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  1. Oral History of Barry Spitz - Oral History

    In this oral history, author, outdoorsman, and running enthusiast Barry Spitz recounts his adventures, encounters, and investigations over the course of more than 40 years of living in Marin County. Born in Brooklyn in 1948, Barry moved to California at the age of 22 after completing an MBA at Columbia University. He settled initially in San Francisco where he worked in the banking industry for a few years before buying a house in San Anselmo and...

    Record Type: Archive

    Barry Spitz photo by Debra Schwartz
  2. Oral History of Carol Wilson - Oral History

    In this oral history, Mill Valley native and fifth-generation Californian Carol Wilson recounts her life in Mill Valley and her family's history in Marin. Carol tells the story of her great-grandfather who bought land in Larkspur around 1850, and of her maternal grandparents who moved to Mill Valley as refugees from San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Born in 1931, Carol was baptized at Mt. Carmel, attended Park School and Tamalpais High Sch...

    Record Type: Archive

    Carol Wilson, photo courtesy of Carol Wilson
  3. Oral History of David Harker - Oral History

    Longtime Mill Valley resident David Harker was born in San Francisco on October 19th, 1906. His earliest memories are of living in Mill Valley as a young child and attending a German kindergarten on Summit Avenue. David graduated with honors from UC Berkeley's College of Chemistry in 1928, and later earned his PhD from the California Institute of Technology. In 1975, David met and married Deborah Harker. He would go on to become an internationa...

    Record Type: Archive

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  4. Oral History of Elliott & Kent Seymour - Oral History

    Editor's Note: The transcript of this interview differs from the audio interview. The transcript condenses and re-orders the interview. Kent and Elliott Seymour are twins, born July 10, 1902 in San Francisco. They were raised in Mill Valley, and have lived most of their lives in Mill Valley and Marin County. In the interview, they recount their school years in Mill Valley, and then their attendance at, and degrees from, the University of Cal...

    Record Type: Archive

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  5. Oral History of Frederick LeRoy Martin - Oral History

    In this oral history interview, old-timer Fred Martin brims with memories of daily life in Mill Valley - from school, to groceries, to regular hikes down to Muir Beach - during the first half of the twentieth century. Fred describes living in Tam Valley when there were maybe "ten automobiles" and still people travelling by horse and buggy. Without wheels, he and his brothers walked into town from Tam Valley every day of the 1929 fire to help figh...

    Record Type: Archive

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  6. Oral History of Fredrik Cassee - Oral History

    In this oral history, Fredrik "Frits" Cassée recounts his life as a postwar wanderer and cosmopolitan baker who ended up rooting himself firmly in the community of Mill Valley. Born in Haarlem, Holland, in 1936, Frits came to the United States in 1957 as a trained and certified baker. Initially settling in Coalinga in the San Joaquin Valley, he soon moved north to San Francisco for better employment opportunities. After getting married in 1963 an...

    Record Type: Archive

    Fredrik "Frits" Cassee, photo by Joyce Kleiner
  7. Oral History of George Omi - Oral History

    In this oral history, longtime Mill Valley resident, retired landscape architect, and memoirist George Omi shares the story of his life. George begins with the immigration story of his Japanese parents who came to America in the early 20th century and subsequently became naturalized citizens. George himself was born in San Francisco in 1930, a second-generation Japanese American. George describes his experience growing up in two languages - two d...

    Record Type: Archive

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  8. Oral History of Janet Upham - Oral History

    Janet Upham was born in San Francisco in 1927. Her father was Elmer Michael Shapiro, a Russian immigrant who came to San Francisco in 1893. Her mother was Ethel Margare Willis, a native San Franciscan whose mother came from Ireland. Janet's parents met on a blind date at the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. Janet's grandfather owned properties in Mill Valley near the Blithedale Hotel, where the young family settled. They eventually moved to a h...

    Record Type: Archive

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  9. Oral History of Jean Coleman - Oral History

    Jean Coleman, born Jean Spangler, was born in Fremont, Nebraska, and moved as a young girl with her family to Mill Valley in 1937. In her oral history, Jean remembers her childhood with friends, attending schools and church, and belonging to the Campfire Girls. Amidst the backdrop of World War II, Jean's mother died and her father moved away, leaving her with a relative and friends. After graduation from Tamalpais High School, she attended Coll...

    Record Type: Archive

    Jean Coleman
  10. Oral History of Marilyn Bagshaw and Patty Bagshaw Simmons - Oral History

    Sisters Marilyn Bagshaw and Patty Bagshaw Simmons were born at Ross Hospital in Kentfield in 1940 and 1942, respectively. The Bagshaws were raised in Mill Valley and attended Old Mill School, Tamalpais High, and College of Marin. Over the years, Marilyn worked for Pacific Telephone and Telegraph, the human resources department of Blue Shield of California, and was a school secretary. At the time her oral history was recorded, Patty had worked for...

