk about it. Maybe it was about 1965, maybe 1966, something like that. That was around the time. JJ: Okay. And you were going to what schools and what schools were you going to? OL: Okay. In grammar school, I went to Yates. Yates Elementary School. And then from there, when I graduated from Yates, then I went to Tuley High School. So I did [00:04:00] all my four years in Tuley. Again, Tuley was primarily Ukrainian, Polish, Italian, and there’s probably about 45 Mexicans and Puerto Ricans altogether. It was just beginning to come into Tuley High School. So again, the life in Tuley High School was also the same. We had to deal with some of those groups that were there, primarily Polish and Italian groups that were in Tuley. But I did four years at Tuley, and then after that I got married. So I didn’t go to 2 �school for a while until I decided that I needed to go to Loop City College to start taking some courses there in Loop College. And that’s what I did [00:05:00] right back in about 1966, 1967, 1968, decided that I needed to go back to school. At Tuley -- at Loop College there was a lot of activity going on already. I was trying to get some of the high school guys that had gone to school with me to go to Loop City College. Some of ’em did, but there was a lot of activity going on. We formed a group at Tuley -- Loop College that was called OLAS, the Organization of Latin American Students, and we called it Latin American because there was a lot of Puerto Ricans, Mexicans, Colombians. So we couldn’t call it either Mexican, Puerto Rican or -- so we went for OLAS, Organization of Latin American Students. And we made a lot of good alliances with the [00:06:00] Black Student Union that was also at Loop College. And that’s when we also, we pushed to have a coalition with Black students at the time that we called it The Third World Coalition. And the Third World Coalition, what we did was we were very much in touch also with the Black Panther Party then. We invited Fred Hampton to come and speak to the students, things like that. So we were hooked into a lot of the activity, political activity was going on, but in OLAS, the emphasis was to go back to the neighborhood. Yeah, you’re studying, but you got to go back to the neighborhood. And it was right around that time also that I came in contact with you, Ralph Rivera, Cha-Cha, that you were reorganizing [00:07:00] the Young Lords. And I remember the meeting that we talked a little bit about the reorganization. The first time that I heard you talk about it was at the Urban Training Center. The Presbyterian Church used to have what they 3 �called a, UTC, the Urban Training Center. It was training almost like community organizers, and it was on Ashland and Washington, the Congregational Church, First Congregational Church there. And that’s when we met and started talking about the restructuring. You talked to me about the restructuring. You talked to me about the button with Tengo Puerto Rico En Mi Corazón, all of that. So that was sort of like the first time that we began to talk about the restructuring of the Young Lords. So that was back in 1960-had to be 1968. That’s a long time ago, but I think it was 1968, [00:08:00] maybe around April or so of 1968. So that’s where everything was beginning to brew in terms of the organization. JJ: And then what happened? When did you come to the neighborhood, to the church and then after -- OL: Again, I had had a lot of activity going on with the youth groups on Division Street, because remember in 1966, there was the Puerto Rican riots. And so all of the guys that used to hang around Division and Maplewood were involved in the three days of riots and Division. So there was a lot of big communication within groups, not just between the guys on Division and Maplewood, but Division and Hoyne and around Damon, [00:09:00] the people that were coming from Harrison and Western. JJ: What was the Division Street Riot? What was that about? OL: The Division Street Riot was in June of 1966, and I think that was the culmination of all the repression that the police was carrying on against, especially young people. I mean, it was the youth that were really active in the neighborhood, and they were forming their groups, they were getting involved in different activities, 4 �going to dances at the YMCA. So there was a lot of activity with the youth groups, but of course, there was a lot of street activity too. And the police was always coming down on the young people. Always, always, always. And I think this was sort of like what broke the camel’s back? The straw that broke the camel’s back was when the police [00:10:00] shot this young guy on Division, around Division and Hoyne. It was right after the Puerto Rican, the first Puerto Rican parade in the city. So it was a Sunday, I think it was Sunday, June, I want to say Sunday, June 16th of 1966. And that incident started the young people to really come out on the police. What happened after that people got really angry at these injustices, really. And people started coming out on the street. And the police that were involved in the shooting of this guy, of course, they called in for reinforcements. So the more police came into the area and more people came out from the houses, and there was a lot of confrontation going [00:11:00] on between the police, but it was focused on that Damon/Division area. And what happened was the police began to try to arrest people, and people were beginning to confront the police at the time. And what happened was that there was, on that block between Hoyne and Damon on Division, there used to be a theater. It was called the San Juan Theater. And on top of the door, on the side of the theater, there was a lot of offices. And one of those offices, there was this guy that had a radio program every Sunday. They used to -- he used to call himself [el Boricua Argentino?]. He was from Argentina, but since the market was Puerto Rican, he was catering to the Puerto Rican community. So he had a Sunday program, and he used to broadcast from that office up by the San Juan 5 �Theater. [00:12:00] And what he did was they looked out the window, and when he looked out the window, he saw what was going on between police and the community people, and he started -- was on the air. So he was almost like narrating what he was seeing. And I think that’s what got a lot more people to come out. People used to listen to his program every Sunday. So when he started talking about the injustices that he was seeing from the second floor, he had a bird’s eye view of the activity. A lot more people started coming up, and a lot of the young people were really the ones that were fueling all this activity to the point where in front of the San Juan Theater, I think there was one or two squad cars that were burned. But then that was the Sunday, and then it began to spread, so that in those three days of rioting, it went from Damon and Division all the [00:13:00] way to California and Division. That was a lot. That was a lot like 19 to 26, about a mile stretch. But of course, you see it now and you have the hospital, you have other institutions there. But before that was all apartments all along Division Street, there was all people coming out. And so that kept it going for three days and three nights. That was a key event in the Puerto Rican community, because what that did was it forced Mayor Daley to acknowledge the Puerto Rican community. One of the things that he had to do was open up an Urban Progress Center as a response. And the first director of the Urban Progress Center was Dr. Samuel Betances. But also, they had to -- one of the demands that came from the Puerto Rican community [00:14:00] was we want Hispanic policemen in the force. There was hardly any, maybe one or two, and they couldn’t make it because of the height. So one of the demands that this 6 �committee that was formed as a result of the riots, one of the demands was to lower the height. And Mayor Daley had to do that -- he had to do it for the entire force. So some people says, now you get a lot of midgets in the force because they lowered the height, but that’s how they got a lot of Latino policemen. They started to come in that way. But it was key because I think that was actually the only time in the history of the Latino community in Chicago that the power structure was confronted and challenged the way that the Puerto Rican community did that. I haven’t seen that happen [00:15:00] ever again in the Latino community. And as a result, I think the Puerto Rican community began to make some advancements in politics, in education. We were getting elected officials, things like that. But that three days of rioting, I think that was key in what happened later in the Puerto Rican community. JJ: And what was going on with you from 1966 to when you get involved with these students and young folks? OL: Well, what happened was after the riots, there was a need to organize. I was a student, part-time, but I was still very in touch with the guys in the street. And also my older brother, Obed was in the area, and he was a good organizer. So we decided that we needed to organize and start providing services to the families [00:16:00] in the community. Because that was part of it, the fact that families in the community were not getting the services they needed. Young people were not getting the services they needed. So there was a vacuum in terms of that. So I got involved with my brother, and because I had a pretty nice base with the young guys, so we started organizing. We organized the Latin 7 �American Defense Organization, LADO. Basically what that was doing was helping a lot of the young families that were arriving from Puerto Rico for the first time in Chicago, and they needed to get established and to get established, they had to go to Public Aid. And Public Aid was always giving them a hard time denying them services, denying them assistance, when in fact, they needed to have that, and they were eligible to get [00:17:00] it, but the welfare department was always giving them a hard time. So that was one of the organizing points, the welfare assistance, because that affected the entire family. So that was it. And as a result, LADO formed what they call the Welfare Union. And the Welfare Union had then contact with the African-American community, the white Appalachian community that were in the same situation. They formed the Welfare Coalition also, but that was it. What happened here was that although these young families had, the sons and daughters were the ones that were out in the streets also. So the young people at the time also saw LADO as a model for organizing. [00:18:00] And so when they were thinking of organizing, they used to look at that as a model. And so that was how I started to do a lot of community work too, and community organizing until I started to go to Loop College. Then we started to do some student organizing also. JJ: And what is the connections to LADO and the Young Lords? OL: Okay, once the Young Lords began to function as a community organization, then there was also the communication between LADO and the Young Lords. And there was a natural connection because again, in this case, Lincoln Park was having some of the very same problems that Humboldt Park, West Town, 8 �Wicker Park were having with the Puerto Rican families. [00:19:00] So there was a natural connection. So for example, when LADO would have a demonstration at the welfare offices, for example, the Young Lords participated as security for all these mothers, young mothers, and with their children, they used to come and march. And also the Black Panthers through the Young Lords, then the Black Panthers would also participate in these kinds of demonstrations. So that’s what I’m saying it was sort of like a natural connection. And that’s when the communication between the Latin American Defense Organization, LADO, and the Young Lords began to happen also. And since I had been a lot more active with LADO, which was in the Humboldt Park area, and when the connection with the Young Lords was made, then I also began to get involved in the actions of the Young Lords, [00:20:00] and that’s how I began to get a lot more involved in the organization. JJ: There was a trip to Denver that I believe, can you explain that? OL: There was a lot of activity going on, a lot of political activity going on at the time. And in the southwest of the United States, the activity was centered around the Chicano movement. So there was a lot of activity going on in the southwest from Denver, New Mexico, California, all those places had a lot of actions going on. And again, the organizing tool over there was Chicanismo was a cultural nationalist movement out there. In 1968, the Crusade for Justice, which is headed by Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales hosted, or they organized [00:21:00] the Chicano Youth Conference, national Chicano Youth Conference. And we were invited. Chicago was invited, and we had a lot of meetings. This was very 9 �interesting, the Young Lords were in, because the Young Lords by this time were already developing a political consciousness. So it was no problem for the Young Lords to say we’re going to go, but we were working with other youth groups like 18th Street. We were working with the Latin Counts, Ambrose, and the Rampants, and we wanted them to get involved and also go on the trip to Denver, but on the north side, and sort of like the youth base for LADO was the Latin Kings and they didn’t see eye to eye. But we began to have meetings between [00:22:00] the groups and came to a point where they decided, “Yeah, okay, we’re going to make peace and we’re going to travel to Denver.” So we had two buses full of people that went to Denver. And in them, it was interesting because we had the Young Lords, the Kings, Counts, Ambrose. It was different groups of young people that were out there that were really impacted by the conference. I think the Young Lords were very much impacted. As a matter of fact, this is where we made the contact with Hayward, California, it was a group of young people from Hayward who decided they wanted to found the Young Lords in Hayward. So that was back in 1968. So the idea of expanding the concept of the youth organization, like the Young Lords in Denver started to happen because [00:23:00] the kids from Hayward, they said, “I want to be Young Lords.” So they started to do that. But I think that trip to Denver had a big impact on the Chicago youth. When we came back, I know that the Latin Kings and the Young Lords began to have a lot of good communication about organizing, and the Kings began to call themselves the Latin King organization, 10 �also just like the Young Lords organization. But I think that Denver had a lot of impact in 1968, and then went back in 1969 again. So that was good. JJ: Now you came back and what were some of the activities that were going on? What was your role in the Young Lords, your title? OL: Well, then what happened after Denver, we already had been in touch and talking about the need to organize in Lincoln Park with the [00:24:00] Young Lords. And at that point, it was in early 1968, it was even before we went to Denver. We talked about the fact that you needed someone to handle all of the communications for the Young Lords, and you asked me to be the Minister of Information for the Young Lords. And after I had checked with again, because I was active with LADO, checked with him, and we also said, that’s a natural connection because we’re about the same thing, and there’s a need with the Young Lords. So I went and became the Ministry of Information for the Young Lords. So then we came back from Denver. There was a lot of activity in Chicago. You remember when Manuel Ramos was shot and killed? That was when we had the march on [00:25:00] the police station as a result of the killing of Manuel. That’s when we took over McCormick Theological Seminary and then the church. So 1968 was really a very intense year for the Young Lords of growth, you see, because, and it was growing very fast. And I think that one of the things that happened was that through your leadership, the fact that you were putting it together to be able to have the impact that the Young Lords needed to have with youth, all the young people, I think that was important because otherwise, the Young Lords, with incidents like the Manuel Ramos killing, it 11 �would’ve fallen apart, but it didn’t. I think that with the kind [00:26:00] of organizing and all of the talking that you were doing with the rest of the members, I think that with the killing of Manuel Ramos rather than for the group to fall apart, I think that’s, in my opinion, that’s what brought ’em together. And I think that’s what made a lot of the people in the members of the Young Lords that were not still convinced that it had to be a political organization. I think that incident made them realize that if the Young Lords was to survive and the young people in the Young Lords were to survive, they had to become a political organization. And I think that’s when we got a lot of the people that were rejecting the idea that you always put out. I think that made ’em change. And I think that from there on the activities, so the Young Lords really began to take off. JJ: So you’re saying that [00:27:00] there was some people that were not in favor of making the transition into the Young Lords. What were some of the reasons that that -- OL: I remember that you had the idea -- you went around talking to each of the members, but there were people that were not convinced that the Young Lords were to make that transition. I think they wanted to keep it as it was -- just a group of friends, maybe social, a social type of organization, and they didn’t really want to bother getting political. And there was a good -- I think there was a good strong group that were against the transition. I think from conversations later with some of them, people like Sal, and [00:28:00] he’s open about that, and he didn’t want to change. But I think he also accepts the fact that once the incident of Manuel happened, that also made him think about it. And then he 12 �accepted the idea of making the transition. And I think there were other people that followed him were in the same position. But I think that that incident really made everybody change. JJ: And what was that incident? OL: When Manuel Ramos was shot? JJ: What I mean, what took place? Can you explain what you recall? OL: Well, I wasn’t there. I only got the phone call late at night that there was a party going on with the Young Lords. Someone that lived next door happened to be [00:29:00] an off duty policeman, and he complained that there was too much noise. But it’s interesting because if it’s too much noise, you call the police on you, and you have people quiet it down. But he was taking everything into his own hands. I mean, he came out and he was armed. And when people like Manuel and Ralph and others came out on the porch to find out what was going on with this guy that was out in front of the apartment, he shot him. He was armed. And you can tell it was without provocation because the guys were up on the porch, I mean, they weren’t even down there confronting the guy. So it was obviously that there had to be some racism involved in this. [00:30:00] Because it was obvious that there was a Puerto Rican household, they were having a party, the music was loud, and this guy was -- by the name of James Lamb, off duty policeman -- came out to take action on his own without calling the police. So I think that there was a lot of racism involved in that. And the fact that he was an off duty policeman, I think he felt that he could do that without having to then be responsible and accountable for his actions. And in fact, he never got 13 �convicted for that crime. But that’s what happened that night. And I think, again, once we all got the call and we knew what was going on, I think that that made us really think about it. And it was either fold up or get stronger. And I think that the [00:31:00] majority of the Young Lords decided that it was time to organize. JJ: And how was that shown, for example, at the funeral and other? OL: Well, then again, and it’s unfortunate, but the death of Manuel really brought people together. And you could see it at the wake, at the services at St. Teresa’s. All of the Young Lords came out dressed in black, the purple beret, and very disciplined. And I think that that was the first time that people publicly saw that kind of discipline coming out of a youth group in the Latino community. It was very disciplined. It wasn’t disorganized. It was very -- I guess you can say it was very respectful of what was going on, but also it was very powerful. It was [00:32:00] very powerful. The images were very powerful. And I think that that was a sign of how fast the group began to mature. So after that, then all of the actions of the Young Lords were really focused. They had an objective, and it was very organized from there on, in the sense that there were collective actions that were being taken after that. For example, we called the demonstration on the police station on Chicago Avenue. JJ: Describe that. OL: And that was also as a result of the killing of Manuel. And we went to protest the fact that nothing was going on in terms of the case. And we had [00:33:00] well over a thousand people just marching. And it was overnight, you call people out, and it was overnight they came out and we walked all the way from Lincoln Park 14 �all the way to the police station, that at the time was between -- on Chicago Avenue between LaSalle and Clark. The police station, it’s gone now there, it’s another building there, but that’s where the police station was. And we did that. We had a massive demonstration. And the interesting thing here is that right behind the march, because we went through Cabrini Green, right behind the march, we had the Stones, I think it was the [Cobra?] Stones right behind -JJ: What was the Cabrini Green? OL: Cabrini Green was one of the biggest housing complexes, public housing complexes in Chicago. And [00:34:00] it was home to a lot of the gangs, AfricanAmerican gangs. The Stones were there, and I’m sure the Disciples were there in another section, but we walked right through that project because we had had, the Young Lords already had some communications with youth groups in the projects. So we went through, but then I guess not all, not everybody knew that we were friends. So right behind us were the Stones. So when we got to the demonstration in front of the police station, we found ourselves boxed in. We were in front of the police station on Chicago, but on the east side around Clark, you had this whole line of policemen in riot gear. I mean, just blocking that whole avenue. And then on the LaSalle side, you had all the Stones over here. So we [00:35:00] were blocked in. And again, I think this is where, again, the maturity of the Young Lords’s leadership showed up because people like yourself, Cha-cha, Sal, and others, you had to come out and negotiate, and you had to explain to the Stones, not to the police, they knew, but the reason why we were there and what had happened to one of our members so that they understood why we were 15 �there. So after that, they understood. So that confrontation with them ended. We just had the police on the other side to deal with. But the relationship with the Stones developed as a result of that demonstration. And days later, [00:36:00] when we decided that McCormick Theological Seminary as an institution that was part of the group of institutions that was pushing urban renewal in Lincoln Park, that it had to be taken over. The Stones participated also with the Young Lords and the Poor People’s Coalition that decided to take over McCormick Theological Seminary. So again, talking about the Young Lords developing maturity, I think that was another sign. First, after the Killing, the wake where you begin to, for the first time, you see a very well organized, disciplined group come out public. And then the negotiations on the spot when we had that demonstration in front of the police station, and then the takeover of McCormick Theological Seminary all came. So like [00:37:00] in a string of activities. JJ: What do you call what you recall about the takeover? Describe that. OL: Well, the Young Lords already at that point were identifying urban renewal as the enemy. Urban renewal -- we already had identified urban renewal as the program that was pushing people out of the neighborhood with the help of real estate agencies like Bissell Realty, which was on Bissell and Armitage. And it was run by Fat Larry, we used to call Fat Larry. DePaul University, McCormick Geological Seminary, Grand Hospital, Augustana Hospital, Aetna Bank. I mean, these were the institutions that, in that community that were the ones that were pushing urban renewal. [00:38:00] And so the Young Lords saw that as the 16 �enemies. And out of all of those enemies, we saw that McCormick Theological Seminary not only was one of the institutions, but they were a religious organization, and they were probably one of the biggest slumlords in Lincoln Park. And so other organizations like the, is it Concerned Citizens of Lincoln Park? They already had their eye on them too, for the same reason. So we came together also with the Concerned Citizens to organize the Poor People’s Coalition and take over McCormick Theological Seminary. But McCormick was one of the biggest slumlords in Lincoln Park. And so as a result of the takeover, we presented also a series of demands. One of them was a housing project. [00:39:00] Another one was Legal Defense, Legal Defense office. Another one was a cultural center that we wanted. So out of those demands, we were able to get some seed money to get an architect to do the designs for a whole complex. If I recall, well, it was 72 units that we were proposing. And Howard Alan was the architect, young architect at the time that consulted with community as to the design of the apartments and talked to ladies and mothers about how they envision an apartment for themselves. And he put it together. So now remember the organization that was making [00:40:00] the decisions on urban renewal, what houses were torn down and what projects went through was the, let me see if I remember. The Lincoln Park Urban Conservation -JJ: Community Conservation Council. OL: Yeah, that one. JJ: Lincoln Park Community Conservation Council. 