University Archives' collection of oral histories feature interviews with former students, faculty, administrators, and more. Click on the titles below to listen to the recordings on the Internet Archive.
Date: 4/17/2001
Virginia Hamilton Adair (1913-2004) was an American poet who became famous later in life with her 1996 publication "Ants on the Melon." She taught at Cal Poly Pomona from 1957 to 1980.
Anooshian, Barney interviewed by Dr. Lynne Emery
Date: 9/26/2001
Anooshian was a professor of Kinesiology and Health Promotion for 28 years and helped establish the Motor Development Clinic for children with motor skills difficulties. The clinic serves students in the local community and helps train Cal Poly students in physical education and related fields.
Date: 4/27/1972
Aschenbrenner (1913-2002) joined the Cal Poly faculty as an English professor in 1947, when the campus was still in San Dimas and considered a branch of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He eventually was appointed Dean of Arts and Sciences at Cal Poly Pomona.
Date: 12/15/1975
Aschenbrenner (1913-2002) joined the Cal Poly faculty as an English professor in 1947, when the campus was still in San Dimas and considered a branch of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He eventually was appointed Dean of Arts and Sciences at Cal Poly Pomona.
Date: 7/18/1972
Oliver A. Batcheller was the first instructor hired after Cal Poly reopened following WWII and founder of Cal Poly’s Horticulture program.
Date: 5/11/1983
A round-table discussion featuring members of the Biological Sciences Department: Ralph Ames, Howard Brown, Cameron Bug, Walt Hess, and Harold Lindt. Administrator A.J. Aschenbernner is also featured. They recall memories of Cal Poly Pomona's history and their experiences (roughly around 1940s-1960s).
Date: April 1966
Howard Boltz was an instructor in Ornamental Horticulture and Helen Beckett was the department secretary at the Cal Poly San Dimas campus. Boltz and Beckett recount the addition of war-surplus barracks to the campus. The barracks were small apartments designated for approximately twenty veterans and their families.
Date: 7/12/1972
Prior to teaching at Cal Poly Pomona, Cecil Brown was a war correspondent, covering World War II and the Korean War. He worked with notable journalists such as Edward R. Murrow and William Shirer. Brown was also the recipient of the George Foster Peabody Award for journalistic excellence. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his contributions to radio. In the 60s, he came to Cal Poly Pomona and became a professor of communication until his death in 1987.
Date: 1/18/1960
Herber Clewett and Herbert Tay were teachers at the Voorhis School for Boys, which operated from 1926 to 1936 before the campus was donated to Cal Poly.
Degan, James Interview
Date: 8/16/1972
James Degan came to the Cal Poly San Dimas campus as a student and eventually joined the faculty as an instructor in Ornamental Horticulture.
Date: 7/31/1970
Carl Englund was the Dean of Agriculture at the Cal Poly San Dimas campus after WWII. The instructional programs offered at that time included ornamental horticulture, fruit production, and services and inspection.
Geddes I, Ernest Interview
Date: 6/8/1973
In this interview, California Assemblyman Ernest Geddes discusses the history of Mt. SAC (San Antonio College) and W.K. Kellogg's donation of his ranch to the state of California. Geddes represented the 49th District, which included much of the area around Cal Poly Pomona.
Date: 8/1/1972
Stanton and Gladys Gray were members of the faculty at the San Dimas campus prior to WWII. Both Stantons were artists and Gladys has won international acclaim for her paintings.
Date: 8/14/1972
James Griffin enrolled at the Cal Poly Voorhis campus in San Dimas in 1945 following his military service during WWII. He later joined Cal Poly’s faculty and taught Ornamental Horticulture from 1947-1970.
Date: 2/20/2004
Zelma Haber was married to Ernie Haber, a graduate at the Voorhis School for Boys. She talks about the school and how it followed the ideas outlined in H. Jerry Voorhis’ Masters thesis "The Education of an Institution Boy."
Hawkins, H. & Dorothea Interview
Date: September 1972
The Hawkins discuss their time on the Voorhis campus from 1938-1942 when Mr. Hawkins was a student there.
Date: 1975
The High Sierra Camp was founded as a retreat for students at the Voorhis School for Boys. The camp was located on Sherwin Creek at 8,000 feet elevation on the east slope of the High Sierras in Southern California.