    Record Type: Archive

    Oral History of Marilyn Bagshaw and Patty Bagshaw Simmons
  11. Oral History of Mary and Tony Brabo - Oral History

    Tony and Mary Brabo were married for 82 years, reportedly the longest marriage in Marin County history. They died in 2011, at ages 99 and 100, respectively. Tony was born February 14, 1912 and Mary November 15, 1911, both in the Homestead Valley neighborhood of Mill Valley. Mary was the daughter of Manuel and Marie Brazil Bettencourt. Both families came from the Azores region of Portugal; Mary recalls speaking only Portuguese as a child. Tony and...

    Record Type: Archive

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  12. Oral History of Norman Ortman - Oral History

    Longtime Mill Valley resident Norman "Bud" Ortman recounts how his family first came to Mill Valley after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. When a fire destroyed the family wood and steel business, Bud's grandfather moved his family to Mill Valley and built the house in which Bud would eventually be born. In this oral history, Bud describes daily life as a kid in Mill Valley, attending school and goofing around; sledding down Mill Valley's grass...

    Record Type: Archive

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  13. Oral History of Rodney Hartman - Oral History

    In this oral history interview, well-rounded and ever-active physician Rodney B. Hartman reflects on over forty years of medical practice in Mill Valley. After a "crash course" educational experience as a young doctor at San Quentin prison, Rodney transitioned to private practice in Belvedere, and then Mill Valley, during the 1930s. Rodney reflects upon the ups and downs of local medicine with vivid and detailed anecdotes, including the emergency...

    Record Type: Archive

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  14. Oral History of Ruth White Bowie - Oral History

    Ruth White Bowie was one of Mill Valley's grande dames in the true sense, though she would have deplored the use of the term. Ruth was born in San Francisco, and she and her twin sister were educated at Miss West's private school in the city, then at the Waltham School for Girls near Boston and Briarcliff Manor on the Hudson. In 1910, Ruth married Ralston L. White, a member of one of Mill Valley's most influential families. In this oral history, ...

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  15. Oral History of Sarah Edna Maguire - Oral History

    Sarah Edna Maguire was born April 23, 1889 in Nevada County, California. Edna, as she called herself, began her teaching career in Mariposa, where she worked for a decade before moving to Mill Valley in 1921 and begininng to teach in the Mill Valley School District. For 20 years Edna served as principal of Homestead School. In 1955, the Edna Maguire school was built and named in her honor. Edna passed away at the age of 92 in Santa Rosa. Edito...

    Record Type: Archive

    Sarah Edna Maguire
  16. Oral History of Shirley Larkins - Oral History

    Shirley Claire Dias was born on November 8, 1931 in San Rafael and spent her early childhood on her father's dairy farm in Petaluma. When her family moved to Mill Valley in 1942, Shirley enrolled in Old Mill School and later, Park School. She went on to attend Tamalpais High School, working part-time as a waitress at the Mountain Home Inn. In 1951, Shirley graduated from College of Marin and went to work at the American Trust Company Bank in San ...

    Record Type: Archive

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  17. Oral History of Thomas Frederick Bagshaw - Oral History

    Thomas Frederick (Fred) Bagshaw was born in 1899 in Cardiff, Wales and came to Mill Valley as a small boy with his parents. Fred's uncle, Frederick W. Bagshaw, had come to Mill Valley a few years earlier and sent for his brother to join him in the building business. In his oral history, Fred recounts his early days in Mill Valley, including the role of baseball games, his experience with the 1929 fire, and his attempt to enlist during World War I...

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  18. Oral History of William Provines - Oral History

    William "Bill" Provines was born on July 4th, 1908 in Willits, California. His father was a locomotive engineer on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad operating from Sausalito to Willits. In 1916, they moved to Mill Valley to provide more advantages for the family. Bill attended Summit School and Old Mill School and was part of the first eighth grade graduating class from Old Mill School in 1921. He then attended Tamalpais High School and Marin Jun...

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  19. Oral History of William Walsh - Oral History

    In this 1978 oral history interview, police chief Bill Walsh discusses the trends and issues, current and past, of his tenure on the Mill Valley police force. Bill enriches his discussion both a wide lens and an eye for detail, recounting crime statistics, offering theories about the causes of certain crimes, addressing popular policing myths, and providing reasoned opinions on the nature of law enforcement. Bill grew up in Mill Valley and chose ...

    Record Type: Archive

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