17 �OL: Lincoln Park Community Conservation Council. They used to be sort of like the agent of the urban renewal, and they used to pass on projects. And so they were the ones that were making decisions as to what areas of the community were coming down and what families were being pushed out, really. So the Young Lords also knew that they identified them as the ones making decisions. And you remember one of the big actions was to take over one of their buildings, one of their meetings too, [00:41:00] and not allow them to take any more decisions, make any more decisions for the community. And again, that was another one of the actions of the Young Lords that had a clear purpose and where the young people participated. You always say that we had to rearrange furniture for them. Yeah, I mean, it was a violent intervention because I mean, they were being violent by pushing people out already. So it took another violent action to stop them from making decisions. So that was another action of the Young Lords. So this was the group that we had to go back to also with designs of the housing project, after McCormick Theological Seminary agreed to give us some seed money. I mean, remember the takeover took a week. It was a week that we were in McCormick Theological Seminary until they negotiated. You remember [00:42:00] we were there and they wouldn’t negotiate. In fact, at one point, the president, McKay, threatened to bring in the police and get us all out. And we came back and said, “Okay, well then if you bring the police, then we’re going to move into the library.” And from what I gather, the library has, well, it used to have this collection of rare religious books. I mean, really worth a lot. And McCormick wasn’t ready to lose that because they knew that we were serious. 18 �So then they negotiated. They sat down to negotiate with our committee, and that came out with the seed money for the housing project and money to establish an office for legal assistance to our community, which later became the People’s Law Office, which is still in existence today. [00:43:00] But that came directly from the takeover of McCormick Theological Seminary. The cultural Center never materialized, but that was again, another one of the actions of the Young Lords that -JJ: Why didn’t the police come right in and take them and take people out of McCormick Seminary? OL: Well, I think it was two things. One was because it wasn’t just a little group of people taking over. The coalition that took over McCormick Geological Seminary was headed by the Young Lords. Yeah, but you had a lot of other people. LADO was part of it. The Lincoln Park, the citizens, Concerned Citizens of Lincoln Park were part of it. There were a whole group of community organizations. It wasn’t just one little organization. It was difficult for the police to come in on something like that. The other one was McCormick [00:44:00] would be the one to call them in. And when they threatened to call him in, that’s when we came back also with the threat. And so they wouldn’t come in. JJ: You mentioned LADO was part of it. What role did LADO play? OL: Well, LADO -- it’s interesting because at the same time that the takeover was going on, the Presbyterian church was having its national convention in San Antonio. And so Obed, who was the head of the Latin American Defense Organization, LADO, was sent, we sent him to San Antonio to present the 19 �demands over there in San Antonio. So that was going on. So it was -- the engagement wasn’t just the confrontational engagement in Chicago, but we had someone also participating in their own annual Presbyterian convention. [00:45:00] So they couldn’t get away from not facing what was going on in Chicago because we took it to their own convention. In that sense, LADO was very key in making sure that the negotiations in Chicago happened. JJ: What was taking place inside for a whole week? I mean, what did people do for a whole week inside a seminary that had been taken over? OL: Well, I mean, there were different things. The activities, like I remember people getting together and discussing things because in those days, the kinds of teachings were very in vogue. But the other thing that you have to remember is that a group that participated and was very active in the takeover and was all very active in the organizing of activities inside the McCormick was the seminarians themselves, the students. [00:46:00] The students. And one of the leaders was Tom Logan, who internally also organized students to support us. So they were inside also with us. And they were also very instrumental in developing little groups for discussions. And community groups were -community people were coming in to help. They would get involved. So the whole takeover was not just one action, but what went on, the kind of education educational process that went inside was also very important because people understood why they were there. Of course it was being discussed as we were there. 20 �JJ: And then after that, there was another takeover of the church. Can you explain what was going on with that? OL: Yeah. See, again, [00:47:00] so many things were going on at the same time. JJ: There’s a couple of churches that were taken over. OL: Well, the one church that we put our eyes on was the Dayton Avenue Methodist Church. Again, remember, because the young people in the community needed a place to meet, a place to develop activities. And the Hispanic pastor in the Methodist church was approached so that we could use the basement. Just either to have a daycare or have the guys come in and play softball, I mean, basketball things to keep the youth active. But these people, they used to come in on Sundays only and then close the church for the rest of the week. And what we were saying to them is, “Open it up. Let us use the space.” And he refused. [00:48:00] He refused. JJ: This was, who was that? OL: Sergio Herrera was the minister. Herrera was Cuban, a Cuban American, but at the same time, they had the white congregation and the minister for the white congregation was Bruce Johnson, who was a lot more receptive to us, to the Young Lords and using the building. So when Pastor Herrera rejected our request, we decided that we needed to take over that building too. And we remember we we’re already coming out of the experience of McCormick. And so that’s what happened. One of the Young Lords, Louis Chavez, was given the assignment to sneak in the church, stay in the church, wait till they close, [00:49:00] and after they closed, he opened up the doors for us. That’s what 21 �happened. Once they were gone, Louis was inside. Louis opened the doors. We took over the church and we took over the church because we needed to establish programs also. To begin with, when we approached them, we were talking about daycare center. We talked to ’em about basketball in the basement for the young people. So when we took over the church, we went about the business of establishing programs for the community. One of the very first things we talked about was the daycare center so that mothers could go to work and leave the kids in the daycare center. There was a lot of mothers like that, but we didn’t have the money, the funds to develop the daycare center to do the build out. So you decided that we needed lumber, and there was a lot of construction going on in Lincoln Park because [00:50:00] it was urban renewal. So you picked a spot that had lumber, and you went over there with the truck, you got the lumber, and you brought lumber, right, to the church. JJ: I’m glad we already did the time for that. OL: Yeah. JJ: That was a different case, a lumber case. OL: The lumber case was one, but we needed resources, so we needed to get the resources. JJ: Why was the lumber case since they came out? I mean, what was the reasoning? Just to get lumber? What was the reasoning? OL: No, no, because we needed lumber to do the buildup for rooms in the basement so we could have the daycare center. We didn’t have the resources to go buy it. So then you just decided to go liberate it. And the lumber was brought in and we 22 �did the build outs. There’s got to be some pictures of the nice little rooms that were painted with nice [00:51:00] figures, children’s figures. But that’s what happened. I mean, the lumber case was not because you were just stealing lumber. It was the liberation of some material that some constructor or some developer had in the neighborhood, and we brought it in to make use of it. JJ: So it was called a liberation? OL: It was the liberation of lumber. (laughs) JJ: Okay. Was there any building code violations at that time? OL: Well, when we started to do the build out, then of course the city, the city has it’s code, but it’s crazy. When they came back, they told us we couldn’t have the daycare center because the floor was too low, because then you had to come down to the basement. The floor is too low, and then at the same time, they’re saying the ceiling’s too high. So which is it? It’s [00:52:00] either the floor is too low, or the ceiling’s too high. But they said, no floor’s too low. The ceiling’s too high. It’s a violation. So they were giving us this type of violations and obstacles so as not to open the daycare center, but we said, “No, we’re going to open up a daycare center anyway,” because we were already on a confrontation course with the city on something like that. But that was one of the reasons why we took over the church, to establish programs. Also in the basement, that’s where we started the Breakfast for Children. So in the mornings, the kids would stop by on their way to school, they would fly right into the basement. We had long tables. We used to cook breakfast with them, and they eat breakfast and go to school. So that was our Breakfast for Children. That church also served [00:53:00] as 23 �our health clinic. We established our health clinic, the free health clinic, the Ramon Emeterio Betances Health Clinic in that church. And we were able to get volunteer doctors from Northwestern University. As a matter of fact, our Minister of Health was a medical student, a Chicano medical student at Northwestern Medical School. [Alberto Chavira?] was his name, is his name. And he helped us get the clinic opened up and manned with people from Northwestern Medical School. So we did that. And I think that we tried to also put a dentist services there. We got the chair and everything. But that church, that used to be an empty [00:54:00] space throughout the week, we filled it up with programs and people were coming in. And that’s what we had also our education for cadres. And see, that’s one of the characteristics of the Young Lords, whereas it was all street people, but you were also very, very wise in getting people that came in to join the organization and to develop the programs. And in this case, like an education program for the cadres that was our Minister of Education was Tony Baez, Puerto Rican from Caguas, from the Barrio Borinquén in Caguas. He came in and he developed all the modules for [00:55:00] education, for the cadres, the history of Puerto Rico, a little bit of readings of Mao, things like that. But he’s the one that came in and put that together. So the church was also the place where the young kids would have to come in, they had to read books, and they had to participate in some kind of classes. And you remember a lot of these kids, 16, 17 years old, they began to really become knowledgeable on the history of Puerto Rico and the colonial relationship between the Puerto Rico and the United States. And they could go anywhere. They could go to any high school. 24 �Matter of fact, one of them, you remember Mousey, I remember very well. He must’ve been about 17 years old, and he was part of the health committee, but he knew why we were doing a free health clinic and why healthcare was a right [00:56:00] because he went through the classes. And he would go to Northwestern University to the medical students and talk to them. And he was 17 years old and from the street. So that was going on this kind of education. And we had people that put all these things together for the organization. And I think that’s the unique thing about the Young Lords in Chicago, that from a street group we’re able to develop conscientious, well-informed cadres that we had them in the organization, they could go anywhere and talk about it anywhere. We didn’t have a group of people that would be writing position papers on everything. During that time, because the student movement in the United States was so big, all [00:57:00] these radical students were always coming out with position papers. A position paper on this, a position paper on that. I mean, position papers were coming out of their ears. The Young Lords, we didn’t do that. But we did develop a good philosophy in the organization. We knew which way we were moving. We didn’t have to put it out in a little booklet, but our organization knew which way it was moving. And I think part of the criticism that we got from other leftist groups was that we didn’t come out with position papers. The position paper on women, the position paper on housing position, paper on this, we already knew. And we practiced it rather than intellectualize it. And I think that that was the unique part of the Young Lords in Chicago, that [00:58:00] it was action oriented, but it was action already based on knowledge on a certain 25 �ideology and a certain analysis of why we took over McCormick, why we took over the church, why we confronted the police. I mean, it wasn’t just out of the clear blue sky. It was out of an understanding of the relationship between the organization and the power structure. JJ: Well, one of the things that people usually say about gangs is they don’t respect women. So were there any women involved with the Young Lords? OL: Yeah, and I think, and also they came, again, the uniqueness of the Young Lords in Chicago was that it was an organic organization. It wasn’t a put together organization. And it was an organization that grew in the neighborhood. So the same way that you had male members, you had female [00:59:00] members in the organization. So when it becomes a political organization, you also have the women aspect of the organization. And again, we couldn’t follow a white model of women participation, which was going on like an SDS, Students for Democratic Society. And that -- we couldn’t follow that model because the female members of the Young Lords were not -- they were Puerto Rican, they were Latinos. So a different model had to develop. But I think that good example of how that female participation developed is in the group that developed was called MAO, Mothers And Others. And Mothers and Others was really a reflection of the female participant in the Young Lords. It wasn’t a young, single students that were going to college. [01:00:00] There was young mothers that were part of the Young Lords before, and they stayed in the organization. They participated and they helped and they supported, but they also formed their group, MAO, Mothers And Others. And they travel. The leadership like Angie, 26 �she traveled to China -- no, no, to Canada for this international women’s conference. And they were active, but they were active in their own terms and under a very special model for women participation, which is unique in the organization. JJ: Do you remember any roles, I guess I’m thinking about the Black Party, but any other roles that they played within the organization? [01:00:40] OL: Well, they were very supportive in all of the programs. [01:01:00] The clinic, for example, they were very active in the clinic in taking care of patients. They were trained too. I mean, people would come and train them on doing certain things. So they would come in on the days that the clinic was open and they would participate in that. And the Breakfast with children to the extent that they could, because they also had children. They were active in that. So any of the programs that we had, the presence of the women in the organization was there. Also true, the leadership of the organization was all male, but there was a lot of, well, Angie, but I’m talking about chairman, minister of Defense, minister information. These are all males. But the participation, especially through Angie, [01:02:00] was always there. And it wasn’t like in many other groups, it wasn’t a inferior to the rest of the leadership. It’s just that they were being active in a different manner. JJ: Okay. What about what was going on? How did the city respond to the young girls? OL: Huh? That’s right. I mean, I think it was a shock to the city also to the powers in City Hall to see an organization like the Young Lords become political. I mean, 27 �they had their hands full with the Black Panthers and then comes the Young Lords. And not only that, but then the Young Lords start going around talking to other [01:03:00] gangs about becoming an organization, not just with the Latin Kings, but with the Latin Eagles. I remember we traveled even to South Chicago to talk to the Saints, Harrison, Jens. I mean, we talked to every gang that would listen to us about turning into a political organization. And we already had a reason why an organization like the Young Lords would become a political organization. So that’s what we shared with them. So all of this was not ignored by the police, and I think that they really saw the Young Lords as a real big threat. Big threat to the way they dealt with youth in our community, because then they weren’t going to be dealing with little gangs. They were going to be dealing with organizations. And I think that [01:04:00] they made the decision. When Daley declared war on gangs, mayor Daley, the father, decided that it was going to conduct a war on gangs, but it was really a repression of a political movement among youth street youth. And that’s the way that the city decided to deal with it by repressing it. And in the case of the Young Lords, it was not only through arresting most of the leadership of the Young Lords, you yourself at one point had 39 cases in court. And that was one of the way of dismantling an organization by making sure that whatever funds we had, we had to use bail money, whatever time we had to deal with programs we had to spend in [01:05:00] court. So that was a way of dismantling the organization that weren’t gangs. And they were always after us. I mean, when at the church we had 24 hour a day surveillance. I mean, there was a squad car parked outside the 28 �church for 24 hours a day. And sometimes when we used to walk out at church, maybe at one, two o’clock in the morning, because maybe we were working on the newspaper or working on some, developing some leaflets, we woke out at one, two o’clock in the morning and they would stop and dead of winter, they would stop us and make us put our hands on the hood of the car. When the car, I mean, it was like the below zero. It’s cold. It is cold. I would just put my hand just above the, so, but they would come in and say, no, boom, put him on the hood. So it was that [01:06:00] kind of harassment. It was a constant harassment. It was a constant repression of our group. And as a result, then they were also dealing with the groups that were active with us. They were doing the same thing to them. JJ: Okay, what do you think we should, we’re kind of finalizing it. What do you think? Or do you remember anything about the campaign? We can go to the campaign. When we were underground, what were you doing when the rest of the group was underground? OL: Okay, JJ: Why did the group go underground? OL: Right? When the police, the FBI, the GIU, the gang intelligence units and all those people were successful [01:07:00] in dismantling the organization, then there was a decision that, well, you went on underground, you left, and while you were traveling around the nation, that was your contact, whether if you were in California, I knew that you were there and who you were with. If you were in Boston, I knew what you were doing there. So during that time also, all the 29 �organizations that had been active above ground were rethinking, and I’m talking about everywhere, not just in the United States, but even in Mexico. Organizations like ours were rethinking tactics because whereas we were an open above ground organization and everything that we did was [01:08:00] public and an open, we saw that that was not possible anymore. So one of the things that was decided was those that were still part of the organization, were going to go on the ground and continue developing, studying, working, but developing or at least maintaining the group alive, but not out in the open. So that’s what happened at the time, I stayed in Chicago also, and I was one of the Chicago contacts for that. During that time, what I decided to do was also go back to school, and I became a teacher during that time that the rest of the members were underground. But I was the one that, one of the people that kept also in contact with the school, with a group [01:09:00] in Wisconsin until came time for the group to surface again. And that’s when you decided to turn yourself in and do whatever time you needed to do and then continue again above ground. With the shift here with the Young Lords at the time was going into electoral politics, not as, because we thought that was the solution, but because that gave us, again, a platform to speak from about urban renewal, again, about other things. So it wasn’t like, okay, we’re going to run Cha-Cha for Alderman because he’s going to win. But it was, we’re going to run Cha-Cha for Alderman because that’s going to allow us, again, to talk about the issues like urban renewal. As a matter of fact, when you run for Alderman, the opposition, Chris Cohen then later [01:10:00] became the secretary for Urban Housing and Urban Development. So 30 �I mean, we