Hobbs, Kenneth H. Interview
Date: unknown
Hobbs was a professor of Agricultural Biology from 1950-1976, a period of rapid growth at Cal Poly Pomona and the surrounding area.
Jones, Cecil Interview
Date: April 1972
Cecil Jones served as business manager at Cal Poly. He was also known for his involvement in California rodeos.
Date: 1/25/1997
Robert E. Kennedy (1915-2010) was the former President of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (1967-1978). In this interview, he discusses the Rose Float collaboration with California State Polytechnic University, Pomona that dates back to 1949.
Date: 7/12/1972
Alma McPhee was the wife of Cal Poly President Julian McPhee (1896-1967), who presided over both the San Luis Obispo and Pomona campuses from 1933 to 1966. The Cal Poly campuses were all-male until 1961. Alma was known as her husband’s “right hand” and played an influential role the campuses’ transitions to co-ed institutions.
Date: 4/18/1966
Dr. Julian McPhee was known as the father of the Cal Poly university system. He served as President of both the San Luis Obispo and Pomona campuses from 1933 to 1966. The university that is now Cal Poly Pomona was founded as the southern branch of the San Luis Obispo campus. It was located first at the Voorhis campus in San Dimas and later at the Kellogg campus in Pomona, where it was known as the Kellogg-Voorhis Unit. The campus became a separate institution in 1966 and eventually adopted the name Cal Poly Pomona. McPhee discusses his tenure as President and the eventual separation of the campuses.
O'Brien, Ben and Earl interviewed by Danette Cook Adamson
Ben and Earl O'Brien attended the Voohis School for Boys (1928-1938) in San Dimas, California. The brothers discuss their daily lives at the Voorhis School, Jerry Voorhis and his family, the staff, other boys at the School, and the profoundly beneficial impact the School made on their lives. Transcript available.
Date: 7/20/1972
Lavina Penley (1882-1981) was the first librarian at Cal Poly Pomona. Penley discusses the history of the campus and its transformation from the Voorhis School for Boys to the southern campus of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1938.
Date: 8/9/1972
Donald H. Pflueger (1923-1994) was a Professor of History at Cal Poly Pomona and the author of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona- A Legacy and a Mission. He grew up in Glendora on a citrus ranch and is a noted author of Inland Empire history. Pflueger discusses the history of Cal Poly Pomona and the surrounding area.
Spencer, Paul Interview
Date: 6/20/1972
Paul Spencer owned a construction company that contributed to the development of Cal Poly’s Voorhis Campus and helped the university acquire the Kellogg Horse Ranch in Pomona.
Taylor, Michael A. interviewed by Danette Cook Adamson
Date: 4/23/1999
Taylor, a horticulture alumni, built a tree house on the Cal Poly Pomona campus while he was a student. The tree house was 65 feet above the ground and the story of its construction is an example of the ingenuity typical of Cal Poly Pomona students and application of the polytechnic "learn by doing" philosophy.
Date: 1/7/1960
Charles B. Voorhis (1870-1961) was an executive at the Nash Motor Company who established the Voorhis School for Boys in San Dimas, California in 1928. He endowed the school and served as Chairman of the Board until 1938, when he donated the property to the State of California. The school then became the first site of the southern branch of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The campus would later move to the Kellogg Ranch in Pomona and eventually became Cal Poly Pomona.
Date: July 1972
H. Jerry Voorhis was the son of Charles B. Voorhis and served as headmaster of the Voorhis School for Boys. The younger Voorhis left the school in 1938 to run for Congress and served as Representative of California’s 12th District until 1946, when he lost his seat to Richard Nixon.
Weeks, Lowell K. (Keith) Interview
Date: 7/29/1973
Weeks taught English at the Cal Poly Voorhis campus, which would eventually become Cal Poly Pomona.
Wilson, Harold Interview
Date: 7/13/1972
Wilson joined the faculty at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo in 1936 and was appointed Dean of the Voorhis campus in 1946. He returned to the San Luis Obispo campus in 1950 to serve as Executive Dean for both Cal Poly campuses and was later appointed Administrative Vice President of the San Luis Obispo campus.
