Resource Type

[Interview of Caroline Heath's Parents Conducted by Caroline Heath] transcript

[Interview of Caroline Heath's Parents Conducted by Caroline Heath]

Interview of Caroline Heath's parents conducted by Caroline Heath (age 10), regarding her adoption of from the Yuangchun SWI in Guangdong Province, China. Caroline interviews her parents, asking them why they wanted to adopt her, why her mother has maintained their Chinese adoption group, what were their experiences in China, and what being a parent is like.
Date: [2017..]
Creator: Heath, Caroline
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview with Audrey Copeland] transcript

[Interview with Audrey Copeland]

Narrative history of Audrey Copeland regarding her adoption by Lori Hall from the Maogang Social Welfare Institute in Maoming, Guagdong Province, China. She describes her desire to visit China and her experiences growing up in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Copeland, Audrey
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Delaney Isley] transcript

[Interview With Delaney Isley]

Narrative history of Delaney Isley regarding her adoption Chongqing, China, discussing her school and life in Texas. She speaks about the annoying questions she receives about her family and adoption, and how she deals with the comments about her ethnicity or family. She also shares her thoughts on visiting China and her birth parents.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Isley, Delaney
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Emi and Diane Pennington] transcript

[Interview With Emi and Diane Pennington]

Interview with Emi and Diane Pennington regarding the adoption of Emi Pennington from Shaoyang, Hunan Province, China. Diane shares how she arrived at her decision to adopt from China and speaks about their family dynamic. Both Emi and Diane share their feelings about the public reactions to them together. Emi also speaks about her feelings on visiting China or searching for her birth parents.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Pennington, Emi & Pennington, Diane
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview with Greta Wohlfeld] transcript

[Interview with Greta Wohlfeld]

Interview with Greta Wohlfeld regarding her adoption from Jiangxi Province, China. She speaks about her involvement in Chinese cultural activities and shares what she knows about her adoption.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Wohlfeld, Greta
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Hannah Weaver and Her Parents] transcript

[Interview With Hannah Weaver and Her Parents]

Narrative history of Hannah Weaver and her parents regarding her adoption from Foshan City in Guandong Province, China. She shares her involvement in the Families with Children from China's culture camp in Austin, Texas and her decision to start a birth parent search. Hannah's mother speaks about the curiosity Hannah has always had about her birth parents and both her parents share their thoughts on Hannah's birth parent search. Her mother also discusses her decision to adopt from China and their current family dynamic.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Weaver, Hannah
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview with Juliann and Jencie Tomasek] transcript

[Interview with Juliann and Jencie Tomasek]

Interview with Jencie and Juliann Tomasek regarding their adoptions from Hubei Province (Jencie) and Guangdong Province (Juliann), China. Both Jencie and Juliann share their interest in Chinese culture and language, and speak about the questions they get asked about being adopted or Chinese.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Tomasek, Juliann & Tomasek, Jencie
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Lily Stafeil] transcript

[Interview With Lily Stafeil]

Interview with Lily Stafeil regarding her adoption from Guangdong Province, China. This interview took place when Lily was nine years old and she speaks about her friends and favorite activities at school. Lily shares what she knows about her adoption story, China in general, and that she'd like to visit China when she's older.
Date: 2016~
Creator: Stafeil, Lily
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Lori Hall] transcript

[Interview With Lori Hall]

Interview with Lori Hall regarding the adoption of Audrey Copeland from the Maogang Social Welfare Institute in Maoming, Guagdong Province, China. She discusses her and her husband's decision to adopt from China and the possibility of searching for Audrey's birth parents. She also comments on her concerns with the lack of transparency in the adoption process.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Hall, Lori
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview with Mary Ann and Anthony Tomasek] transcript

[Interview with Mary Ann and Anthony Tomasek]

Interview with Mary Ann and Anthony Tomasek regarding the adoptions of Jencie and Juliann Tomasek from Hubei Province (Jencie) and Guangdong Province (Juliann), China. They speak about how they decided to adopt from China, what the adoption process entailed, and their trips of China to get their children. They also share their efforts to teach the girls about Chinese culture and their daughters' interest in their birth families.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Tomasek, Mary Ann & Tomasek, Anthony
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview with Meigon Stuy] transcript

[Interview with Meigon Stuy]

Interview with Meigon Stuy regarding her adoption from Guangdong Province, China. She shares her opinions about finding her birth family and her parent's work helping other adoptees locate birth families.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Stuy, Meigon
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Meikina Stuy] transcript

[Interview With Meikina Stuy]

Interview with Meikina Stuy regarding her adoption from Guangdong Province, China, discussing her parents' search for her birth parents and her thoughts about her adoption.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Stuy, Meikina
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Meilan Stuy] transcript

[Interview With Meilan Stuy]