weren’t too far from the targets that we’ve always had in mind, but that gave us, again, another form of educating communities. And we felt that that was the way to do it. But I think that’s sort of like the next stage that the Young Lords went into, and it was already a transformed group. But during the sixties and early seventies, the uniqueness of the Young Lords in Chicago, the national headquarters in Chicago, we’re unique in the sense that the organization inspire and it gave the youth a model to follow. So I think that the [01:11:00] Young Lords really impacted a whole generation of Latino youth that later on they became active in their own terms. And some of ’em went into health, some went into education, some went into politics, but they went in already with the kind of direction that the Young Lords had established. I think that if the Young Lords had not been there, probably the Latino Puerto Rican community would have developed, but it would have developed in a different direction than it did because I think the Young Lords established the mood and established the direction for the Puerto Rican community to move. And I think that was part of the legacy that the young horse left [01:12:00] for our community. And the other one is a lesson to people that the youth can come together, the youth can organize, because we didn’t have any adult leadership in the Young Lords. But as young people, you can come together, analyze problems, and have an impact on your community. And I think that’s kind of difficult to do that today because of all the factors that are at play in our communities. But we still have the Young Lords as a model to follow. It’s a question of, again, doing what you did back in 1967, ‘68 of going person to person to person and explaining what needs to 31 �happen with the youth, what needs to happen with a structure, like a gang structure. [01:13:00] But it is going to take not just one cha-cha, it’s going to take several cha-cha to do that and revive JJ: Doing OL: The model, what you did, JJ: Administer of information, doing what everybody was doing. That’s what we did. It did take a lot more people. The one thing we didn’t haven’t covered as part of the repression was how was Reverend Bruce Johnson was killed? Can you explain what happened then and what was the impact it had on you and some of the other members group? OL: Yeah. Well, that was one of the things. This was in 2008, 2009, nine 2000 JJ: September. OL: I’m already JJ: Actually, I’m sorry, October of OL: 69. Of 69. October nine, October of 69, that’s when Reverend Bruce Johnson was assassinated. [01:14:00] Him and his wife JJ: Assassinated. What do you mean? OL: Well, assassinated. He was killed. I think he was assassinated because I think he was the, remember I mentioned that he was the one that was very receptive to us in letters, come and come into the church and make use of the space in the church. And when he did that, the Young Lords acquired a base and we rooted ourselves in the community that way. I think that meant a lot to the power structures because we were sort of becoming, let me use the word 32 �institutionalized in the community. We weren’t just a little group running around. It was already a group that had a place. They had programs coming out of there. And I think that there was a lot of opposition to us, not just from the police department. I [01:15:00] think there were some right wing community groups that were against us that didn’t like the things that we were doing. We love America Committee that was right next door to us, and they would go through a lot of garbage and take out little papers and then make a case out of a little diagram that we would throw away groups like that. I think that the fact that we were a leftist organization in terms of ideology, right wing Latino groups in Chicago, didn’t like us either. And the organized right wing at the time in the Latinos, it was not Puerto Rican, it was not Mexican. [01:16:00] It was mostly Cuban. So I think that group didn’t like us either, but they didn’t strike against us. All these groups didn’t come and confront us because it would’ve been different. It would’ve been difficult for them to do that. But I that instead, they took it upon Reverend Johnson and punished him for facilitating what we had. And I think that he was killed because of his involvement with the Young Lords, him and his wife. I mean, were stabbed to death, the way that they were stabbed to death wasn’t like a robbery. I mean, it was a very intense, very, there was a lot of anger in the kind [01:17:00] of wounds that they found in them. So it wasn’t like you come in, you stab ’em and they run away. I mean, it was somebody that was angry at Bruce Johnson and the multiple stab wounds were not, I mean, they were very passionate. Very passionate. It was someone, or some people that were very passionate about what Bruce Johnson represented or what he had 33 �done. That crime was never solved either. But I think that, personally, I think that it was as a result of his involvement with the Young Lords. JJ: Do you recall the Young Lords trying to work with the police to try to solve the case or, OL: I mean, we never away from [01:18:00] contributing to the solution. I think that right after they were killed, the first thing that they would say, well, probably it was Cha-Cha that did it, but you were in jail at the time. That wouldn’t stick that. But then the organization, we wanted a solution. We wanted to find out who had done it, so we’re not going to obstruct that kind of investigation. JJ: Okay. Anything that you want add that hasn’t been tested? OL: No. I think what. JJ: You’re doing today or as a result. OL: Of your work, I think that the fact that today a lot of university students, high school students, [01:19:00] a week ago I spoke to seventh and eighth graders in the grammar school in Pilsen, who are studying the Young Lords. The fact that there’s an interest in the organization today, after how many years? 30, 40, over 40 years that we’re active. It means that the impact that the Young Lords had as an organization in our community is really positive. And people are eager to find out who are these guys? Who are these young people that did this, and how do they do it and why? And is it possible to replicate that? Seventh and eighth graders, when I talked to them, they were talking about, well, how can that be done again? And so they’re thinking, see, and I think that’s a good sign. They’re looking at the model. [01:20:00] There’s a model for them. And so out of those 34 �young kids, one of ’em is going to come out and start organizing at some point, and they will have the Young Lords as a model to follow. So I think that we’ve left a good legacy for other generations. Like right now, the interest is the history, but I think that other people are going to take it as the model to implement again with the young people today. JJ: Okay. That was excellent. Interview the part before. END OF VIDEO FILE 35 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/bf9601271fe6f3b551f6d5ab599eff4d.mp4 c89de508fe7f2ef08446af8a1d327c46 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives. The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng spa Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2012-2017 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Título Spanish language Title entry Omar López vídeo entrevista y biografía, entrevista 1 Descripción Spanish language Description entry Omar López era el Ministro de Información para los Young Lords. Nació en México y llego a chicago en 1958, estableándose en el vecindario de Humboldt Park donde sigue viviendo. El primero conoció alguien de los Young Lords en Lincoln Park cuando estaban en las calles como una ganga puertorriqueña. López los vio de nuevo cuando los Young Lords se transformaron, oficialmente en el 23 de Septiembre de 1958, de in ganga a un movimiento de los derechos humanos. Esta vez los jóvenes estaban protegiendo a José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez y Fred Hampton (del Black Panther Party) quien estaban hablando juntos en Loop Jr. College donde López estaba peleando por los derechos de los estudiantes y educación bilingüe. López se hizo parte de los Young Lords en 1969. En 1973 el fundo el Mexican Teachers Organization. Señor López continúa trabajando por los derechos de Latinos y emigrantes. En 2006, el corrió por el Green Party como candidato para la Case de Representantes de Illinois, del 4th distrito. El 10 de Marzo del mismo año el reunió una de la más grandes demonstraciones, de gente que luchaban por los derechos de los inmigrantes de clase obrera, en la historia de los Estados Unidos. López continua siendo proactivo en la aria de Humboldt Park, derechos para inmigrantes, la “Latin American Defense Organization (LADO), y los Young Lords. El es el director ejecutivo de CALOR, una clínica para Latinos que han sido afectados por HIV/AIDS u otras enfermedades. Sujetos Spanish language Subject terms Young Lords (Organización) Puertorriqueños--Estados Unidos Derechos civiles--Estados Unidos--Historia Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Mexicano-Americanos--Relatos personales Justicia social Activistas comunitarios--Illinois--Chicago Estudiantes--Derechos Civiles Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park (RHC-65)</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65_Lopez_Omar_1 Title A name given to the resource Omar López video interview and transcript, interview 1 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource López, Omar Description An account of the resource Omar López was Minister of Information for the Young Lords. He was born in Mexico and first came to Chicago in 1958, settling in the Humboldt Park Neighborhood where he has lived ever since. He first met some Young Lords in Lincoln Park when they were hanging out on the streets as a local Puerto Rican street gang, and later when the Young Lords were providing security for Interviewers: José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez and Fred Hampton (of the Black Panther Party) who were speaking together at Loop Jr. College where Omar was a student and fighting for student rights and bilingual education. Mr. López joined the Young Lords in 1969. In 1973, he founded the Mexican Teachers Organization. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Mexican Americans--Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Students--Civil rights Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-02-07 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/520ceaaaf63b47bb50ed8a7ae835a409.pdf 1a8fd91418fbba0d69f3de3aad9f4a33 PDF Text Text Young Lords In Lincoln Park Interviewee: Omar López Interviewers: José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez Location: Grand Valley State University Special Collections Date: 8/23/2012 Biography and Description English Omar López was Minister of Information for the Young Lords. He was born in Mexico and first came to Chicago in 1958, settling in the Humboldt Park Neighborhood where he has lived ever since. He first met some Young Lords in Lincoln Park when they were hanging out on the streets as a local Puerto Rican street gang. When the Young Lords transformed themselves officially on September 23, 1968 into a human rights movement, he saw them once again. This time those same young men were providing security for José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez and Fred Hampton (of the Black Panther Party) who were speaking together at Loop Jr. College where Omar a student and fighting for student rights and bilingual education. Mr. López joined the Young Lords in 1969. In 1973, he founded the Mexican Teachers Organization.Mr. López continues to work actively on behalf of Latino and immigrant rights. In 2006, he ran as a Green Party candidate for the House of Representatives in Illinois, 4th District. That same year, on March 10, he convened one of the largest mass demonstrations on behalf of working class immigrant rights in U.S. history. �Mr. López continues to be proactive in the Humboldt Park area, with immigrant rights, the Latin American Defense Organization (LADO), and the Young Lords. He is the Executive Director of CALOR, a clinic that especially serves Latinos affected by HIV/AIDS and other diseases. Spanish Omar López era el Ministro de Información para los Young Lords. Nació en México y llego a chicago en 1958, estableándose en el vecindario de Humboldt Park donde sigue viviendo. El primero conoció alguien de los Young Lords en Lincoln Park cuando estaban en las calles como una ganga puertorriqueña. López los vio de nuevo cuando los Young Lords se transformaron, oficialmente en el 23 de Septiembre de 1958, de in ganga a un movimiento de los derechos humanos. Esta vez los jóvenes estaban protegiendo a José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez y Fred Hampton (del Black Panther Party) quien estaban hablando juntos en Loop Jr. College donde López estaba peleando por los derechos de los estudiantes y educación bilingüe. López se hizo parte de los Young Lords en 1969. En 1973 el fundo el Mexican Teachers Organization. Señor López continúa trabajando por los derechos de Latinos y emigrantes. En 2006, el corrió por el Green Party como candidato para la Case de Representantes de Illinois, del 4th distrito. El 10 de Marzo del mismo año el reunió una de la más grandes demonstraciones, de gente que luchaban por los derechos de los inmigrantes de clase obrera, en la historia de los Estados Unidos. López continua siendo proactivo en la aria de Humboldt Park, derechos para inmigrantes, la “Latin American Defense Organization (LADO), y los Young Lords. El es el director ejecutivo de CALOR, una clínica para Latinos que han sido afectados por HIV/AIDS u otras enfermedades. �Transcript JOSE JIMENEZ: Okay, Omar, if you can give me your full name and your date of birth and where you were born. OMAR LOPEZ: Okay. My name is Omar Lopez. I was born in San Luis Potosí, Mexico. I was born on February the second, 1945. JJ: Okay. And then where is San -- OL: San Luis Potosí, San Luis Potosí, is a central state in the Republic of Mexico. It’s about a four hour drive north of Mexico City, so it’s right in the heart of the Mexican Republic. JJ: What is it? Is it a rural area or? OL: I was born in n San Luis Potosí, so it’s already established city, but it was established because there was a lot of mines during the Spaniards, a lot of mines. So that’s why it was established there. JJ: Gold mines or -- OL: It was silver mines. JJ: Silver mines. OL: Silver mines. [00:01:00] And so that’s how San Luis became a city. That’s where it was the cabecera, the head of the municipality. When I was born, I seem to remember that the population was like three quarters of a million people, but now it’s much, much bigger. But at that time, my family had moved into one of those, they call ’em colonias, the neighborhood that was at the fringe of the city. I mean, I could walk two blocks and I was already out in the open field. And 1 �when I look at it, in retrospect, that was a transition between country and city. People were still farmers, but they were making the transition between becoming farmers and becoming city dwellers. So a lot of the -- I [00:02:00] used to see a lot of wagons being pulled by mules. They had alfalfa and other things. So it was very interesting, very beautiful. As a matter of fact, from what I remember, beautiful transitional neighborhood. It was really nice. My father was a railroad man. JJ: What was his name? OL: My father’s name was Facundo López Martinez. JJ: Okay. And he was a railroad man? OL: He was a railroad man. He worked in the railroad, all of his adult life. I think he started probably about 19 years of age, immediately after the revolution. He was born in 1892. So when the Mexican Revolution started, he was 18. So he was recruited right away and he was recruited by the government. So he was from the state of Guanajuato. And the troops that he was with traveled the way to Acapulco [00:03:00] Guerrero, state of Guerrero, way south. But then at that time, a group of them were not happy. So they all deserted. They deserted from the federal troops and they joined the Zapatistas. JJ: So he deserted? OL: He deserted with -- JJ: And joined the Zapatistas? OL: And they joined the Zapatistas. And he did that. Of course, that group, the objective was to get back into Mexico City. They worked themselves back into 2 �Mexico City. So he saw part of, he participated in the Mexican Revolution, but since a very young age, he became a railroad person. He worked at the railroads until the day he died. That neighborhood again, was also populated by a lot of railroad people because San Luis being right in the center of Mexico, at the time [00:04:00] the whole network of trains, they all practically had to go through that city. So it was a railroad town. And consequently, it was also a labor town. Their union was very strong there, and there was always fights and things. But that was the neighborhood where I grew up. JJ: And your mom, what was her name? OL: My mother’s name was Maria Rosario Zacarias Vida de Lopez. JJ: Vida de Lopez? OL: Well, I mean, she became Vida de when my father passed away. So most of my life I knew her as Vida de Lopez. JJ: They used it -- OL: Yeah, that’s a full, that’s like the official thing when you, but her name was Maria Rosario. She came from a family. Her last name, maiden name was Zacarias. And [00:05:00] Zacarias is kind of strange last name. So when I started asking, it turns out that there probably somewhere way in the back, it was a Lebanese, it’s a Lebanese last name. So then my mother’s father was a-- JJ: His name? OL: My grandfather. My grandfather was a-- JJ: What was his name? 3 �OL: His name was Jesus Zacarias. Jesus Zacarias. He was an administrator for one of the haciendas in San Luis. So my mother grew up in one of those haciendas. JJ: And what is a haciendas? [00:05:30] OL: An hacienda, that was sort of like the unit. It was the property that landowners over the time had. And then they had workers, agricultural workers, and they cultivated, I guess different things. And from what I [00:06:00] understand, the hacienda was called Jesus Maria. They grew a lot of maguey for mezcal and I assume, probably not tequila, but mezcal and other crops. But my grandfather was just the administrator. He was a good administrator. And so my mother grew up in Jesus Maria San Luis Potosi. And then she moved to a little town called Río Laja in the state of Guanajuato, which is right next to San Luis. And it happened that the train that my father used to work on, used to pass by Río Laja. How my father started eyeing my mother, she was, must’ve been about sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, something like that. And that’s how their romance started. So eventually they got married, [00:07:00] and that’s how we got here. I’m the last of eight in the family. There’s three males. JJ: What are some of their names, your siblings? OL: So we’re three males and five females. So the males are Hector Xavier, Efraim, Obed, Hazael, and myself, Omar, my sisters are Deborah, Priscilla, and Noemi. JJ: Are any of them here or any? OL: One of them still lives in Chicago, and two of them never lived in the United States. They stayed in Mexico. And that’s where they are. They’re still living in Mexico. 4 �JJ: And what are they involved in? What type of work do they do? OL: Well, actually they just became housewives. They got married. One of my sisters did live in the United States for a while because my brother-in-law was a doctor, a medical doctor, and came to Maryland to [00:08:00] specialize in neuropsychology, neurosiquiatría, neuropsychiatry. And then he went back. And that’s like in the very early 1960s and ever since then, they stayed in Mexico. The other sister married, my brother-in-law was like an accountant. So he always worked in either banks or what they called seguridad social, social security, in Mexico until he retired. JJ: Okay. And so you came to Chicago what year? OL: I came to Chicago in 1958 to stay. We came in 1957, stayed for six months. We went back, that was in 1957. We came in February, 1957 for the first time, just for vacation. I had my oldest brother and my oldest sister were already here, and they wanted us to come and visit. And since my father was [00:09:00] a railroad man. JJ: And when did they arrive, your oldest brother? OL: Oh, my brother was the first one that came to Chicago in 1949. He was 19 years of age, and he came illegally. JJ: Do you know where he settled? OL: He settled, oh, the address that I remember was the 1500 block south of Harding in Illinois. Now it’s a primarily African-American community. It’s in North Lawndale. It’s in North Lawndale area. That’s the one address I remember. JJ: And you were saying your father was a railroad man? 5 �OL: Yeah, because my father was a railroad man we could travel free. He would get passes, railroad passes. So we used to take the train from San Luis Potosi and we ended up in Chicago. We didn’t even have to get off the train. So well in San Antonio we had to-- JJ: From there to here, it was the same train? OL: Yeah, all we had to do was transfer in San Antonio. But it was -- JJ: [00:10:00] Did you need documentation or anything like that? OL: Oh yeah. But when you cross Laredo, then you had to go through customs. JJ: Okay. And that was set up? OL: Yeah. JJ: Okay. All right. OL: So that was in February of 1957. We went back to Mexico in August of 1957, and we didn’t think we were coming back. But then my father passed away in January of 1958. And when my brothers that were already living in Chicago, for the funeral, they decided that I had to come with them. That I’d be better off if I came with them. So I arrived here in January of 1958. JJ: Okay. OL: Yeah. Ever since then I’ve been here in Chicago. JJ: Where did you live at? OL: When we came, it was the very first time is 1829 North Humboldt Boulevard. JJ: Okay. OL: That was in 1957. JJ: Humboldt Park. 6 �OL: Yeah, Humboldt Park. I’ve always been a Humboldt Park resident [00:11:00] since, ever since I came from Mexico, 1958. JJ: Since 1958. Okay. Now what were you doing just before you got here? What type of work? OL: Before I came to Chicago? JJ: Yeah. OL: I was a student. I was in grammar school. JJ: Okay, you were in grammar school. OL: In grammar school, yeah. JJ: All right, so now you’re living in Humboldt Park at that time. OL: We came to the Humboldt Park. JJ: How was the community? OL: The community in Humboldt Park was all primarily white. We were probably one of two families that were Mexican. There was a lot of Norwegians. As a matter of fact, the building where we came to live was owned by man, I think his last name was [Skomba?], but he was of Norwegian descent. On Humboldt Boulevard, right around the 1600 block there was sort of like the YMCA was Norwegian-American YMCA, but it was just like an association, youth association. [00:12:00] And there was a lot of Ukrainians and Polish people that I remember. JJ: So right around that area. OL: Yeah. JJ: I mean, what about Western and in that area? 7 �OL: All of that was white. JJ: Was white. OL: All of that was white in 1958. JJ: In 1958. OL: In 1958, all of that was white. One day I went to school, there was no bilingual education, so I should have been going to high school when I came from Mexico, but they put me in fifth grade because I didn’t understand English. So see, they used to equate not speaking English with being ignorant. So they said, “Well, this guy doesn’t speak English. He probably belongs in a lower grade,” but in areas such as like math, I was way ahead of all of the students. But the school was all white. There was a couple of students that were-- JJ: What school was [00:13:00] it? OL: Yates. Yates Elementary in Richmond, in Wabansia. I went there and I graduated from there. And since they put me back several grades in 1958, I went to summer school to at Wells High School to get double promoted so I could catch up. And then by the time I got to high school-- JJ: Was that common with people doing that? OL: Well, a lot of the guys that were going to summer school was because they were failing. I was going there because I needed to take additional courses so I could move up. But it is interesting because that’s where I began to have a little more contact with Puerto Ricans when I went to summer school at Wells, and they were coming from other schools. 