Tacoma Community College 50th anniversary interviews

Title: Tacoma Community College 50th anniversary interviews
Description: The collection contains 22 interviews with long term faculty and staff as well as former students of Tacoma Community College. The oral histories were conducted by Marketing and Communication Department staff members Shawn Jennison and Rachel Payne, and made to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the college.
Creator: Tacoma Community College, Department of Marketing and Communications
Publisher: Tacoma Community College Archives
Rights: Use is governed by Tacoma Community College's Creative Commons Copyright policy requiring attribution and share-alike intentions.
Source: Tacoma Community College 50th anniversary interviews
Subject: Tacoma Community College
Universities and colleges -- Faculty
Date: 2013
Coverage: Tacoma (Wash.)
Gig Harbor (Wash.)
Format: MP4
PDF
Identifier: TCCA-012

Interview with James Walton
In this interview with Jim Walton, he describes his upbringing in Texas and education, his military service and original career plans prior to coming to Tacoma. The bulk of the interview discusses his long history in Tacoma, beginning with his first job in the city and playing football, to his role as an adult student at TCC forming the Black student group the Obi Society. Walton discusses Obi’s fight for greater representation of Black culture in the curriculum, support for Black students, and more Black students and employees on campus; bringing Muhammad Ali to speak in Tacoma; violence on campus and off, including his involvement in calming the Hilltop incident. He also discusses the new community group the Black Collective and changes in the city that came out of that experience, and his decision to work for the city. He reflects on his achievements and the ways that TCC and students have changed over the years.