- Playing
- Remembering the attack on Pearl Harbor through ...
- From
- KALW
In October, President Obama declared that a major chapter in American military history was about to come to a close...
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: I can report that, as promised, the rest of our troops in Iraq will come home by the end of the year. After nearly nine years, America’s war in Iraq will be over.
As the year comes to its end, it’s a time to reflect on what America’s involvement in Iraq has meant to this country and to the Middle East. And, today – December 7 – brings us an opportunity to consider another military milestone: the attack on Pearl Harbor.
You might think, after so many years, that we know everything there is to know about the events that unfolded after the Pearl Harbor bombing. But one group whose story has rarely been told is university students. For most of them, the biggest concern on December 6, 1941, was preparing for final exams. Two days later, the nation was at war. Many left school to join the fight. Others stayed on, working at wartime factories to pay their expense.
Sam Redman a cultural historian with UC Berkeley’s Regional Oral History Office joins me to talk about how the attack on Pearl Harbor affected Bay Area colleges.
More from KALW
Where Twitter and Quakers meet
(11:15)
From: KALW
The mid-Market district of San Francisco is undergoing tremendous change. Construction cranes literally cast shadows over the businesses and charities serving long-time ...
Planting a permanent culture
(07:45)
From: KALW
Permaculture is a design method focused on using space efficiently, working with nature, and sustaining resources rather than depleting them. It aims to get the most use out ...
Fighting the dropout rate for African-American youth
(08:17)
From: KALW
In 2011, about 82 percent of San Francisco’s students graduated from high school. Ten percent dropped out. Break it down by ethnic group and the numbers change in ...
Confusion at the gas pump: which grade is best?
(05:10)
From: KALW
Gas prices in California are always a big problem. And this year, the average price per gallon is set to hit four dollars – the highest average ever. It seems like there’s ...
Taxi alternative Uber faces legal hurdles
(06:59)
From: KALW
Hailing a taxi in San Francisco can be nearly impossible if you’re not downtown. Calling ahead isn’t a guarantee either – often, the cab is late and sometimes it never ...
Gaming museum warps players through time
(08:33)
From: KALW
Lots of people talk about how addicted we are to our screens. We spend our days staring at smartphones, tablets, and computers. But the first digital addiction came before ...
Seeing past the nudity at San Francisco City Hall
(04:51)
From: KALW
San Francisco has long been known as a city where you can let it all hang out. Nudists from all over the world flock here to participate in events like the Folsom Street ...
West Oakland landlords invest in city's most dangerous streets
(09:53)
From: KALW
Mead Avenue is a single block in West Oakland in the triangle where San Pablo Avenue and Market Street meet. Like streets in a lot of low-income communities, Mead Avenue has ...
Inside the Adjustment Center at San Quentin State Prison
(26:32)
From: KALW
In 1851, the government of the new state of California legalized executions. But it wasn’t until 1891 that the state legislature required all executions take place within the ...
San Francisco’s volunteer seaweed fighters
(06:13)
From: KALW
Picture a slimy seaweed thicket – each plant a dark gold-brown, with a strong spine – wrapping around ropes, chains, and other sea life. This is Undaria, an invasive kelp ...
Related Pieces
Broadcast History
KALW 91.7FM:
December 7, 2011
Transcript
HOLLY KERNAN: So tell me about some of these people you have spoken with?
SAM REDMAN: As part of our larger WWII Homefront oral history project we’ve had an opportunity to speak to a number of people who were university students at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor and for these young men and woman, it really was a major turning point in their lives. Do they stay in school? Do they continue their studies? Do they leave school and join the military? Some were eventually drafted and many found work at places like the shipyards in the Bay Area.
KERNAN: And you spoke to one woman, Marian Ross, who was studying at Mills College in Oakland on the day of the attack on Pearl Harbor. And she remembered the news of the bombing and how the president of the college, Aurelia Henry Reinhardt, talked with students about it. So let’s hear from Marian Ross.
MARIAN ROSS: I first heard about the bo...
Read the full transcript
Related Website