8 �JJ: So it was a white community, but the summer school was full of Spanish speakers. OL: They had a lot of Spanish speakers, but they were coming from a different area. They were coming from the southeast end [00:14:00] because that’s where the families were around Chicago Avenue, Ashland, Noble. That way. JJ: Okay. That was Chicago Noble in that area, right? OL: Yeah. Okay. That’s where they came from. I mean, I came from the other extreme, which is Humboldt Park, but that’s where I started to have contact with-- JJ: This is in 1958, so they’re coming from Chicago and Noble around 1958. OL: Nineteen-fifty eight, 1959, right, 1960. So that was my first contact with Puerto Ricans. Well, no, actually, there was one student in Yates that was Puerto Rican, but I think he was born in Chicago and didn’t speak a lot of Spanish. They put me in the same room with him because he was supposed to help me translate, but he didn’t speak Spanish very good. So it was not much help, but it was nice to have been with him. His name was [Joe Ortiz?]. [00:15:00] But yes, so summer school was sort of the first contact that I had with Puerto Rican, 1959, 1960, 1961. And of course, when I went to high school the first year, then there was really a lot more Latino Mexicans and Puerto Ricans there. So that was in essence, the group that I started to hang around. JJ: So the neighborhood is changing over now slowly, right, into Latino or because it’s Humboldt Park. I mean, today is like the heart of, or not today, but not so long ago, it was the heart of the -- OL: The Puerto Rican community. 9 �JJ: So it starts to change in the 1960s, is that what? OL: In the 1960s it starts changing because, and the movement was coming from the east, coming West. JJ: So from the [Main?] and that coming west. OL: Right, right. [00:16:00] I think that when they built Carl Sandberg Village, a lot of ’em went to Lincoln Park. A lot of the families that were displaced, and a lot of ’em went towards Humboldt Park and this area. So I think that was that kind of shift, demographic shift going on because of urban renewal. So again, high school was where I began to have a lot more contact with Puerto Ricans. JJ: Now, was there any youth groups among the ethnic groups, the white ethnic communities? OL: There were, especially when I got into high school. Well, when I was in grammar school, we used to get some of this youth groups incursions. I was-- [00:17:00] just came from Mexico. I was brand new. I didn’t understand the concept of a gang, but that’s what it was. Gangs were coming into the neighborhood, and they were mostly from the areas of Western and Chicago Avenue. There was a group that was called Chi-West, and they had cars. So they would come into the neighborhood and harass some of the young guys. And since I was totally alien to the concept of gangs, and I used to tell the guys, “Come on, let’s go at ’em.” And they were afraid. I couldn’t understand why. Even in high school, I wanted to get people together too, because there was, in high school, there were more gangs that were mostly Italian and they were Polish, also. JJ: In Wells? 10 �OL: No, Wells was summer school. When I went to high school at Tuley High School, Tuley High School. And that’s where they were [00:18:00] more youth. They were Italians and they were rough. But because at the time the Puerto Rican youth was just beginning to select structure itself, also in groups. And then that’s where several groups began to grow, at least in my area. In my area, around the early 1960s, we used to have the Latin Angels. That was one of them. And for a while, there was the-- JJ: Latin Angels was a Puerto Rican group. OL: There was a Puerto Rican group, the Latin Angels, Puerto Rican, and then there was the Trojans. They were there. There was one group that came and went there. It was called the [409ers?]. JJ: So they were beginning to form? OL: Yeah, to form. JJ: Because actually, I believe the Latin Angels were even before the Kings at the-- OL: Oh, yeah, yeah. The Latin Angels were [00:19:00] in the early 1960s. Early 1960s. And I used to know a lot of them because-- JJ: And they were on Division Street. That was their-- OL: Yeah, that’s how I came in contact with ’em, because I got a job at a hot dog stand and that hot dog stand on Division and Maplewood used to be sort of like the focus, even before the Latin Angels, the Puerto Ricans that I began to hang around with were from that corner. And it was like from that hot dog stand that we would take off to go into fights. Either we went to Humboldt--Division and Kedzie or anywhere else, but we used to get together. And after the fight, that’s 11 �where we used to come back right there. So that hot dog stand. So I knew a lot of them. JJ: We used to go there because we were friends with the Latin Angels. OL: [00:20:00] Angels. Okay. Well, I think that also my first contact or my first knowledge of the Young Lords-- JJ: Because actually all the Latino gangs were kind of together at the time. There was a more racial-- OL: Yeah, because I don’t know, you remember that the YMCA used to bring us all together at the Duncan YMCA? JJ: Exactly. OL: All the groups used to come in there. There wasn’t that kind of friction that there is today. But the first contact I had with my knowledge of the Young Lords was also through a hillbilly. Kenny Smith was his name, and Kenny Smith was white. And one time we were driving around Western, I had a 1952 Mercury, four door. Four doors was important because they could come in and out quick. And we’re driving around Western and Rice, [00:21:00] Chopin school, and that’s where the Chi-West people were, Chi-West. And of course, they yelled at us and they chased us. And Kenny Smith was all offended. I says, “Oh man, let’s go get my friends.” He said “Who are your friends?” And I said, “Well, the Young Lords here on,” he wanted me to drive him to Armitage and just east of Halsted, there was a playground burning. That’s where they hanging around. He wanted me to go get ’em. That was sort my first knowledge of the Young Lords. But on this 12 �side, it was the Latin Angels, this where they used that corner. They used to come around that hot dog stand. JJ: And then Levitt and Schiller, you had the Kings, where they started. OL: Well, then later on, the Levitt and Schiller was where the Kings really were born. Levitt and Schiller. It was right next to a school. JJ: Wasn’t there a group called the Young Centers? OL: [00:22:00] They were the Young Sinners. JJ: Was the Young Sinners, right? OL: Yeah, yeah. Kings. Yeah. Then there was Hispanic Lords. JJ: Spanish Lords were further up there. OL: Yeah. JJ: So they kind of all formed around the same time. And they all got along at that time. OL: At the time, yeah. At the time, there was not a problem between gangs. And I think that the fact was that families were moving into those neighborhoods, so they were brand new. And what I always say is that the young people were the ones that were carving out safe spaces for Latino-- for their families to move in, because the adults, the parents, they were busy working, but the youth were the ones that really had the scrimmages with the other ethnic gangs. And that was, I see it as a process of carving out the neighborhoods for [00:23:00] for families. And that was going on everywhere. Everywhere where Latino families were moving in. And you could go back and see it happening around 55th and Emerald. You had the Emerald Knights over there, and you had, there was 13 �another one, the Latin Souls. It happened in Lincoln Park with the Young Lords, the Black Eagles. JJ: Flaming Arrows. OL: Right. Paragons. The (inaudible). JJ: (inaudible) OL: So those were the youth groups that were, in essence, whether they knew it or not, they were once carving out those neighborhoods for the families and on this side, things like the Latin Angels, and then later the Latin Kings and the other groups that organized. JJ: So when you say carving out, [00:24:00] why did they have to carve out? I mean, what? OL: Well, for example, the displacement that was going on around the city through urban renewal was really pushing or really creating a shift in the population. So Latino families were moving into neighborhoods, not because they wanted to, you know, but because they had to. And it usually had to move into neighborhoods that were already an ethnic neighborhood. In the Humboldt Park area, I think it was primarily Polish, Ukrainian, Italian. And those ethnic groups were already established. But when the Latino families, in this case, the Puerto Rican families begin to move in and start pushing, then the friction begins. And so then you will hear a lot of stories from young, well, today will be old people, but when they were young that they had [00:25:00] problems just going to school. They always talk about, “I had to run to school and run back home.” But that’s what was happening. And so even some of the guys that had to run to school 14 �and run back, at one point or another got together and they formed their groups to defend themselves and in that defense that’s when they were beginning to carve out that neighborhood for themselves. JJ: And what about organization wise and businesses, when did they start coming in? OL: Division Street was really hopping in the 1960s. By 1963, 1964, I mean, you had Puerto Ricans living, at least from Damen all the way to California. That was so-[00:26:00] practically all Puerto Rican. And because there was that wave of new Puerto Rican families coming into the city. So they were moving into neighborhoods like Division Street. And so because of that, there was a lot of mercados. There was a lot of grocery stores on the corners, and they were real good businessmen. They really bloomed in terms of business, furniture stores, clothing stores, jewelry--jewelry stores. I mean, you had all of it on Division Street, [carons?], social clubs, so all along Division Street, you had that. And you had people on the street every day, all day, twenty-four hours a day. I mean, it was really a street that was busy and hopping, and a lot of things were going on Division Street. So there was a strong business community, [00:27:00] a strong business community that I began to see. And again, looking at it in retrospect, right around the middle of 1960s, late 1960s, a lot of those businessmen that were successful, they began to go back to Puerto Rico. So then they began to, as they left, they created a vacuum in the community in terms of business. And so the mercados were beginning to disappear and access to food and things was beginning to change. Then you had to go to National, because that was the big 15 �supermarket. Then what we have Jewel today, that was National then. But that was a vacuum then. JJ: So why do you think they left? I mean, at that time? OL: I think that because they were very successful, they were all businessmen, and they knew [00:28:00] how to save. And when they were ready, they moved with everything. A lot of them opened up their businesses in Puerto Rico. JJ: Because that was their intention, basically. OL: Their intention, I think, was, yeah, to come, make money and then go back and they did. A lot of ’em stayed, but Division Street was not the same once all of this group of businessmen began to pick up and go. I think it suffered economically, the community suffered economically because of that. The money wasn’t staying in the community anymore. The money was going up, people had to shop elsewhere. But I think it was very strong economically. There were jobs, Puerto Ricans were working, they were all employed, but at the same time that the adults were moving in and finding jobs and struggling, and [00:29:00] the young people were going to school, what I said, carving out the neighborhood with the scrimmages, with the other ethnic gangs, and saw the relationship between the youth and the police was the one that was really tense. And we adults too, but not adults as much, because they were at work eight hours a day. But the young people were on the streets all the time, and they were getting harassed constantly by the police. I insist that during those days, the police department didn’t have the requirements that they have today to become a policeman. And so a lot, the former gang members from other ethnic groups 16 �became policemen. So they weren’t going to be very nice to Puerto Rican gangs when the friction was still going on between their former gang and the new gangs that were popping up in the neighborhood. So the harassment was really intense [00:30:00] everywhere. Everywhere. It wasn’t just on Division, it was on the South Side. It was in Lincoln Park. So the young people were really developing this very antagonistic relationship with the police department. And then you had the adults, they had their organizations too. JJ: What were some of these groups? OL: You talk about the Los Caballeros de San Juan, [Posta Boricua?], (Spanish), the Catholic Church was pretty active then. So you had the Cardinals Committee for Spanish speaking people. So the adults were working at establishing not legitimate, but acceptable organizations. And they were working at establishing the [00:31:00] community as an acceptable community to the city government, for example. And I think that the adults, all the work that they did, all the organizing that they did paid off. And even they had two factions going at the time. The [Posta Boricua?] was on one side, the Puerto Rican Congress and others were on the other side, but they decided to come together. The Caballeros de San Juan used to have their parade every year, but they came together and they decided to have one parade downtown. And for them, that was a symbol of acceptance and credibility before the eyes of the entire city. So they succeeded. They were successful in that sense. They established that, and they had in 1966, their first Puerto Rican parade [00:32:00] downtown. But it happened that at the same time, the youth were being harassed and all this 17 �friction was building up that when there was an incident between the policeman and a young man that was shot, I think he was shot in the foot or something like that. Everything blew up. And people couldn’t explain that. Why -- I mean, they just had to parade downtown and now they’re having a riot. And it was that because it was two parallel developments in the community; the youth that was being harassed by the police, the youth that was fighting, having scrimmages to, like I said, carving out a safe space for the families, and the adults that were going to work, trying to establish conventional organizations. It was parallel. And the youth, when they exploded, they exploded. They were a lot more impactful in the community. So in 1966, [00:33:00] after a Sunday, I believe it was June 14, the riots began. JJ: The youth got shot you said? OL: He was shot, the police -- JJ: Aracelis or something? OL: Aracelis -- I forgot last name. I’ll remember in a minute. Cruz. Aracelis Cruz. So police began, I mean the people began to protest what had happened there. And since everybody was out because of the Parade and because it was a celebration, there was a lot of people out in the street. And I think the police not being experienced seeing crowds like this, they called in the K-9 unit. So they brought out the dogs, and I think the dogs did bit some people, and [00:34:00] that was the end. I think Puerto Ricans, and I think other Latinos, have some very specific ideas about their self. And I think if a human being strikes you, it’s understandable. There’s another one, you’re fighting and someone hits you, but 18 �when someone with a dog comes and has the dog bite you and attack you, it’s a dog. You’re being attacked by dog. I think that had a lot to do. Bringing the dogs out had a lot to do with how the community understood how they were being seen by the police. And I think that was very offensive. Very offensive to the community. But again, I think it was the youth that kept three days [00:35:00] and three nights of rioting, not the adults. The adults were trying to calm everything down. The established organizations were on the street every day, like the Caballeros San Juan. They were out trying to calm things down. The youth, I mean, this I think was the first time that the youth could strike back at that entity that always harassed them without having to be arrested or without paying the consequences. So the bottles and the stones and the sticks and everything -- that they flew for three days and three nights. And the youth being very mobile, you could see them on Maple and Division now, and two minutes later, they were three blocks away. And so it was that kind of movement. It was obvious that it was the youth. And I think from the [00:36:00] East side, Damen and Division, there was a group there that kept it going. But then on the West side, let’s say from California and Division, there was another group, and I think that was the beginning of the Kings, the Latin Kings, were -- there was a group that kept it going on this side. So that happened three days and three nights. And I think that affected also a lot, affected the businessmen a lot. JJ: How did it affect the business? 19 �OL: Well, I think that they had a very negative reaction. And I don’t know, maybe thinking about it, maybe that’s one thing that helped to make a decision to move back to Puerto Rico because this was 1966. JJ: Because some of their businesses were destroyed. OL: And I think that that was one negative aspect of the riot. Of any riot. Any riot. [00:37:00] You can understand striking at authorities that harass you and oppress you, but then a line is crossed where you begin to loot businesses, break windows and steal from the businesses. And I think that’s the other extreme of the riot. JJ: How did the city respond? Mayor Richard J. Daley was the mayor. OL: Yeah. Well, Mayor Daley, he wasn’t ready -- the city wasn’t ready for a Puerto Rican riot. They were ready for an African-American riot. That’s what they were expecting when the summer came, but this was June, so they weren’t ready. And of course, they did the regular thing of sending police and trying to find the leadership that would calm things down. [00:38:00] There was a lot of meetings going on there between the established leadership and the city. The youth though, was the one that was pushing for changes. And I think that one of the things that came out of it, it’s interesting that the height of -- the height requirement for policemen to be policemen was too high for -- the young kids felt that for Puerto Ricans in this case, or Hispanics, that’s why they said that was the reason why you didn’t have a lot of policemen because they were all too short. So the mayor had to lower the height requirements so that Hispanics could join 20 �the police force. That was one of the demands that came from the community. But the mayor also-JJ: So a group of people got together and wrote a demand? OL: A group of people got together and they [00:39:00] drew up a whole series of demands. JJ: What sort of groups were involved with that? OL: Well, it’s interesting because there was a lot of the representation from the youth groups were there. JJ: So the youth were involved? OL: Yes. And they were the ones that were coming up with some of the demands. But the mayor responded by forming a commission to study the situation in the Puerto Rican community. And of course, they came out with a lot of recommendations they had to do with the youth-- employment, education, housing, health. I mean, in all of them it was falling short, the city was falling short. So recommendations came out to start addressing those problems. Out of the riots came a series of recommendations. For the first time, they opened up [00:40:00] what they used to call the Urban Progress Centers, and they opened the first Urban Progress Center in the Latino community, was on Division and Damen. And the first director was Samuel Betances. And at the time, he was a young man that wanted also to be involved in doing some things. And I think he was already employed by the city at the time. Later on, he went to Boston and went to Harvard and got a PhD. And today he’s an authority on diversity training, and he’s done diversity training all over the world. But that was 21 �the first director of the Urban Progress Center. And there are all the things that came out of it. But the one thing that came out of it that was almost like new to the Latino community was advocacy groups [00:41:00] that demanded things for the community. JJ: What were some of these advocacy groups? OL: Well, then out of the riots came SACC, the Spanish Action Committee of Chicago. There was another group that ABC, The Allies for a Better Community, and also the Latin American Defense Organization, LADO. And I think that of the three, LADO was the more militant group that always, out of the principles of action that they had, this is the last resource is going to be direct action. Well, after they would exhaust all the other means, they always ended up taking actions and picketing, demonstrating, marches. But it was something that the Latino community in Chicago wasn’t used to yet. This kind of activity, I call it advocacy, the demonstrations [00:42:00] and demanding services. So this also came out, I think, out of the riots, this new approach to the problems of the community. That was 1966. JJ: Now, going a little further than 1966, what were you doing after that? OL: Well, by 1966, I already had been married, and I had a daughter. As a matter of fact, my six months in high school, I was already married, and I had my daughter a month after I graduated from high school. So then after high school, I had to go to work. I stopped working at the hot dog stand, got a job. I had to go get a job that would pay me a little more. I had a daughter by that time. So I went to [00:43:00] work at Western Electric. A lot of Puerto Ricans were working at 22 �Western Electric. I met a lot of ’em there. As a matter of fact, my friends that we used to hang around together on Maplewood and Division, they were there. My family, there was three or four of my-- two of my brothers worked there. So Western Electric used to employ a lot of Latinos. So I was working there. JJ: Is this Western Electric South or no? OL: Western Electric was on Cermak and Cicero. JJ: Right, right. OL: Yeah. So that was in 1966. I graduated in 1964, so it was already two years. And it was interesting because my wife and I decided that we were going to continue going to school one way or the other. JJ: What was your wife’s name? OL: My wife at the time was Ada Lopez. Ada Lopez was the daughter of Graciano Lopez, who was the first president of the Puerto Rican Parade Committee. JJ: [00:44:00] That’s right, I remember. OL: But we had decided that we were going to continue school. So we started going to Loop City College, which is now Harold Washington college, part time at night, just taking one class here, one class there. So we still continued going to school, but being very active by (inaudible), we were founding members of LADO. So we were doing a lot of the work also in terms of community organizing. We started doing a lot of that. In LADO also we had people that were draft resistors, for example, we had Sijisfredo Avilés, I think he was the first Puerto Rican draft resistor. He went to jail for it. He served time because he refused to go to the 23 �Army, to serve in the Army. [00:45:00] So there was all this kind of activity going on. JJ: Who were some of the other players in LADO? OL: Well, in LADO, the founding members were, first of all, my brother Obed. There was a young Afro-Puerto Rican that was actually one of the organizers with Martin Luther King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. His name was, [Andres?]--and I don’t remember the last name, but he was part of it. Another young student, Puerto Rican student at Tuley High School was [Miguel?]