Interview with Dr. Victor Rodriguez, educator and author of the memoir "The Bell Ringer," about his life and career. Dr. Rodriguez is a North Texas alumni, member of the UNT Athletic Hall of fame, member of the Geezles Fraternity, and pioneer Mexican American educator. Dr. Victor Rodriguez spotlights significant insights into his storied career through five eras: his early all-Hispanic elementary school training; his continued study and budding athletic prowess in the Edna, TX, school district; his Victoria Junior College athletic achievements and learning; his higher education, Geezle membership, and track accomplishments at North Texas State College; and his 37-year career as a teacher, coach, and superintendent in the San Antonio school district. Inspired by his Anglo third-grade teacher in an all-Hispanic school in Edna, TX, Rodriguez responded to his teacher's challenge to be a civic contributor by becoming a daily bell ringer at the local Catholic church (described in detail in his book, The Bell Ringer), a job requiring him to arise at 4:30 each morning and to run two miles one way amid nipping dogs to ring the bell. This discipline and activity would tap his athletic ability later as he surfaced as a distance district winner despite …

Interview with Mary D. Lankford, a librarian and former student of the University of North Texas, then known as North Texas State College. Lankford discusses studying Library Science at UNT, her career as a school librarian, new technological developments in her field, her career as an author, and professional activities.

Interview with Jack Blanton, a Democratic Texas state legislator from Carrollton, Texas. Blanton recounts his experiences during the first session of 62nd Texas State Legislature in 1971, including his response to Governor Smith's deficit funding plan, state finance, education reform, taxation, his role on the Appropriations Committee, manipulation of stocks and insurance, the so-called "Dirty Thirty," ethics legislation, and redistricting.

Interview with a Democratic member of the Texas House of Representatives Jack Blanton, who is also a businessman from Carrollton, Texas. In the interview, Blanton discusses his experiences and personal views as a member of the Sixty-first Legislature. He also expresses his opinions on issues including his personal political philosophies, one-year versus two-year budgets, the Caveness Plan, social legislation, the establishment of the University of Texas at Dallas, the creation of new four-year colleges, unrest on current college campuses, revenue legislation, beer and liquor lobbies, and person legislation. He also comments on Governor Preston Smith.

Interview with Willie Jordan, an Army veteran (2nd Battalion, 131st Field Artillery, Texas National Guard) and a member of the "Lost Battalion," concerning his experiences as a prisoner-of-war of the Japanese during World War II. Jordan talks about the fall of Java and his capture, Bicycle Camp in Batavia (1942), Changi Prison Camp in Singapore (1942), building the Burma-Thailand Death Railway (1942-1944), Bangkok, Thailand (1944-1945), and his liberation.

Transcript of an interview with Merle Timblin, Civilian Conservation Corps worker and U.S. Army WWII Veteran. Timblin discusses his childhood in western Pennsylvania; father’s work as a farmer, coal miner, and WPA blacksmith; life on farms and in mining towns during the Great Depression; decision to enroll in CCC before eighteenth birthday; experiences at CCC camps in Arizona and Pennsylvania; lessons learned from the CCC experience; experiences in the European Theater of World War II as radio operator in the U.S. Army Fourth Armored Division, including fighting in the Battle of the Bulge; lessons learned from experience in the Army; decision to relocate to Niagara Falls, N.Y., and thence to North Texas; career as a machinist and mechanic.

Interview with Sheila Allen, an attorney and longtime resident of Hamilton Park from Dallas, Texas. Allen discusses attending school in Hamilton Park, integration in Richardson ISD and relations between white and black students, discrimination, attending East Texas State and Sam Houston University, struggles finding work afterwards, law school, church life, reflections on the Hamilton Park community, resisting "Buy Out," the Civic League, and thoughts on the future.