Oral Histories, including the Wynne S. Christensen I Remember Hour Collection
The oral history collection, known as the "I Remember Hour" collection, is composed of VHS and audio tapes of interviews with longtime DeKalb residents, government officials, and other community leaders.
Wynne S. Christensen I Remember Hour Collection
In 1984, Congressman James Mackay, who served as President of the DeKalb Historical Society (1984-1986), developed the idea to create an oral history collection to document the history of DeKalb County, Georgia. His plan called for interviewing public officials, teachers, shopkeepers, and other longtime residents of DeKalb who had different experiences and memories to share. These interviews were usually an hour long and thus were known as the "I Remember Hour." Wynne S. Christensen was a staff member of the DeKalb History Center in the 1980s and a resident of the Druid Hills area. Funds were donated in Christensen’s name for us to preserve this valuable collection. As a result, the Wynne S. Christensen I Remember Hour Collection has now been digitized and contains over 130 interviews on DVD. Notes and transcriptions (if available) for these recordings are available in the Reading Room.
The collection interviews a variety of different people and covers many subjects. There are two programs on the 1996 visit of the Olympic Torch to downtown Decatur, the 100th anniversary of the Tucker Baptist Church and the integration of Decatur High School. Guests on the I Remember Hour include local judges Oscar Mitchell, Bond Almond, Clarence Peeler and Richard Bell. The R.L. Mathis family talk about the dairy business in DeKalb, Thomas Vinson talks of public health issues, George Dillard talks of working for the FBI and Joe Pugh speaks about Baron DeKalb. Local resident Scott Candler, Sr. talks on identifying Georgia homes in a program from l968, Pauline Pounds gives a talk on one-room schoolhouses, and Fire Chief Dudley Martin talks about fire services. Women during World War II, Hardman Cemetery, Scottdale Mill, Peachtree DeKalb Airport, Swanton House and the making of the movie “Driving Miss Daisy” are all included in this wide-ranging collection.
In addition to the I Remember Hour series, we also have Then & Now and podcasts of the Lunch and Learn series. There are also many compact discs and DVDs donated to the History Center for research purposes.
Note: We are beginning to transcribe these oral histories and though it will take time, check to see if the title of the program is in a different color. If you hover your mouse over it, you may get a link to a PDF file of the transcript. You will need a PDF reader installed on your computer to read it.
Wynne S. Christensen I Remember Hour Collection Inventory:
1 --- Julius McCurdy 3/82
2 --- Charles M. Clayton 5/82
3 --- James Venable 8/82
4 --- Judges Oscar Mitchell and Bond Almand 9/82
5 ---Judge William Dean 1/83
6 ---James G. Lester 2/83
7 --- Verlyn Moore Jr. & Mrs. Douglas McCurdy 11/83
8 --- Nina Rusk Hosch, Emory Univ. 11/83
9 --- Judson C. Ward, Emory Univ. 5/85
10 --- Milton Scott 9/85
11 --- Clark Harrison 10/85
12 --- Brad Clement, Architecture of DeKalb; 10/23/85 / Rod Bain, Eagle Scout, on Hardman Cemetery;
10/85 / Max Cleland; Mike Mears 11/85
13 --- Judge Clarence Peeler; Harmon Martin 1/86
14 --- Fannie Eberhart; Maj. Fred Howard 2/86
15 --- Judge Richard Bell 3/86
16 --- Julius McCurdy 9/86
17 --- Hugh Howell, Jr. 1/84