. Man, I’m forgetting all those names. Miguel. He was also part of it. My ex-wife, Ada, myself, [00:46:00] Olga Pedroza was also, she was a case worker in the welfare department at the time. So those were the first group of people in LADO that started doing community organizing. And of course, at the same time-- JJ: Community organizing around what issues? OL: The issue, the main issue was welfare. Welfare, because again, you were having a lot of displacement of families. And the displacement, there was a lot of needs that families had. Also, when new families were arriving from Puerto Rico, they also needed assistance in settling, and the welfare department was not responding. JJ: And which office were you mainly-- OL: At the time the welfare office was on Milwaukee and Damen, what is now the Flat Iron building. That was where they had -- JJ: What was it called? Wasn’t that Wicker Park? OL: The Wicker [00:47:00] Park Welfare Office. 24 �JJ: Which was the office for Lincoln Park people. OL: They also came from Lincoln Park. JJ: So they had, when they were displaced from there, like you said-- OL: Yeah, they had to come there. JJ: Issues. OL: And so then LADO was taking care of some of that, demanding that they get services demand, that they get the assistance that was due to them. And so LADO became a family-based organization because you were not dealing with, which is one member of the family you were not dealing with. You were dealing with problem solvers of family. So the whole family used to be members of LADO. And so then LADO, that’s what it became. LADO was families. Families that were from the neighborhood. And so then when LADO would have a demonstration, and you had all these mothers and young kids that were [00:48:00] demonstrations in the marches, and the kids at the time, they saw their parents being active, and they became active themselves. JJ: And after that, what did you get involved in after that? OL: Well, because I was going to Loop College, the one thing that we realized in LADO was that students needed to be organized also. So when I was going part time, I decided to start an organization at Loop College, and I talked to some of the other students that were Latino students, Mexicans that would come from 18th Street, and decided that we needed to form a student organization. And so we got a group together and we called it OLAS, the Organization of Latin 25 �American Students. At Loop Junior College. And so the interesting thing about that is-JJ: Which today is Carol Washington. OL: Carol Washington [00:49:00] College. And OLAS still exists today since 1968 until today. They’re still there. The big difference, I think at the time was that first of all, the students were coming from the neighborhoods. And the other one, one of the principles of the organization was, yeah, we’re studying, and we may be getting a degree, but we’re supposed to go back to the neighborhood. We have to return to our barrio. That’s what we needed. We used to criticize students that would go get a degree, and then they move out. I said, “No, the work’s got to be done in the neighborhood.” So we may get trained and we may get a degree, but we have to go back to the neighborhood. So that was a movement also in the student movement to go back and bring back the skills to the neighborhood. So I [00:50:00] think that was unique and that was unique of OLAS. And so then OLAS also got involved with LADO because of that, because the area of activity was in the community. So that was interesting. JJ: So you did work, I mean, you were recruiting students too? OL: Recruiting students. Organizing students. And we would go and talk to students in the high schools and other colleges and universities to get ’em organized. JJ: So you expanded to other-- OL: Yeah, yeah. We were into an expansionist mode. But of course, I don’t know if this is good or bad, but all of my tendencies from when I used to be on Division and Maplewood, I mean, we had ’em, a lot of, still had a lot of street in us, and 26 �our loyalties were still very street. [00:51:00] So for that reason, when I became directly in contact with the Young Lords in 1968. JJ: How did that happen? Do you recall? OL: Well, yeah, I remember that there was a urban training center on Washington and Ashland, and it was part of the Presbyterian Church, but people used to come there and be trained to be organizers, and they had conferences and presentations. And I remember one time that I went there, it was on a Saturday, beautiful Saturday. It probably was late summer. No, yeah, maybe even before. But nevertheless, that’s where I met you and Ralph ‘Spaghetti’ Rivera. [00:52:00] And you were in the process of reorganizing the Young Lords. And we talked, and again, a lot of the students, our loyalty was still very street. So I had no problems relating to you, relating to Ralph and understanding the things that you were doing. So that was the first, the contact, again, from when Kenny Smith told me, “Let’s go get the Young Lords,” to 1968, early 1968, I think that I sort reestablished the communications with the Young Lords. JJ: Yes, summer and fall. OL: So then at the time, Ralph, and you were developing the symbol for the Young Lords, [00:53:00] and you told me what it was, and I helped draw that, the map, the fist, the rifle. That was my contribution to the development of the Young Lord button. And so then we continued working because in the demonstrations that we had against welfare, for example, we had demonstrations that were LADO, OLAS, the Young Lords, and through the Young Lords contacts, the Black Panthers. So the demonstrations that we had were not just one group. It was a 27 �coalition of groups. And as a matter of fact, also from the neighborhood, lot of the-JJ: Actually, Fred Hampton was arrested with myself and your brother. OL: At one of the welfare offices. JJ: A couple times at the Wicker Park Welfare office. OL: At the Welfare, yeah. Yeah. Because the African American community was also being affected by the lack of services from the welfare department. So that [00:54:00] was-- JJ: They had the coalition. OL: The Rainbow Coalition, the Rainbow Coalition was going on, right. So it was a very interesting, the Rainbow Coalition was able to mobilize in that manner. And I don’t know, it is difficult to see that happen again. But nevertheless, that was, again, they continued contact with the Young Lords. So then at one point you asked me to help a little more with the Young Lords. And I think at the time you needed to have someone deal with a lot of the propaganda, the writing releases, things like that. So you asked me to come in as the Minister of Information for the Young Lords. And that was right around the takeover of McCormick Theological Seminary that I came as a Young Lords Minister of Information. JJ: So [00:55:00] what were you doing? I mean, you were writing the releases? OL: Yeah, and of course, we had a lot of contact with the Panthers. A lot of the things that we did, we tried to fashion it to the Panthers, the newspaper, all the things, even the structure. We had chairman ministers, because we saw that they were effective in organizing, especially in organizing street youth. That kind 28 �of structure was effective rather than to have, oh, here you have the president and the secretary. No, it had to be more structured in that way. JJ: But were we organized before that? Because a lot of people think that the Panthers organized this. OL: Oh, no, no, no, no. The Young Lords existed again from the early [00:56:00] 1960s. And then a lot of the work in reorganizing and reorienting the activities of the Young Lords was when you came back into the neighborhood and started to do that. So this was before the Panthers, and I think-- JJ: Before our connection, before our connection. OL: Before the connection of the Panthers. And I think one of the characteristics of the Young Lords in Chicago is that its membership was all neighborhood. It was rooted in the community. You didn’t have people coming in from Indiana and joining. You didn’t have people coming from-- No, it was so a community base, a community rooted organization that decided to take action. And I think that was part of the effectiveness of the Young Lords. You remember that when we called [00:57:00] a march, we didn’t call it a month ahead or two weeks ahead, it would be overnight. He says, “We got a demonstration.” And the word went out and people showed up. It was all neighborhood people. JJ: And were there a few people there, or -- OL: No, overnight you get a thousand people out. Why? Because the network was already there. If one of the Young Lords heard it, he passed the word, and that one passed the word. And there was a network was already set up. So it wasn’t like, it wasn’t an artificial organization that you said, “Okay, now we are going to 29 �call ourselves the Young Lords.” And no, it was something that was homegrown and it grew from the bottom up. So I think that was unique and that’s what made it effective. And then of course, then after yours always come groups that become [00:58:00] organized or they organize, but they don’t have the characteristic of the original Chicago Young Lords, which was that it was rooted in the community. So we were responding to the community, and it becomes obvious that it’s a community based group. Studs Terkel. One time we had a festival, a festival, it was in August of 1969 probably. And of course we played with words, I think we said, “We’re going to Roast the Pigs.” It was a festival in Puerto Rico, you roast pigs, right? But here you tell you were telling people we’re going to roast the pig, well, they thought it was a policeman. So it was an interesting play with concept. But nevertheless, that festival-JJ: [00:59:00] And the festival was in front of the church. OL: The festival was on Dayton and Armitage, in front of the headquarters of the Young Lords. JJ: The Methodist Church, the first block party. OL: It was probably the first one. JJ: After that there were block parties all the time. OL: Everywhere. But here, the interesting thing is Studs Terkel, who’s already very famous in terms of being an excellent interviewer, he came and interviewed people. And with that program that he did-- JJ: It was live. 30 �OL: Well, I don’t remember if it was live, but I know that from that program, he won a prize. JJ: An Emmy or something. OL: Yeah, something. But in that interview that they made of several people, adults, he would ask them, “How do you feel in this neighborhood? Is it secure? Is it more dangerous now with the Young Lords here?” And the response was, “No, I feel safer.” This is where adults talking to [01:00:00] Studs Terkel and saying, “No, I feel safer.” So again, that’s another indication that the Young Lords were really community. And the actions that the Young Lords were taking were not alien to the community. They people, adults related to that. Maybe adults couldn’t participate anymore, but they were not against us. They supported the actions of the Young Lords. So I think that, again-- JJ: You’re saying that the community was safe or was a feeling of security in the community with the Young Lords. OL: With the Young Lords. JJ: Versus what they’re saying, what they had said later. OL: And not only that, they could say that’s a subjective opinion of someone, but do you look at the statistics also? We looked at the statistics, the police at that time and crime went down in Lincoln Park when the Young Lords were there. JJ: You looked at this? OL: The statistics were there. I remember we looked at them, and I’m sure probably [01:01:00] Studs Terkel looked at ’em too. But again, going back to what made the Young Lords unique, I think that was part of it. That was part of it. And the 31 �other thing is that I think the Young Lords embodied a lot of the principles, dreams of a whole wave of activists that came from Puerto Rico to the United States, in this case, to Chicago. And this kind of view of the world and view of the island that was transmitted to the Young Lords from people that came from Puerto Rico had a lot to do. And I’m talking specifically about the decision that the Young Lords take to promote the independence of Puerto Rico, selfdetermination. The concept was self-determination. So self-determination for nations [01:02:00] included Puerto Rico. But I think a lot of that influence came from, again, a wave of adults that had come to the United States that were independentistas and nacionalistas, and they were still in the scene. And I remember that we used to get visits very often from a gentleman by the name of Manuel Ravago. And he was a nationalist. And I remember that he’s the one that, he gave us the nationalist flag, and he gave us a flag of the Lares. He was the one that was feeding us. And at the time, I don’t know how many of us were conscious of who this man was. And it’s not until later that you begin to place him in the history of the nationalist [01:03:00] movement. And Manuel Ravago was very active. I think that, well, no, he was directly connected to the nationalists that came to Congress and shut up Congress, Lolita Lebrón and [Coso?] and others. He was part of that group. So all of that kind of energy and nationalist energy, he deposited all that in the Young Lords. And that was another aspect that gave the Young Lords a lot more body as an organization. We could have stayed a neighborhood organization and fought urban renewal and provide health care, and that will be the end. But when we began to talk 32 �about self-determination, that put the Young Lords [01:04:00] in a different plane. And again, I’m saying that that type of political position that we assumed it was effective and had an impact, not just in Chicago, but all around the United States because of the history of the nationalists that had done all that work since 1952. Manuel Ravago was from Jayuya, and they still had that impetus from the Grito de Jayuya, from the rebellion in 1952 in Jayuya. So all of those things combined made the Young Lords very unique. The fact they were community-based, community rooted in the community, providing services, breakfast for children, clothing, the health clinic, [01:05:00] all of those things we were providing at the community level, but we were also providing the people, the families, with an ideal beyond the basic needs. And that was self-determination. So that made the Lords unique. JJ: They were other, for example, went to Denver, a couple of buses or busload? OL: In 1968, 1969. JJ: Did you go to Denver? OL: Yeah, yeah. In 1968 and 1969, the southwest of the United States was also very active politically. And the Chicano movement was really going at the time. And one of the leaders in the southwest was Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, who headed the Crusade for Justice in Denver. And [01:06:00] he had a lot of young people too involved. And they decided to have the National Chicano Youth Conference. And because we had communications with the southwest, LADO had communications, OLAS. The Young Lords, I mean all of the groups, progressive groups that we had here with them. They called that conference and we decided 33 �that we needed to go and we needed to take young people. And it was interesting because we weren’t just going with community activists. We decided to take gangs, members of different gangs. And so we had the Young Lords, but the Latin Kings participated. From 18th Street, we had the Latin Counts, Ambrose and Rampant. And for the first time, south side and north side, we were coming together, not fighting, but coming together. And [01:07:00] we rode in the same bus. It was two buses. We rode in the same buses from Chicago to Denver, and they all came back impacted by the Chicano movement and ready to be active. Can we take a little, I’m afraid, talking about the Young Lords all this time. JJ: Okay. OL: Okay, so then going back about the uniqueness of the Young Lords, that’s what it was. So that’s what makes it unique. I think that then after, in the 1960s, because of all the political activity around the nation, so we were invited to the Denver Conference, we took these groups and they had a big impact. It had an impact on other youth groups in Chicago. I think the Latin Kings, at one point, when they came back, they decided to call themselves the Latin King Organization, and they wanted to start doing the very same [01:08:00] actions as the Young Lords. They wanted to have breakfast for children. They wanted to have a health clinic. Of course, I think that what happened probably was the leadership was unable to really steer the Kings in that direction. So they went in an entirely different direction at the time. But I think that’s what makes it unique. All the groups come up after the Young Lords that are effective. They have good 34 �programs, but that are formed. They are organized to do certain things, but nothing like the Young Lords in Chicago. The Young Lords Chicago were community rooted and responding to community needs. We didn’t have to do a paper, a position paper on the needs of the community. [01:09:00] We were living those needs. If it was displacement, we had to go to the real estate offices that were pushing people out. And that’s why the confrontation with Fat Larry, for example. JJ: Who was that, can you describe that? OL: Fat Larry was the head of Bissell Realty, and they were part of the whole displacement of families. So when we find this out, then the Young Lords went and confronted, you were one of the people that came and confronted Fat Larry. And Fat Larry, of course, responded the way that he was used to. And he came out with one gun on one side and a shotgun on the other. And we have pictures that when the police come in, they don’t do anything with Fat Larry with two guns, but they start searching you for weapons, which was strange. But anyway, so we didn’t have to do research on the needs of the community. We were living those needs. So we were responding [01:10:00] to real needs, and that’s what made us effective. We didn’t have to spend three weeks doing research. Not all of our positions were the positions of a progressive organization. We have to admit, we never wrote a paper on the Young Lord’s position on women. We didn’t have that luxury. Even the people that had been trained at the university level that were Young Lords were not academicians. JJ: So there were some people that were trained at the university level? 35 �OL: In the Young Lords, we had people with university training. JJ: Who were some of these people? OL: Well, to begin with, you look at the Minister of Health. [Alberto Chavira?] was a medical student at Northwestern University, then later became a doctor. He was the minister of information for the, he was a doctor and he was community based. [01:11:00] He became a doctor. JJ: Actually, he was a leader of a student, medical students. OL: The medical students at Northwestern. JJ: And they helped form the clinic. OL: They would organize medical students to be part of the free health clinic movement in Chicago. We had, did I run out people that were trained? Well myself, I was still going to school, but I was not an academician. We had our Minister of Education, Tony Baez, who was a university student in Puerto Rico. So we had people that they had academic training, but we were all focused on responding to the needs the community had. We were not responding to academic demands or intellectual [01:12:00] demands of publishing position papers on women, publish position papers on the national question. All those things are exercises for intellectuals. That was not us. That was not us. We were direct action and we were responding to needs that were present in our community. It doesn’t mean that we weren’t-- we studied, we studied. I think Tony Baez, Minister of Education, made sure that we had a module that people had to read about the history of Puerto Rico. I think you could get a seventeenyear-old that was what we call the cadres and they could tell you the whole 36 �history of Puerto Rico in the independence movement, because that was part of the training in the Young Lords. But we read political papers, we read On Contradictions by Mao Zedong, and that [01:13:00] was very helpful in understanding problems and how to solve problems and how to identify the enemy. Because today the problem is that people don’t understand who the enemy is. Or sometimes it’s someone who’s not an enemy and they treat ’em as enemies because they don’t have a way of analyzing problems or what Mao called contradictions. We did, and we were very clear on who our friends were and who our enemies were, and that made us very effective. So it’s not like we were not interested in learning. We were not interested in intellectual exercises. And I think that separated us from other organizations that would look at us as if we were just simply a bunch of [lumpen?] They thought that because we didn’t come out with position papers like that, we were not [01:14:00] following the correct line, the correct political line. As far as I’m concerned, we were following the right political line because we were responding to the needs that our community had. That’s the correct line, because it doesn’t make sense for you to follow correct line when you’re not serving the people. So I think that’s important to understand about the Young Lords in Chicago. I think that if you look at our newspaper, for example. The newspaper that we put out is not work of intellectuals. You read it and it’s not nice. I mean, it’s not really nice. I mean, run on sentences and all kinds of things that you look at like, “What the hell, who wrote this?” Because it was people in the organization that were expressing themselves and we put it in the newspaper because it was important for us to let 37 �people know what our members were thinking. But they didn’t follow all the rules [01:15:00] of a journalist because we were not. Other organizations had that kind of discipline, so they put out real nice newspapers, but we didn’t. But we did deliver the message though. We did deliver the message, and I think that was important. But we had all kinds of people in the organization, not only at different levels of academic training, but different economic levels, different nationalities. The Young Lords, the Young Lords from its beginning was an international group from when it was gang to when it was a political organization. We had Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, African-Americans, whites. So I think that was unique. That was unique. JJ: [01:16:00] You mentioned women, that it wasn’t an intellectual thing about the women. What do you mean? OL: Well, I mean, the Young Lords always had women in the organization, the Lordettes, for example. But there were young women that were part of the Young Lords from the beginning, and they stayed with the Young Lords. And the relationship that between members was not the progressive position, but they were given their place. They were not given their place--they took their place because, for example, one of the women leaders in the group, Angie, she formed the MAO, Mothers And Others because at the time, a lot of the women in the organization were mothers. And so as Mothers And Others, [01:17:00] they made sure that women in the organization had a place. It wasn’t that we gave ’em a place, they took their place. And I think we never fought that. We accepted that. So it wasn’t like we were a male dominated organization, that 38 �whatever we said had to go in terms of women. The women group was there and they made sure that they were respected, but we were not the academic type. We said, “Okay, this is our position on women and this is the history of the women in society.” And we didn’t do that. We responded to the needs at the time, and they were very much part of the organization. JJ: In fact, wasn’t there a daycare center that we were working on together? OL: Yeah. Again, one of the responses of the Young Lords was, “Hey, [01:18:00] there’s kids that need daycare.” And that was one of the ideas of the church when we took over the church, was to put