An Oral History Archive for the City of Santa Clara, California - Raymond Dixon/Ave Bowe
Created Date
August 7th, 1974
Description
(SIDE 1) DIXON, Raymond. 472 North Cypress Avenue, Santa Clara, 296-2416
Mr. Dixon has lived in the area for all his life (77 years).
August 7, 1974.
Education. Recreation. Relations between parents and children (1900s). parental supervision, moving out of parents’ home. College town. Shopping in Santa Clara: the old business district. Santa Clara as an Italian town. Small town atmosphere: ease of meeting people. The fiesta: personal attendance. Prohibition: obtaining beer, the homebrew beer, underground bootlegging. The Earthquake: damage in the town, effect on brick chimneys. Another earthquake (date uncertain). Early automobiles: the first trucks, the first cars, cars at the Earthquake. Field work: pay (1916), changes in pay scale. Rosenberg’s Dry Fruit Plant: the packing room. The Depression: its effects on farm workers, WPA (an incident of poison oak). The business district: a physical description, variety of businesses, Roll’s Woodyard, important businesses and businessmen. Old Santa Clarans’ attitude towards growth, end of the orchards. Urban horticulture. Length—37 minutes.
(SIDE 2) BOWE, Ave. 1695 Catherine Street, Santa Clara, 243-1380.
Mrs. Bowe, who moved here in 1939, is the widow of Earl Bowe, a prominent local historian.
August 8, 1974.
Reasons for moving to Santa Clara (1939). Smallness of city, neighborhoods and industries on the outskirts. Community attitudes towards newcomers. Merchants attitudes towards customers: their willingness to refer customers to competitors. Social life: school-parent association activities, university social activities, local concerts. Education at St. Claire’s (Forties): personal attention from teachers. Public schools: the Fremont school, popular attitudes towards schools. City boosterism. Business district: variety of stores, reasons for shopping elsewhere, physical condition of the buildings. College town: plays at the university, city-university relations. Music at the Community Methodist Church. Fr. Walsh. Role of university presidents in city life. Effects of World War II: emergency preparation classes, role of high school. Local politics: level of popular interest, election campaigns, urban renewal. Earl Bowe’s career in local history: beginnings of his interest, city’s disinterest, historical markers, oral history project by Bowe (late Sixties?), Santa Clara Historical Society. Older Santa Clarans’ attitudes towards growth (pre-1950). Length—53 minutes.
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