18 --- M/Mrs. Hastings; Wheat Williams 3/84
19 --- Julius McCurdy; Robin Harris; 4/8 / Jas. Mackay
20 --- Nina Rusk Hosch (copy of 8) 11/83
21 --- Chief Dudley Martin; 09/84 / Dr. Wallace Alston 11/84
22 --- Dr. Thomas O. Vinson 02/85
23 --- Grace Robinson; Winn Hanson 03/85
24 --- Wyman C. Lowe 04/85
25 --- R. L. Mathis family, Dairying 10/86
26 --- Steffan Thomas, painter 11/86
27 --- Commander Bennie Wilken 01/87
28 --- Mrs. John Furse 02/87
29 --- Dr. Lawrence Matthews; 03/87 / Dr. Carl Renfroe
30 --- John Evans 05/87
31 --- Dorothy Nix 11/87
32 --- Mayor Dub Brown of Chamblee 10/87
33 --- "Doc" Manget 01/88
34 --- Andy Robertson 02/88
35 --- Whitfield Smith, Clerk of the Court 03/88
36 --- Caroline Ridley Howard; John Ridley 04/88
37 --- Dr. T.O. Vinson, Dir. DeKalb Health 05/88
38 --- Judge Clarence Peeler and Noah Stone 05/88
39 --- Mrs. J. Don (Geraldine) Aderhold 10/88
40 --- J.C. Bailey, his Shoe Shop on the square 11/88
41 --- B. J. Smith 00/88
42 --- Tom O. Davis 01/89
43 --- Kent Randolph, Tucker Resident 02/89
44 --- George Dillard 03/89
45 --- Margaret Bridges 04/89
46 --- Jim Anderson, part two 05/89
48 --- J. Davidson Phillips, Pastor of Decatur 11/89 Presbyterian Church
49 --- Talmage Amberson, part one 09/89
50 --- Talmage Amberson, part two 09/89
51 --- Willie Austin 10/89
52 --- Bobby Burgess 02/90
53 --- Bill Breen, Architect, Mayor 03/90
54 --- Delores Stockard 04/90
55 --- Bill Evans 05/90
56 --- Tom J. Fountain 10/90
57---Daniel Hopkins, Jeanette Hopkins 1993 / Livingston, Cora Cash Henderson, / Frances Lanford, Willie Arnold, First Baptist Church of Tucker
58 --- C. Campbell 02/91
59 --- Horace Ward 03/91
60 --- Ga. State Convention, Sacred Harp, part I 03/95
61--- Ga. State Convention, Sacred Harp, part II 03/95
62 --- City of Dunwoody Remembers . . . 02/94
63 --- Ira B. Melton on Pine Lake 04/93
64 --- Cities of Tucker & Lithonia 09/94
65 --- Virgil Hopkins remembers. . . 09/91
66 --- Robertson Brothers Remember. . . 11/91
67 --- Col. Tom Hensler remembers 02/93
68 --- Lunch & Learn, Sue Ellen Owens 04/94 / Baron DeKalb, by Joe Pugh
69 --- Sam Knuckles remembers 06/93
70 --- Georgia State Convention of Sacred Harp/shaped note singers Decatur 03/94
71 --- Agnes Scott Teacher remembers, name and date currently unknown
72 --- Olympic Torch Relay/Para Olympics 1996
73 --- Scottdale Black Community 10/95
74 --- Georgians & the Holocaust n/a
75 --- Making of "Driving Miss Daisy" n/a
76 --- Mrs. Pauline Pounds and Swanton House 1994
77 --- Paige Perkins/Chamblee Remembers 11/96
78 --- DeKalb Agents: Jim Anderson, n/a / David Crosby, George Whiting
79 --- Torch Relay at Old Courthouse 07/96
80 --- Tom Keating on Saturday School 10/96
81 --- Bobby Burgess (also see tape 52) 03/97
82 --- Franklin Garrett 05/95
83 --- Lil Salter, Tom Preacher, Vera Hiller on 06/95 Druid Hills
84 --- Walt Drake, Joe Pugh on Stephen Decatur 04/95 and Baron DeKalb
85 --- 50th Anniversary Dinner, Lantz 08/87
86 --- Jim Anderson on Mr. DeKalb 1990
87 --- Professor Clayton
88 --- Julius McCurdy
89 --- Bond Almond
90 --- Winona Park Association
91 --- Wyman Lowe
92 --- Brad Pepharn, Max Cleland
96 --- Sacred Harp/Shaped Note Singers
97 --- Decatur High School Desegregation 02/24/99 / Decatur Business Bureau event
98 --- Clarkston
99 --- Dolly Wolf, Evelyn Boring, June 1997 / Margaret Carf, Cecil Beach - Decatur Library
100 --- Dr. Ruth Smith
101 --- Manuel Maloof
102 --- Dr. Wade Huie, Jr.