the basement in order so that it could be a daycare center, except the city would not allow us to do that. Remember, we complained that they came out with things like, your ceiling system is way too high, or your floors are too low, so they’re out of compliance. But, and that was of course concerns that the women brought up and we would try to address. JJ: And we also had, you mentioned the clinic already, and the Breakfast for Children Program. OL: Those were programs that they were, the service programs that we had established to respond to very specific needs that the community had. And I think the other part that I think is [01:19:00] important to understand is Chicago was going through a very interesting time, and we had a very interesting mayor. Mayor Daley was not a very tolerant mayor. He’s the one that declared during the riots on the west side, “Shoot to kill,” looters. That was his position. And so we were challenging that structure and in demonstrations that we had, he used the force of the police department to disorganize the Young Lords, to squash the 39 �Young Lords, to drain the resources from the organization by arresting the leadership. And a lot of money would [01:20:00] be tied up in bail money. So we didn’t have a mayor that even accepted that the Young Lords were doing something positive. I think if we look at the New York Lords, they had a mayor that was John Lindsay, who was a liberal that I’m glad that he was there, and I’m glad that they were functioning in those years because they were able to do things that we were unable to do in Chicago. They were able to do, for example, they took over this TV unit and brought it to the barrio, and they were successful, and that was very good because they were able to give services to the barrio, to the community. Had we tried to do that in Chicago, we’d be dead today. So there was a big difference in terms of [01:21:00] actions and in terms of responses that we had to adjust ourselves to. But we did. We did. JJ: And you said we did. What do you mean we did? OL: Well, I mean, we still challenged the structure and we still deliver services. JJ: Wait, what is it we challenged? OL: Well, the police brutality was one of the things. We challenged urban renewal. Then when we took over McCormick Theological Seminary, actually our challenge was to the city structure that was pushing the program, urban renewal, and it was McCormick Theological Seminary because McCormick Theological Seminary was one of the biggest slumlords in the community. Yeah, they were training ministers, but they were also profiting from all these houses they owned that [01:22:00] were substandard. They were slums. So the takeover of McCormick was part of the challenge to the city structure. Opening up a free 40 �health clinic was a challenge to the city structure because they did not do that. It’s the city that was supposed to provide that kind of services, free health services to our community. They didn’t. We did. That was a challenge. Free breakfast. That was a challenge to the city structure because we were telling ’em, “Look, you’re allowing students to go to classes in the mornings without good breakfasts so they can fall asleep because they’re not fed properly.” That’s a challenge. And of course, we were part of a movement, national movement, and I think we saw the results in Chicago. The city of Chicago opened up neighborhood clinics afterwards. [01:23:00] There were several neighborhoods that had City of Chicago Free Health Clinics after the Free Health Clinic movement. All the programs now that the cities, many cities have for free lunches and some breakfasts. JJ: This was also part of the Rainbow Coalition that we were modeling our programs after the Black Panther Party? OL: Yeah, because again, all of this movement on free health and free breakfast and all, it was a national movement. It was not a local movement. And it impacted the government. We didn’t overthrow the government, but we forced them to respond. And so we have some of those services now. The Republicans will probably, we want to get rid of ’em if we have a Republican president. But that was established. JJ: [01:24:00] What about, so Mayor Daley didn’t like this, so there was a little repression going on. What are some of the forms? How did that take shape? 41 �OL: The City of Chicago established the GIU, Gang Intelligence Unit, and that was part of what the mayor called the War on Gangs. So he declared war on gangs, and of course, we fell in that category. The GIU was designed to create problems for gangs, to spy on gangs. And so they were doing that with the Young Lords. They created problems. They followed us. They did surveillance of our members 24 hours a day sometimes, the arrests, and the entire organization was under siege because [01:25:00] of the GIU. So the mayor, that was part of the mayor’s effort to quell whatever progressive youth organization was coming up. JJ: What about Reverend Bruce Johnson and Eugenia Johnson? Can you explain what that was about? OL: Well, Reverend Johnson was the minister of Methodist Church on Armitage and Dayton. That’s the one we took over. And Reverend Johnson was not opposed to working with us, and he made it clear in public that he supported us and he would work with us. There was a Hispanic congregation in that church that was primarily a Cuban congregation, and they had a Cuban minister. And I think [01:26:00] that the friction internally in the church probably developed because of Reverend Johnson’s support of our organization. One of our icons was el Che Guevara, and that really clashed with the Cuban members of that Methodist church. And there was a lot of anger, and there was a lot of discontent, of course, a lot of hate towards the Young Lords, but it’s a lot of anger and discontent with Bruce Johnson because he was, in essence, supporting us. And I think that they probably saw us as a communist organization, which we weren’t. 42 �We read all kinds of communist material, but they probably saw us that way. And I think Bruce Johnson was the target of that kind of hate, [01:27:00] those kinds of negative feelings. And I’m not a detective. I know nothing about criminal justice, but I think Bruce Johnson was probably a victim of that. If you look at the evidence, when he was stabbed to death, they say that it was a very violent death. There was a lot of passion involved in it. This is Bruce Johnson. He’s a preacher. Who is going to hate him that much to the point that even the evidence shows that whoever did it was really angry at him. That’s the evidence. So I think that it cost him his life [01:28:00] having supported the organization. JJ: And his wife. OL: His wife. JJ: Was stabbed too. OL: Was stabbed to death. JJ: We’re not talking about once or twice, they’re talking about fourteen and nineteen times. OL: Oh, yeah. No, that’s why it was very, the police say it was a passionate act. They were angry. Whoever did it was really going at it. JJ: And many people got arrested. Weren’t you arrested at one point? OL: Well, yeah. My arrest was because of what we were confronting the police at People’s Park that it was empty lot on Halsted and Armitage that was going to be used to build a private tennis club. And we were saying, who the hell is going to become a member of a tennis club here? We can hardly play softball in the 43 �corner. We took a stand against that and [01:29:00] the lot that was going to be used for that tennis club. We took it over and we called it Peoples Park. JJ: There were tents set up, right? Tents. OL: Yeah, the whole works. It was tents and we camped out, and even Buck, Mr. Fuller came and visited us, and he donated a geodesic dome for the playground. So the people’s actions were also heard all over the nation, but it was part of the urban renewal. JJ: How did you get arrested or something? OL: Well, we know we were at the park and the police began to harass us, and so we retaliated, and of course the police was not going to be, he called in for reinforcements and they came. We had a confrontation. The charges that I had was [01:30:00] resisting arrest, mob action, of course, resisting arrest, aiding to the escape of a prisoner. JJ: What prisoner? OL: Because they already had one of the guys, they had Orlando and I came at the policeman and he had to let go Orlando. But then they got me, and assaulting a police officer, but that was because of that. JJ: So they were resolved later? OL: I think I was given probation. JJ: At that time. OL: After some time, yeah, after a few years, that was the thing was solved. Yeah. JJ: Any final thoughts that you want to, or anything that you want to add regarding refreshing or anything else? 44 �OL: No. JJ: That’s it. OL: That’s it. JJ: All right. Thank -- END OF VIDEO FILE 45 � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/d241edacfa84e887b801b1f7d7546f3c.mp4 cef9b53c19f944a818da65c0b41137fe Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Young Lords in Lincoln Park Collection Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Description An account of the resource Collection of oral history interviews and digitized materials documenting the history of the Young Lords Organization in Lincoln Park, Chicago. Interviews were conducted by Young Lords' founder, José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, and documents were digitized from Mr. Jiménez' archives. The Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection grows out of the ongoing struggle for fair housing, self-determination, and human rights that was launched by Mr. José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez, founder of the Young Lords Movement. This project is dedicated to documenting the history of the displacement of Puerto Ricans, Mejicanos, other Latinos, and the poor from Lincoln Park, as well as the history of the Young Lords nationwide. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park collection (RHC-65)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-04-25 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Language A language of the resource eng spa Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 2012-2017 Oral History A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge. Título Spanish language Title entry Omar López vídeo entrevista y biografía, entrevista 2 Descripción Spanish language Description entry Omar López era el Ministro de Información para los Young Lords. Nació en México y llego a chicago en 1958, estableándose en el vecindario de Humboldt Park donde sigue viviendo. El primero conoció alguien de los Young Lords en Lincoln Park cuando estaban en las calles como una ganga puertorriqueña. López los vio de nuevo cuando los Young Lords se transformaron, oficialmente en el 23 de Septiembre de 1958, de in ganga a un movimiento de los derechos humanos. Esta vez los jóvenes estaban protegiendo a José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez y Fred Hampton (del Black Panther Party) quien estaban hablando juntos en Loop Jr. College donde López estaba peleando por los derechos de los estudiantes y educación bilingüe. López se hizo parte de los Young Lords en 1969. En 1973 el fundo el Mexican Teachers Organization. Señor López continúa trabajando por los derechos de Latinos y emigrantes. En 2006, el corrió por el Green Party como candidato para la Case de Representantes de Illinois, del 4th distrito. El 10 de Marzo del mismo año el reunió una de la más grandes demonstraciones, de gente que luchaban por los derechos de los inmigrantes de clase obrera, en la historia de los Estados Unidos. López continua siendo proactivo en la aria de Humboldt Park, derechos para inmigrantes, la “Latin American Defense Organization (LADO), y los Young Lords. El es el director ejecutivo de CALOR, una clínica para Latinos que han sido afectados por HIV/AIDS u otras enfermedades. Sujetos Spanish language Subject terms Young Lords (Organización) Puertorriqueños--Estados Unidos Derechos civiles--Estados Unidos--Historia Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Mexicano-Americanos--Relatos personales Justicia social Activistas comunitarios--Illinois--Chicago Estudiantes--Derechos Civiles Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/491">Young Lords in Lincoln Park (RHC-65)</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RHC-65_Lopez_Omar_2 Title A name given to the resource Omar López video interview and transcript, interview 2 Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource López, Omar Description An account of the resource Omar López was Minister of Information for the Young Lords. He was born in Mexico and first came to Chicago in 1958, settling in the Humboldt Park Neighborhood where he has lived ever since. He first met some Young Lords in Lincoln Park when they were hanging out on the streets as a local Puerto Rican street gang, and later when the Young Lords were providing security for Interviewers: José “Cha-Cha” Jiménez and Fred Hampton (of the Black Panther Party) who were speaking together at Loop Jr. College where Omar was a student and fighting for student rights and bilingual education. Mr. López joined the Young Lords in 1969. In 1973, he founded the Mexican Teachers Organization. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Jiménez, José, 1948- Subject The topic of the resource Young Lords (Organization) Puerto Ricans--United States Civil Rights--United States--History Lincoln Park (Chicago, Ill.) Mexican Americans--Personal narratives Social justice Community activists--Illinois--Chicago Students--Civil rights Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Moving Image Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource video/mp4 application/pdf Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-08-23 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/007072c9a692817b0f6598d7c9722caf.jpg a176baad9ddbe65ab333c79ff3c46b69 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Grand Valley State University Photographs Subject The topic of the resource Aerial photographs Universities and colleges Michigan Grand Rapids (Mich.) Allendale (Mich.) Building Facilities Dormitories Students Events 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s Description An account of the resource People, places, and events of Grand Valley State University from its founding in 1960 as a 4-year college in western Michigan. Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource News & Information Services. University Communications Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">News &amp; Information Services. University Photographs. (GV012-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-03-03 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1960s-2000s Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Local Subject Subject headings specific to a particular image collection 1970s Source <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/41">University photographs, GV012-01</a> Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context GV012-01_UAPhotos_000741 Title A name given to the resource Omnistructure built to test solar heating and cooling Description An account of the resource Omnistructure designed by the William James College students in 1974 and constructed in 1975 to test solar heating and cooling. Subject The topic of the resource Grand Valley State University Michigan Allendale (Mich.) Universities and colleges Facilities Property Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-NC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Permitted</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives black and white photo https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/c605b62e13ccccb71c79b96915de1c16.mp3 1e18a14f81ae402188ea003331a2121c https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/80240669a58a179132f39cb0f78dd0ca.pdf f0d56eaa9b173b3b3f9ba87d5ba164ee PDF Text Text On Being Available to Another Final sermon in the series: What the Church Has Forgotten, AA Remembers Text: Galatians 6: 1-10 Richard A. Rhem Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan September 5, 1982 Transcription of the spoken sermon "...set him right again very gently... Help one another to carry these heavy loads... So let us never tire of doing good ...as opportunity offers, let us work for the good of all." Galatians 6:1-10 Our capacity to love reaches its full maturity when we "can look upon the twisted features of a fellow human being in pain and not turn away in fear or disgust but catch a glimpse of the face of the suffering Christ and minister to him in all simplicity and tenderness." (Timothy J. Gannon, Emotional Development and Spiritual Growth, p. 31, cited by Morton Kelsey, Caring, p. 181.) Human maturity can be measured in one's capacity to love and one's capacity to love can be measured by the extent that one is willing to be available to another. Being available to another is what Step Twelve of Alcoholics Anonymous' Twelve Step Program for recovering alcoholics is about. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs. With this step the recovering alcoholic moves outward to engage in a caring, compassionate ministry to another person caught in the bondage of alcohol addiction in order to witness to the way of human transformation. AA does not spend time and energy arguing over terminology and definitions and I suppose I should not either. Yet I must say that the mere statement of Step Twelve does not adequately convey what is involved. "To carry the message" is more than "telling one's story", although that is an essential element. Step Twelve Work for an AA member involves being willing to go anywhere, anytime and to do anything necessary in order to heed a call for help. The "message" is clear because it is acted out; it is lived. To use a good term from Christian theology, the © Grand Valley State University   �On Being Available to Another Richard A. Rhem Page 2   message is incarnated; it is clothed with flesh, the flesh of another human being. Step Twelve as it is stated might seem to involve no more than "witness" in Christian terms. To be sure, the biblical conception of witness also demands more than words - proclamation. Yet the danger of the phrase "to carry the message" is that it might be reduced to "mere words" as has too often been the case in Christian witness. To counter this danger in the Church we have come to speak of witness in word and deed, of "word-deed". There is probably not so much danger of misunderstanding in AA because again here, as at every other point we have examined, AA practices what it "preaches." It is what Christian faith should be for the Church - a way of life. What the Church has forgotten, AA remembers because it will not continue if it forgets. What the Church has forgotten - that its witness must become action, redemptive, reconciling, tangible, love in action, AA remembers and practices. There is no more amazing or beautiful aspect of the organization we have been examining than its Twelfth Step Work: the willingness of the recovering alcoholic to go anywhere, anytime, to do anything in order to help a brother or sister in need. Alcoholics Anonymous presents a model which the Church could well emulate. The fellowship of AA practices unconditional acceptance, supportive love and total availability to anyone in need. In so doing, it has borrowed a page from the Gospel and has become in fact what the Church ought to be. And being true to itself - the incarnation of redemptive grace and supportive love - AA is growing. In fact, the growth is phenomenal when one remembers that its appeal is to only a limited group of persons. I want to say a few things about AA's manner, method and motivation in its outreach program, its Twelfth Step work and then show from the New Testament that this is also the mission and ministry to which we are called. AA's manner is one of being available. An AA member will go anywhere, do anything, anytime. This is the response he makes out of gratitude for the recovery he has experienced. This is the action that flows out of his transformation. This is the outward expression of his new life. Having gone through all of the steps, finding himself and living in the flow of a Power beyond himself, his spontaneous response is ministry to others who are suffering what he knows only too well. The "circle of quiet" issues in a life of service. © Grand Valley State University �On Being Available to Another Richard A. Rhem Page 3   I use the word available because it conveys the manner of AA's approach to the person in need. AA does not go where it is not invited. It comes with no axe to grind and no manipulative or coercive methods are used. Alcoholics Anonymous has found it is unproductive and fruitless to try to help someone who is not convinced he needs help. AA does not try to force its recovery program or its fellowship meetings on anyone. But just let someone indicate the need and desire for help. Someone will be there. And they will stay there as long as they are needed. Obviously there is much Twelfth Step work which begins in the real hell of a sufferer's misery. There is urgency about it, a kind of emerging rescue work at the beginning and then a consistent follow through, sticking with the one who is seeking deliverance from bondage. I do not want to create the impression that every time an alcoholic calls out for help and an AA member responds, there is a new member for AA and another person is on the way to sobriety. Many reach out but are never rescued. Many reach out and are rescued only to fall again and again before finally they arrive at a consistent sobriety. The success of AA is astonishing but success in terms of the growth of the organization is beside the point. Here I would simply lift up the posture of availability. AA does not force itself or its program on anyone. AA does not write off the person who makes many false starts. AA never gives up on anyone. AA is and remains available. That is the manner of its outreach. AA's method is a caring presence and humble witness. I link presence and witness. Presence is "being there" for the other. Witness is telling one's own story. The adjectives caring and humble are extremely important. One is present to another not because of heavy obligation simply to render a duty. One is there because one genuinely cares. A recovering alcoholic who has moved toward health and wholeness and happiness has deep compassion for the one struggling in the hell of addiction. He has been there. He knows the hopelessness, pain, loneliness and despair that overwhelm the sufferer. He is present because he cares and thus his is a caring presence. Humility. That spirit runs through all twelve steps. No one gets past Step One without a painful humbling which then is cultivated and nurtured with each progressive step. A recovering alcoholic lives a day at a time, moment by moment. He depends on a gracious power beyond himself. Apart from that, he cannot make it. He has nothing of which to boast. With genuine humility he tells his own story helping the victim he has come to help to realize that he is not alone, that his friend knows whereof he speaks, understands the agony he is experiencing and without judgment or condemnation accepts him just as he is. © Grand Valley State University �On Being Available to Another Richard A. Rhem Page 4   The recovering alcoholic tells his own story in an effort to identify with the one who is seeking help, letting him know that there is no lost cause, no person beyond redemption's point. Witness, not preaching! Acceptance, not judgment! As one of AA's co-founders counsels in the book As Bill Sees It, Never talk down to an alcoholic from any moral or spiritual hilltop; simply lay out the kit of spiritual tools for his inspection. Show him how they worked with you. Offer friendship and fellowship. (P. 192) That's the method: a caring presence, a humble witness. The motivation for Twelfth Step work is compassion for the alcoholic and self-preservation for the recovering alcoholic. One who has suffered the horrors of bondage to alcohol will most naturally feel compassion for another person caught in that bondage. The desire to help another person flows naturally from the new way of life he has found. To be delivered, freed, released and transformed again into a useful citizen with a measure of happiness and serenity will issue in a longing to tell others the secret and lead them toward health and wholeness. The one who goes to help will naturally suggest the AA meetings and witness to the effectiveness of the Twelve Step Program, but not for the greater glory of AA or its program. Fortunately, Alcoholics Anonymous has been able to keep the institutional aspects of AA in low profile. The meetings, the disciplines are not ends in themselves and no one is out to make a name for himself in AA or to build a super organization. Motivation is compassion for the alcoholic and a desire to see him restored to sobriety. Nothing is asked in return. Twelfth Step work is selfless service. But there is another motivating factor: self-preservation. It has been the experience of AA and the testimony of countless recovering alcoholics that the best therapy in the world, the strongest defense against relapse is Twelfth Step work. Through his selfless service, in the paradox of grace, the recovering alcoholic finds his own life strengthened, his joy deepened, his own soul refreshed as he finds himself the instrument of restoration for another to whom he has made himself available. There you have the manner, the method, and the motivation of the Twelfth Step of the AA program. © Grand Valley State University �On Being Available to Another Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Does it not sound strangely familiar? Have you not heard it all before? Is it not precisely the biblical conception of Christian witness? I have gone into considerable detail on this step because, once I have set forth AA’s conception of outreach, I can simply say, "Go thou and do likewise." Nevertheless, this is a sermon, so let me take you to the Scripture lesson where I believe we will find the same manner, method and motivation for Christian witness, the same conception of what the Church should be and do. Paul's letter to the Galatians is his letter of Christian freedom where he sets forth in all its radical glory the grace of God. In the course of his discussion, Paul describes the fellowship of the Church as a community of forgiveness and mutual support, a community of supportive love in a spirit of gentleness, a community of care, one for another. Galatians 5:25 could well serve as a motto for the whole Twelve Step Program. If the Spirit is the source of our life, let the Spirit also direct our course. AA would speak of "Power" or "God as we understand Him." The New Testament tells us that God active in our life is the Spirit. Salvation is effected by the Spirit and it is in the Spirit that we live the life of a Christian. But then Paul deals with the Church as a community of mutuality and support. Restoration of the fallen is counseled: If a man should do something wrong, ...set him right again very gently. Gentleness and humility are counseled because you may be tempted, too. Recognizing that life is not easy, Paul goes on to say, Help one another carry these heavy loads. And in the 10th verse he says again, Therefore, as opportunity offers, let us work for the good of all. . . There are so many points of contact between this letter and the Twelve Step Program, but I must limit myself to the spirit of this passage as it relates to AA and its posture. The spirit is one of kindness and gentleness as we deal with one another, sharing each other's load and walking in humility. Grace must permeate the fellowship of the Church. Unconditional acceptance and supportive love must be its hallmarks. The concern that comes through strongly is the restoration of the person to wholeness and Paul pleads that we will never tire of doing good. © Grand Valley State University �On Being Available to Another Richard A. Rhem Page 6   I submit to you that the spirit of this passage permeates the fellowship of AA and the practical counsel is what is acted on in Twelfth Step work. Now let me apply this to the outreach of the Church. If Step Twelve is AA's outreach program, why did I select Galatians 6 as my scripture rather than a passage dealing specifically with Christian witness? I chose this passage because I want to say that effective evangelism happens through compassionate ministry. Earlier I said the phrasing of Step Twelve does not convey the manner and method of Twelfth Step work. "Carry the message" might sound like "witness to Jesus Christ" and be thought of in terms of "words." Words are important. It takes words to tell one's story. Yet that is only part of the outreach. The caring presence is that which puts flesh on the words. The story is told in the context of a humble, gracious presence. It is being available, being present to another in unconditional acceptance and supportive love that creates the environment where the words, the witness, can be heard. This is what the Church has forgotten. This is what AA remembers and puts into effective practice. The Church has been too "word" oriented, forgetting that God's great move toward us was a Word made flesh. There are too many words. We are too wordy. We print tracts and we talk ceaselessly. But in the final analysis, it is the compassionate, caring presence of a community of persons that is the most effective instrument of evangelism. And what we need in this church and every church is not more committees on Evangelism, but more Stephen Ministers, persons who will carry out a ministry of care, persons who will provide a caring presence in a spirit of humility with kindness and gentleness. This is not a new note being struck here at Christ Community. It has been our posture over the last decade. We are probably the only congregation in the world with a Minister of Evangelism and no Evangelism Committee, and no formal program of outreach. Gordon has always maintained that the best evangelism is a happy congregation. This is what I meant earlier when I said that AA is growing by simply being true to itself. So the Church will grow if it is really the Church - if it is a community of compassion, care, humility and grace. As an interesting sidelight, Gordon just gave me a note. The statistics of the Reformed Church for 1981 are just out: In 1971 we numbered 678 members; at the end of 1981 we numbered 2430. In 1971 we were 130th in size in the RCA; at the end of 1981 we were 4th. In 1971 we were 36th in size in Michigan; at the end of 1981 we were first. © Grand Valley State University �On Being Available to Another Richard A. Rhem Page 7   I share that not as a matter of pride. Even to share it is dangerous because it so easily leads to pride of institution. But I share it as the best evidence I know next to the phenomenal growth of Alcoholics Anonymous that a community that cares about people cannot help but prosper. There is an Institute of Church Growth in California where they have stressed the imperative of the New Testament that the Church grow. They have approached the matter scientifically and set forth certain sociological principles for church growth. But I have never been impressed. Church growth smacks of institutionalism. Church growth smacks of competition. Church growth smacks of pride. What matters is not church growth, but people, people touched by grace; people accepted, loved, healed; people forgiven and given hope. Church growth is an accident, a byproduct of the Church being true to itself, being a community of compassion and care. We really do not need more evangelistic tracts, or crusades, or evangelism seminars. We need a whole army of people who have been touched by the grace of God who are willing to be available to another. In such a church, the Word becomes flesh and the love of God becomes tangible and the grace of God flows out to embrace, to forgive and to renew. Numbers are not important but the human beings for which they stand are all important and I do believe that where persons are primary - primary over all institutional considerations, primary over all doctrinal definitions, primary over all rules of order, primary over all confessional loyalty – there the Church will grow, and the grace of God will flow, and Christ will be magnified. It is as simple as being available to another. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Series What the Church Has Forgotten, AA Remembers Scripture Text Galations 6: 1-10 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19820905 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1982-09-05 Title A name given to the resource On Being Available to Another Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 application/pdf Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on September 5, 1982 entitled "On Being Available to Another", as part of the series "What the Church Has Forgotten, AA Remembers", at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Galations 6: 1-10. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives Alcoholics Anonymous Empathy Transformation Unconditional Love https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/80feb88aa02ea4a0ff8bac74fab2193b.pdf 036dd1371e8661f5c65743a4bf021536 PDF Text Text On Being Civil and Committed: Reclaiming a Great Tradition Lecture By Richard A. Rhem Minister of Preaching and Theological Inquiry Christ Community Church Spring Lake, Michigan At United Church of Christ Fall 1996 Conference St. John’s United Church of Christ Grand Rapids, Michigan October 6, 1996 Prepared Text I am honored to be invited to address you at this Fall Conference. I come to you as one recently released from a denominational affiliation, which I am certain is no news to anyone here. On Tuesday of last week, the Classis of Muskegon, RCA, signed a separation agreement with Christ Community and accepted the resigning of my ordained status within the Reformed Church in America. I mention this because it gives me a new sense of freedom. The experience is one of being unleashed and, with that, a sense of entering a much larger world. This sense of release has been mine now for some time as I have been emotionally removed from the RCA since February when the Classis judged me out of bounds. And I have found that I have moved into a state of being able to identify with a much larger community of faith than ever before. In the 60s, I spent four years in Europe. I found that a richly enlightening experience as I was able to look at my own nation from afar, from a distance. Being immersed in the culture of The Netherlands, I was able to view my own country with the eyes of my Dutch neighbors. That was a transforming experience. I came home, but I've never been the same. I had been broken loose from a narrow nationalism and had come to appreciate another culture, people, way of structuring government, society. I tell you this because it reflects something of what I feel as I come into your fellowship today. I come with a deep appreciation for who you are as the United Church of Christ. I have been aware of you, knowing a few of your clergy, learning much from the work of your Walter Brueggemann, being aware of the cutting edge positions you have taken as a denomination. But, more recently, I have had © Grand Valley State University   �On Being Civil and Committed Richard A. Rhem Page 2   a more intimate look at the UCC. Over these past months I have received several letters of encouragement from UCC folk and I am indebted to your Conference Minister, David Reece, for his supportive presence and counsel. I have had the sense that I am not alone and that I am not outside the great mainstream of the Christian tradition. In your fellowship I would never have been called in question. I never suspected I would be in my present position. Over the past twenty-five years I have carried out my pastoral ministry, nurturing and shaping a faith community as I myself have continued to probe the biblical story and reflect on Christian faith formulation in light of our contemporary context. I have been straightforward in my preaching and teaching at home and I have attempted to engage the RCA in theological reflection through my writing in Perspectives, a journal founded by the RCA in 1985 to stimulate theological discussion. I carried out my calling to think the faith seriously and responsibly and I had a genuine concern to effect theological renewal within the RCA. Suddenly that was challenged, not because of theological positions set forth in writing, but because at Christ Community we offered our chapel for use by the Metropolitan Community Church of Muskegon, a denomination that ministers to marginalized folk, especially the Gay/Lesbian community. Once the investigation of our ministry to that community began, it soon broadened to my theological positions, which had been in print in the journal of the RCA for a decade. The investigation became a nightmare; the matter took on a life of its own. The result was that I was judged outside the parameters of RCA confessional statements. I resigned my ordination in the Reformed Church in America, which has, after some months of negotiation and a good deal of anguish, now been recognized by the Classis of Muskegon. You did not gather today to hear my story, but that recent experience is so fresh and vivid in my mind that you must recognize that it forms the context of what I want to say to you today. My experience causes me to want to affirm the spirit and posture of the UCC. All human institutions have strengths and weaknesses and I'm sure as you experience the UCC from the inside there are elements you value and aspects you might want to change. But, as one who views you from the outside, let me call you to appreciate and value the liberal spirit that marks you as a denomination. I use liberal not as a catch word or as a label for a certain theological persuasion, but in the sense of a spirit of openness; liberal as large, broad, generous in contrast to narrowness of outlook, of mind; in contrast to meanness of spirit, to bigotry and dogmatism. I use liberal in the sense of magnanimity. It is that spirit that I find marking you as a people and I want to suggest that, because that is so much a part of your culture, you might take it for granted, but you must never take it for granted. And beyond that, Liberalism as a name for that 19th-century theological development that marked the progressive wing of © Grand Valley State University �On Being Civil and Committed Richard A. Rhem Page 3   Protestantism in its mainline expression has taken a beating in the last half century and especially in the last couple of decades. One hears the claim, "Liberalism is dead," and not infrequently there is a certain satisfaction in that claim as though what Liberalism's critics always claimed has proven true - that it held forth an inadequate Gospel, a faulty view of scripture and a flawed theological vision. As sign of Liberalism's naiveté concerning the radical darkness that again and again erupts into the human scene, the demonic that lurks in the wings of historical movement, one hears reference to the preeminent journal of liberal Christianity, The Christian Century, named around the turn of the century that was to be the century in which the Kingdom of God came to flower - The Christian century. Then one is reminded of the bloodshed, violence and horrendous evil that has manifested itself in this century now nearing its close, and one hardly dares confess the least affinity with the great Liberal ideals that fired the imagination of the spokespersons of that movement. Add to this century's bludgeoning of the liberal vision the rise of the Religious Right with its rhetoric of righteous indignation over the societal chaos and turbulence coming to expression in the 60's - the collapse of values and crumbling of the foundations of family, church and nation, and it is clear that any claim to hold and advocate the Liberal vision is a sure formula for being written off as a hopeless Don Quixote, dreaming an impossible dream. Perhaps it is best to begin with the admission that the classic Liberal vision was flawed. Under the spell of evolutionary development that so permeated every sphere of the human endeavor as this century dawned, there was a dangerous naiveté and shallow optimism that marked the thought of Protestant liberalism. The Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man was as glaring in its sunny optimism as in its sexist expression. The Kingdom of God was coming through rational human effort and goodwill. The arrogance of Western civilization's paternalistic attitude to the rest of the globe and the exploitative colonialism were well masked under a facade of good will, for the most part sincere, of bringing light to the nations, liberation to those enslaved in heathen darkness. The darkness would retreat before the dawning of the light of the world, Jesus Christ. John S. B. Monsell caught the spirit of the 19th century in his hymn, penned in 1863: Light of the world, we hail Thee, Flushing the eastern skies; Never shall darkness veil Thee Again from human eyes; Too long, alas, withholden, Now spread from shore to shore; Thy light so glad and golden, Shall set on earth no more. © Grand Valley State University �On Being Civil and Committed Richard A. Rhem Page 4   There is something here that stirs the soul. There is a grand vision of light and love enveloping the whole human family. But then this "Christian Century" moved into unprecedented darkness and the manifestation of the demonic such as could not have been imagined. The great wars, the Cold War, the anguish of the Middle East, the agony of the Balkan countries - as this century draws to its close, we must recognize that the amazing breakthroughs in science and developments in technology have only increased exponentially the potential for the human family to destroy itself, its environment and its grandest vision. Liberalism reacted against the orthodoxy locked in a 17th-century paradigm of Protestant scholasticism which was defensively reacting against the rise of the modern in the wake of the Enlightenment. Liberalism scrubbed the dour doctrine of original sin, emaciated the Evil One with the promise of progress through education and saw everywhere in historical development the upward movement of the evolutionary drive. But, instead of the Kingdom of God - disaster dawned. I cannot rehearse the whole theological, social history of the last half of our century, but only mention the names of Karl Barth and the reversal of the liberal tide on the continent with his Theology of the Word and God - the "Wholly Other"; Reinhold Niebuhr and his powerful recognition of the darkness that continues to threaten and the demonic that breaks out again and again. Liberalism has been chastened and put on the defensive. And we are now faced with a vociferous Religious Right marked by fundamentalism in biblical interpretation, arrogance in claim to be the Christian voice and belligerence in claiming its right to determine "Christian values," willing if possible to legislate its social agenda. Well, before we dispose of the Liberal vision, let's take a closer look at where we are in the cosmic journey and whether or not there are contained in that vision essential insights and attitudes that cannot be lost if we are to fulfill our calling to follow the way of Jesus, live under the reign of God, and be agents of Shalom in the world. In a society locked in culture wars where reasoned discourse and respectful dialogue is all but a lost art, I believe there is a critical need for a resurgence of the liberal vision, duly humbled by the experience of this century, taking account of the reality of historical existence as it has been experienced in this century, the most violent ever. My contention is based on my conviction that a world marked by global consciousness, technology that has made the world a neighborhood and the fact of religious pluralism demands an open mind, a gracious spirit and an all-embracing compassion. © Grand Valley State University �On Being Civil and Committed Richard A. Rhem Page 5   Global consciousness marks our world. For the first time ever, humankind is experiencing a common history. The beautiful picture of this lovely planet suspended against the black background of spacial darkness is reproduced on posters and postage stamps. Our kind has set foot on the moon and looked back on the earth - beautiful, fragile and obviously an interconnected whole. That view of our world from beyond us is a symbol of the reality of our human existence. We are one and belong to each other and all the barriers that divide - national borders, tribal turf, religious enclaves – erode before the compelling reality of one world spinning out its destiny in cosmic space. The image of the planet as one, indivisible whole is being translated into existential experience through the marvels of the electronic age, the wonders of global communication. Being one of the few human creatures remaining who owns not a computer and cannot even type, I am an anachronism, a dinosaur, left in amazement before it all. Through the enthusiasm and genius of one of our young members, Christ Community has a Web Site. On August 22,1996, an article appeared on the front page of The New York Times describing our controversy with the Muskegon Classis. The Times puts their copy on the Internet and they referenced our Web Site. Within the next 12 hours, our Web Site went crazy recording over 200 'Visits" from around the world. There are no walls high enough or impermeable enough to stifle the word that goes out into space and returns to earth as the falling rain. A world marked by global consciousness, bound together in community through communication and bowing in worship to God in churches, temples, mosques, ashrams and a variety of shrines - that is our present state. In her book, Encountering God, Diane Eck narrates her own pilgrimage from Montana Methodism to immersion in Hindu religious culture in the Holy City of Banares. Teaching at Harvard, she has a task force of students fanning out over this nation of ours taking photographs of the places of worship of the multiplicity of faiths that are now a part of the American scene. The landscape is marked by religious pluralism - that is the fact of our time. How will we respond to our time - named by many as Post-Modern? That term becomes almost useless because it is attached to such diverse dimensions of the present, but it may yet be usable for us if we define it in the context of our present focus on the movement we have described as Liberalism. As mentioned above, Liberalism reacted against the stubborn orthodoxy of the 17th century. It welcomed the throwing off of authoritarianism and the ascendency of human rationality as it emerged in the Enlightenment. But the Enlightenment reduction of reality to the measure of human rationality proved inadequate. There was a loss of the Mystery of the transcendent and the rule of human rationality was proven false by the eruption of evil in our century. The Modern period, marked by confidence in human reason to shape and control human destiny, gave way to a post-modern era, which in some forms denies the © Grand Valley State University �On Being Civil and Committed Richard A. Rhem Page 6   existence of absolutes and dissolves into an abyss of relativism which allows of no claims to absolute certitudes. In a more humble expression, post-modernism is marked not by the denial of the Absolute or of absolute truths, but by the denial that humankind rooted in concrete historical circumstance is able to grasp the Absolute or formulate absolute truth statements. Rather, there is a recognition that being human is to be limited to a relative grasp of the Absolute and that every truth claim is provisional, that human knowledge is cumulative, growing, and that human religious tradition must be living, open-ended and in need of constant revision. If our world and our age is at all as I have set it forth, then it must be obvious that a brittle orthodoxy that claims a revelation of propositional truths that move through history unaffected by development and a strident fundamentalism that reiterates yesterday's answers to today's questions cannot meet the challenge of the reality of our world, cannot address