103 --- Ken Thomas on genealogy
104 --- Earnest Adkins/DeKalb Medical Center
105 --- CEO at 175th Celebration
106 --- Congressman Mackay retirement party
107 --- Sue Ellen Owens & Walt Drake on Stephen Decatur
108 --- Dr. Judson Ward "History of Georgia" series (10 cassette tapes)
109 --- Justice in DeKalb, Session One 02/99 / Tom Davis, Clarence Peeler, Edward Wheeler
110 --- Guss Simpson
112 --- C. Judson Ward, parts 1 and 2
113 --- John Lewis
115 --- Scott Candler, Sr. honored 1971
116 --- Wilbur Kurtz
122 --- Mrs. James Mackay
125 --- a) old courthouse roof repairs b) Mr. Bill Brice? c) Presentation of Pike Cty. book
d) Bill Hall (Robb?) dinner and roast
126 ---Decatur Schools superintendants: Renfro, Simmons, Griffith, Love
127 ---Decatur Federal 1/2002
128 ---Glennwood School, Decatur, 2/2002
128 ---duplicate number, Bedros Sharian
129 ---history maker award presented to James Mackay 3/2002
130 ---Richard H. Sams 7/2002 (Then and Now series)
131 ---Sheappard, Johnson and Mathis, DeKalb's Rural Roots 9/2002
132 ---Mayors and their Cities 3/2003
134 ---Walt Drake on Scott Candler 4/2003
135 ---Politics of Preservation 5/2003
Then and Now Series
Narvie J. Harris
Jim Perkins
Rebecca Latimer Felton
Ms. Howard
Courthouse Clock
Robert Winebarger
Charles Harrison
Walter McCurdy
East Lake Country Club
Bobby Burgess
Sue Ellen Owens (possible dupe of 103 or 107)
Walt Drake (possible dupe of 107)
Richard Sams (possible dupe of 130)
Ken Thomas (possible dupe of 103)
Miscellaneous oral histories and podcasts of DeKalb History Center's Lunch and Learn series
Tapes not produced by the History Center are for research only due to copyright restrictions
I Remember Hour - Amazing Architects of DeKalb: Sayward and Wilburn, 11/2005
I Remember Hour - Wilma Hipps on DeKalb Chamber of Commerce
DeKalb General Hospital Early Years
Elias Nour on PBS 3/1987 (for research only)
Frank M. Eldridge 5/2005
This is Atlanta History PBS program (for research only) 2005
Shermantown A Dramatic Reading 8/2005
Arbot Montessori/Mt. Zion Oral History presentation 5/2006
Elizabeth Wilson history maker presentation 2006
I Remember Hour - John Pruitt and Jerry Crane
Judson C. Ward on the US Constitution, 11/1987
James Mackay on Druid Hills High School, 2/1996
Dr. Tom Vinson, 1/1985
DCTV presentation on the old courthouse clock
Who Runs Georgia 11/1998
Tim Timmons interviews Grace Gober on Tucker in the 1920s 3/2002
George Rikard grave marker dedication, Alston House10/2001
Asbury Hosts: The history of Doraville with Horace Creel, Fannie Mae Jett, Dr. Pagenhart 7/1999
Shermantown Living History Project - Stone Mountain Charter School 5/2000
Oakhurst Presbyterian Church 9/1999
Flag Forum 1/1993
Lonnie Edwards on Sally Jessy Raphael show (for research only)
Popham seminar
Walter McCurdy speech to Northlake Alliance 2003
African American Schools
DCTV's Inside DeKalb, (for research only)
The Jeanes Supervisors - Striving to Educate
2002 State of DeKalb County Address, Vernon Jones, CEO
2003 State of DeKalb County Address, Vernon Jones, CEO
Memorial Tribute DCTV, (for research only)
Mysteries of Oakhurst
Max Cleland "Strong in Broken Places" (for research only)
Max Cleland on Larry King Live (for research only)
Bold and Daring - Stephen Decatur
South DeKalb Advisory Committee 1/1998
Building a Watershed Alliance (for research only) 2000
Davidson-Arabia Mountain Heritage Area (for research only)
Assisting Crime Victims during the Olympic Games
Davidson-Arabia Mature Preserve (for research only) 1992
DeKalb History Center 1st Annual Black History Month Celebration 2/2008
Bricks/A Tribute to Trailblazers 4/2008
I Remember Hour - DeKalb newspapers 4/2008
DeKalb History Center 2nd Annual Black History Month Celebration, parts 1 and 2 2/2009
Lunch and learn Stone Mountain Dr. George Coletti 1/2009
Lunch and Learn MAK District - Scott Leith 3/2009
Lunch and Learn Tucker - Tim Timmons 5/2009
Talking Walls - School Desegregation - Ellen Jones 7-2009
DeKalb History Center 3rd Annual Black History Month Celebration, parts 1 and 2 2/2010