with openness and sensitivity the moving target of the human condition. It is for that reason that I affirm the posture and spirit of the UCC and urge you not to take it for granted and not to be intimidated by the raspy rhetoric of the Religious Right. I would encourage you, rather, to be faithful to your vision and be firm in your resolve to stand for those causes that represent the grace of God as it was embodied in the way of Jesus. It is not for me to set your agenda; I call you, rather, to confidence in your historic posture and spirit. Yet, lest I leave everything vague and fuzzy, let me suggest some concrete challenges that will concretize how your posture and spirit might find expression. Continue to lead the way in the matter of the ordination of gay/lesbian persons. I really do not know the history of how you came to your prophetic stance, but you lead the way on an issue that vexes those church bodies that are wrestling with the issue, to say nothing of those bodies that have not yet openly dealt with the issue. You are in ecumenical discussions with Lutheran and Reformed bodies and I know from my former church body you have been called to turn from your practice before some kind of union would be considered. Stand firm. Continue to lead the way. The matter of sexual orientation tears the Church apart. Homosexuality is one of the most volatile issues with which the Church must deal. I did not choose to champion the cause of those of homosexual orientation. Ours was an act of hospitality to the MCC group. But, when confronted with the challenge to our action, I had to be true to my conviction. And my position is clear: It is not a moral issue. For claiming that, I have been assaulted by a blind biblicism that fails both to take seriously the knowledge available to us today from the sciences and to exercise a responsible biblical hermeneutic. © Grand Valley State University �On Being Civil and Committed Richard A. Rhem Page 7   In regard to the instance of the Byron Center teacher, also, we see the incendiary effect of the discussion of sexual orientation. When an issue elicits such response, one can be sure there is great fear, ignorance, and insecurity operating. Out of that situation has arisen a group called Concerned Clergy in which the UCC is well represented. We must continue to stand for reasoned understanding, justice and compassion. I have been moved by the stories that have been told to me by those who have suffered from discrimination and rejection, spurned as less than human. You are the people to take the lead and break down the walls of suspicion and misinformation and replace walls with bridges of compassion and embrace. I mention a second area in which I believe you have been prophetic and call you to continue - standing for and with the most vulnerable of society. On the Sunday following the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill, I said in the sermon, "Congratulations, Mr. President. Congratulations, members of Congress. You have changed the face of welfare in this country. Now, when will you deal with the big issues facing this nation?" Well, I got a little response to that. I was asked if I thought the state of welfare did not require change - was I arguing for the perpetuation of the current system? That, of course, was not my point. Rather, I was trying to indicate that we are selective in our indignation; that a stealth bomber or two would cover all the abuse of the system. And further, while I'm sure reform is needed, who, in the meantime, will watch for those who fall through the cracks? The Church must make its voice heard on behalf of the voiceless ones. While we must be engaged in concrete aid and support to the poor and disadvantaged, we cannot make such efforts a substitute for an ongoing struggle for a more just and humane and compassionate social-economic order. Finally, let me challenge you to the critical importance of interfaith dialogue. Hans Küng has said there will be no peace in the world without peace among the religions. Religion is a powerful force in the human situation and the militancy of the respective fundamentalism of Christianity, Islam and Judaism puts our world at risk. In our world where the other is our neighbor, we cannot continue with a blind exclusivism that dogmatically affirms its truth to be the only truth, its way to God, the only way. Not only does that fail to build broad community and mutual respect, it also fails to realize the enrichment of spiritual insight and the enhancement of human wellbeing that dialogue affords. I just returned from two weeks in Spain. I visited Toledo, site of the Council of Toledo in 589 - an important early Christian center that was conquered by the Moors in the 8th century, bringing with them their Moslem faith. For centuries © Grand Valley State University �On Being Civil and Committed Richard A. Rhem Page 8   the Jewish, Christian and Islamic communities lived peacefully together until the 13th century when Christian forces conquered, driving out the Jews and Moslems, instituting the Inquisition, where it was convert or be banished or lose your life. We moved on to Cordoba where, in the middle of a magnificent mosque, the conquering Christians raised a cathedral towering over the surrounding mosque, sign of Christianity's triumph. And then it was Seville. There, the cathedral took over the mosque site. The tower of the mosque was kept intact, but the huge silver monstrance that served the cathedral was replicated on top of the mosque's tower - again a sign of the triumphalism of the Church. And when the Jews were driven out, the Jewish quarter was renamed Santa Cruz - The Holy Cross. In all of this I was struck by the arrogance of the triumphalist spirit that has marked so much of Christendom in its history, and I felt deeply the need for a different spirit to mark the Church in our day. Just as the early Jesus movement discovered the wide embrace of God's grace for the Gentiles without demanding they become Jews, so is not the God of Israel, the God of Jesus calling us today to recognize that the grace that flows from the heart of God embraces peoples beyond the Christian Church? These matters I mention are illustrative, not exhaustive. I use them simply as example of a spirit, a perspective. My concern is, as I began, to call for a resurgence of a liberal tradition chastened, to be sure - humble, acknowledging our limited insight and knowledge as part of our human condition; gracious, open to the other, the alienated, the vulnerable; passionate, finding in the way of Jesus the way of compassion; a liberal tradition that combines intellectual integrity with evangelical passion. Intellectual integrity - We need to think the Faith - to reflect on the biblical story in light of our historical context. We must know the story and the tradition that has shaped us. And we must be open to contemporary human experience, to all the knowledge afforded us in the full spectrum of human learning. Out of that reflection on the biblical story and the faith tradition in light of our present human experience, we have something to say and action informed by insight. A mind open to the Word and the world. A heart passionate with the grace of God embracing the world in all its connectedness. A liberal tradition marked by humility, passionate, and full of faith. As we traveled through Spain we stopped in La Mancha and visited the windmills challenged by Don Quixote. Lunching in the village that was the setting for Cervantes' novel, I had my picture taken near a bronze sculpture of the strange warrior and I thought to myself, here was a fit hero for our time - Calling for the resurgence of the liberal tradition in our culture marked by a conservative tide laced with mean spirit, defensiveness and fear, we must dare to dream the impossible dream. Do you remember Eldonza, the kitchen maid whom Quixote named Dulcinea, against her protest that she was nothing but a slut - no lady at all? Do you remember that scene where Quixote lies dying, disillusioned? She comes to him, © Grand Valley State University �On Being Civil and Committed Richard A. Rhem Page 9   now having become the lady he saw in her while still in her rags, saying to him, "I'm your Lady Dulcinea," transformed by his naming her not as she was, but as she might become. Be true to yourselves. In an age of quite a different spirit, I challenge you to make your own these stirring lines from "The Man From LaMancha." To dream the impossible dream, to fight the unbeatable foe, to bear with unbearable sorrow, to run where the brave dare not go. To right the unrightable wrong, to love, pure and chaste from afar, to try when your arms are too weary, to reach the unreachable star. This is my quest, to follow that star, no matter how hopeless, no matter how far, To fight for the right without question or pause, to be willing to march into hell for a heavenly cause. And I know if I'll only be true to this glorious quest that my heart will lie peaceful and calm, when I'm laid to my rest. And the world will be better for this: that one man, scorned and covered with scars, still strove with his last ounce of courage, to reach the unreachable stars. © Grand Valley State University � Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Text A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text. Event Address to Fall UCC Conference Series Lecture Location The location of the interview St. John's United Church of Christ, Grand Rapids, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RA-3-19961006 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1996-10-06 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Title A name given to the resource On Being Civil and Committed: Reclaiming a Great Tradition Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource eng Description An account of the resource Talk created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on October 6, 1996 entitled "On Being Civil and Committed: Reclaiming a Great Tradition", as part of the series "Lecture", on the occasion of Address to Fall UCC Conference, at St. John's United Church of Christ, Grand Rapids, MI. Tags: Universal Grace, Religious Pluralism. Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf Religious Pluralism Universal Grace https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/823b6123aa6427d31a3f3187935a378a.jpg f5a178dfc8d22075e96304faa7459561 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Michigan Novels Collection. PS3537.C437 O58 1925 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0039 Title A name given to the resource On the Campus, Freshman Description An account of the resource Binding of On the Campus, Freshman, by James Schermerhorn, Jr., published by Dodd, Mead & Co., 1925. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1925 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/0a5e74ab39ed767c9c2324ddc05eed25.pdf 5257a82ecff82ff95d205b4d527e54bc PDF Text Text On the Celebration of The Golden Wedding Anniversary Of Norm and Maureen Campbell Prayer offered by Richard A. Rhem September 2012 Oh God, Eternal One, in whom we live and move and have our being, in the midst of this happy celebration we pause consciously to experience and to acknowledge your Presence, present to us. We do so naturally at life’s critical junctures, life’s moments awash with meaning – those moments that cause our hearts to sing or to break, our minds to be radiant with light and illumination or numb in somber darkness. We pause; we are still. We are present to you who are present to us – the presence of Mystery in whom and before whom our lives are played out. In the quietness of this moment, we pause to give thanks for the fifty years of life together shared by Norm and Maureen – (two-thirds of their respective 75 years of life!) – for their love and faithfulness, for the richness of their experiences, for the model they are of strength and steadiness, of faith and devotion, of kindness and gentleness. We celebrate their years as lovers, partners, friends, and we give you thanks that, as children, grandchildren and a large circle of friends, we can share these moments with them. Memories wash over us of special times and seasons. The film of fifty years flashes through our minds – times when we laughed until the tears washed over our cheeks; �Anniversary Prayer Richard A. Rhem Page 2   times when the struggle was intense, and the goal far off; times when dreams came true, and times when dreams were shattered; times when joy burst the soul, and times when grief filled the heart; times of health and strength; times when health seemed threatened and the future put in question. Oh God, we remember with laughter and with tears, and we own it all, the whole long, wonderful, fragile, perilous, beautiful journey. For it is the tapestry of two lives lived well, lived fully, authentically, before your face – a tapestry with entwining threads of all the colors of the rainbow: brighter and more somber tones, light and shadow. And through it all your presence, your faithfulness, even your presence in absence. We give you thanks, O God, for your grace that has enabled them to be all they are, and we seek your benediction upon them as they move beyond this significant landmark. Fill their future years with the richness of harvest, enabling them to savor the fruits of their love and labor. Favor them with good health and even new adventure. Surround them with the loving care of their children, the happy exuberance of their grandchildren, and embrace of the circle of their friends. May your mercy be experienced with every breaking dawn and may peace mantle them with every golden sunset. And as they gaze on the grandeur of the night’s starry heaven, may they know themselves enwrapped together in the Mystery of the abyss of your steadfast love. With gratitude we gather around these tables, acknowledging the gifts of bread and wine. And in the midst of this joyous feast, we remember the one who broke bread and poured the cup, and has become for us the Bread of Life, the Wine of New Creation, Jesus Christ our Lord. �Anniversary Prayer Richard A. Rhem Page 3   It was my lucky day when Norm and Maureen showed up at CCC. Obviously they cared deeply about the church, about the faith, about compassion and justice. Intelligent, thoughtful, engaged, and just as nice as could be! With them we shared weddings, baptisms, funerals, and simply friendship. Nancy and I are blessed by them; to be their pastor a great privilege. Norm and Maureen, you have earned our respect and, more than that, our love. It is with great joy that we celebrate with you 75 years of life and 50 years of marriage. � https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a9b7f30d7f2c7c615a316ef40295e1b8.wav 85525626d159b13a57dac6104b5b23da Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Family Gathering Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context RA-1-20120901 Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource application/pdf audio/wav Title A name given to the resource On the Celebration of the Golden Wedding Anniversary of the Campbells Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource eng Description An account of the resource Prayer created, delivered, or published by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on September 1, 2012 entitled "On the Celebration of the Golden Wedding Anniversary of the Campbells", on the occasion of Family Gathering. Tags: Family, Faith, Life Journey, Grace of God, Celebration of Life, Anniversary, Prayer. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2012-09-01 Anniversary Celebration of Life Faith Family Grace of God Life Journey Prayer https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/dc9db04259de56e78cea1300d9e677e2.mp3 d04cc1ee5f5f2f3eb40fc84becb7a3fb Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Richard A. Rhem Collection Description An account of the resource Text and sound recordings of the sermons, prayers, services, and articles of Richard Rhem, pastor emeritus of Christ Community Church in Spring Lake, Michigan, where he served for 37 years. Starting in the mid 1980's, Rhem began to question some of the traditional Christian dogma that he had been espousing from the pulpit. That questioning was a first step in a long and interesting spiritual journey, one that he openly shared with his congregation. His journey is important, in part because it is reflective of the questioning, the yearnings, and the gradual revision of beliefs that many persons in this part of the century have experienced and continue to experience. It is important also because of the affirming and inclusive way his questioning was done and his thinking evolved. His sermons and other written and spoken materials together document the steps in his journey as it took a turn in 1985, yet continued to revolve around the framework and liturgies of the Christian calendar. Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Religion Interfaith worship Sermons Sound Recordings Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Rhem, Richard A. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived <a href="https://gvsu.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/514">Richard A. Rhem papers (KII-01)</a> Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives. Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Kaufman Interfaith Institute Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Language A language of the resource English Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Text Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01 Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1981-2014 Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 text/pdf Sound A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds. Event Installation of Peter Theune Pentecost XXIV Scripture Text Ephesians 3:17-18, 20-21 Location The location of the interview Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context KII-01_RA-0-19851110 Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1985-11-10 Title A name given to the resource On the Threshold of Greatness Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Richard A. Rhem Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a> Subject The topic of the resource Clergy--Michigan Reformed Church in America Christ Community Church (Spring Lake, Mich.) Sermons Relation A related resource Richard A. Rhem - An Archive of Sermons, Prayers, Talks and Stories: http://richardrhem.org/ Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Sound Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource audio/mp3 Description An account of the resource A sermon given by Richard A. Rhem (Dick) on November 10, 1985 entitled "On the Threshold of Greatness", on the occasion of Installation of Peter Theune, Pentecost XXIV, at Christ Community Church, Spring Lake, MI. Scripture references: Ephesians 3:17-18, 20-21. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3ac7c5cf2f27a000a35d8e921e2726ca.jpg 67a77c5762cddff7ab11d004978467ba https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/3ffc10045f580437c1618e5b523f91af.jpg 3ac57b9357694d8bc13be3118190fd10 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Summers in Saugatuck-Douglas Collection Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Grand Valley State University. Kutsche Office of Local History Description An account of the resource Collection contains images and documents digitized and collected through the project "Stories of Summer," supported by a National Endowment for the Humanities Common Heritage Grant. The collection aims to document the twin lakeshore communities of Saugatuck and Douglas, Michigan, as they transformed through the state's bustling tourism industry and acceptance of minorities. Coverage The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant 1910s-2010s Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Various Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Douglas (Mich.) Michigan, Lake Allegan County (Mich.) Beaches Sand dunes Outdoor recreation Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University Libraries. Allendale, Michigan Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Saugatuck-Douglas History Center Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context Stories of Summer (Common Heritage project) Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg application/pdf Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Text Language A language of the resource English Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2018 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-07_SD-Misc_On-the-Water Title A name given to the resource On the Water Description An account of the resource Black and white photo of a man, two women and four children of various ages. Three children and one woman sit on the dock, while the others are in a small boat in the front of the frame. There are other boats on the water in the background. On the reverse is written, "Need Not Return" in the top left corner. Near the bottom right, there is an address. It appears to be the back of "On the Water." Subject The topic of the resource Michigan Saugatuck (Mich.) Allegan County (Mich.) Families Children Boats Outdoor recreation Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Digital file collected by the Kutsche Office of History as part of the Stories of Summer Project. Relation A related resource Stories of Summer (project) Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/UND/1.0/">Copyright Undetermined</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives https://digitalcollections.library.gvsu.edu/files/original/a32c16b91f2a22302fa827f36b21cb59.jpg da00851e338ac9a23ae29a423e24ad68 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Title A name given to the resource Decorated Publishers' Bindings Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Description An account of the resource From the early 1870s to roughly 1930, many publishers issued their commercial book covers with a remarkable variety of graphic designs and illustrations. This sixty-year period saw many artists and designers contributing to this art form. While some can be identified from their style or initials, others remain unknown. Source A related resource from which the described resource is derived Seidman Rare Books Collection Michigan Novels Collection Regional Historical Collection Lincoln and the Civil War Collection Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Special Collections & University Archives Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 2017-08-30 Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/InC/1.0/?language=en">In Copyright</a>, <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpg Language A language of the resource eng Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01 Still Image A static visual representation. Examples include paintings, drawings, graphic designs, plans and maps. Recommended best practice is to assign the type Text to images of textual materials. Source Seidman Rare Books. PS 3521 R64 05 1903 Dublin Core The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/. Identifier An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context DC-01_Bindings0472 Title A name given to the resource On the We-A Trail Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Decorative Designers (Designer) Description An account of the resource Binding of On the We-A Trail: A Story of the Great Wilderness, by Caroline Brown, published by Macmillan Company, 1903. Subject The topic of the resource Book covers Covers (Illustration) Graphic arts Publishers and publishing Pictorial bindings Language A language of the resource eng Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource <a href="http://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-US/1.0/?language=en">No Copyright - United States</a> Type The nature or genre of the resource Image Format The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource image/jpeg Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1903 Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Grand Valley State University. University Libraries. Lemmen Library and Archives