Interview with Meilan Stuy regarding her adoption from Henan Province, China. She shares what information she knows about her birth family and the circumstances surrounding her adoption. She also speaks about learning that Longlan was not her biological mother and how she deals with questions about her family.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Stuy, Meilan
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Myra] transcript

[Interview With Myra]

Interview with Myra regarding the adoption of her younger sister, Lena, from China and their relationship with Lena's birth family in China. Myra speaks about meeting Lena's birth family and visiting their village.
Date: 2016~
Creator: Myra
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Paul Kimberlin] transcript

[Interview With Paul Kimberlin]

Interview with Paul Kimberlin regarding the adoption of Avery Kimberlin from Jiangsu China, discussing his and his wife's decision to adopt from China, and their family and friend's reactions to their decision.
Date: 2016~
Creator: Kimberlin, Paul
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview with Tina Fletcher] transcript

[Interview with Tina Fletcher]

Interview with Tina Fletcher regarding the adoption of Lily Selvaggi from the Guigang City SWI, Guangxi Province, China, speaking about her motivations for adopting from China and how she and her family made the decision to adopt. She also speaks about the experiences of raising an Asian child in a predominantly white area and her experiences regarding her own adoption.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Fletcher, Tina
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Willa Mei Kurland and Charlotte Cotter, 2016] transcript

[Interview With Willa Mei Kurland and Charlotte Cotter, 2016]

Interview of Willa Mei Kurland and Charlotte Cotter (they interview each other), discussing their upcoming trip to China to search for their birth parents. They shares their first steps posting on social media and that Willa had begun contact with her foster family and that Charlotte has had a family step forward as her birth family. Both Willa and Charlotte shares their thoughts on searching with another person and the possibility of having different outcomes. They concurrently maintained a blog where they each shared their experiences regarding the trip and birth parent search and this interview took place after they began their search but before their trip to China.
Date: July 15, 2016
Creator: Kurland, Willa Mei & Cotter, Charlotte
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview with Zoe, Grace, and Kai Purtell] transcript

[Interview with Zoe, Grace, and Kai Purtell]

Interview with Grace, Zoe, and Kai Purtell regarding their adoptions from Guangdong Province (Grace and Zoe) and Yunnan Province (Kai), China. At the time of the interview, Grace and Zoe (twins) were nine years old and Kai was five years old. Kai shares his adoption story and the surgeries he's had to correct his cleft palate. Zoe speaks about her desire to visit China when she's older and Grace speaks about her skill with drawing.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Purtell, Zoe; Purtell, Grace & Purtell, Kai
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Interview With Zoi Kunkle and Pat Jacobs-Kunkle] transcript

[Interview With Zoi Kunkle and Pat Jacobs-Kunkle]

Interview with Zoi Kunkle and her mother, Pat Jacobs-Kunkle, regarding Zoi's adoption from Chenzhou City in Hunan Province, China. Zoi describes her future aspirations and her interests in her birth family and early life in China. Her mother shares her and her husband's decision to adopt and from China in particular, and their thoughts on searching for Zoi's birth family.
Date: 2016~
Creator: Kunkle, Zoi Yi Xing & Jacobs-Kunkle, Pat
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with James Wright, November 21, 2017 transcript

Oral History Interview with James Wright, November 21, 2017

Interview with James (Bud) Wright, an entomologist and inventor who has several patents. He received a PhD in Medical Entomology from Texas A&M in 1963 and worked in the field of printentomology. He specialized in neurohormonal mechanisms of metamorphosis and reproduction in economically damaging arthropods. He led the program that led to the eradication of the boll weevil. Married to Judy Wright, the two had a blended family of two sons, two daughters, and many grandchildren. The interview covers his family history, education and research, enjoyment of bass fishing, and ranching of cows and calves in retirement.
Date: November 21, 2017
Creator: Collins, Francelle Robison; Flory, Bonnie Pipes & Wright, James Elbert
System: The Portal to Texas History
[Oral History Interview with Jian Rzeszewicz] transcript

[Oral History Interview with Jian Rzeszewicz]

Oral history with Jian Rzeszewicz regarding her adoption to Washington from Zhan-Jian, Guadong Province, China. She shares what her childhood was like, particularly that the diversity of the general population in Washington helped her feel more accepted, and her parents' efforts to connect her to Chinese culture and other adoptees. She also discusses her connections to the other girls adopted at the same time as her and her trip to China where she visited the orphanage where she lived as a baby. She also shares the emotional impact of meeting her foster mother and her advocacy for adopted children in the United States.
Date: 2015~
Creator: Rzeszewicz, Jian
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Jo Ann Redden, December 6, 2016 transcript

Oral History Interview with Jo Ann Redden, December 6, 2016

Interview with Jo Ann "Josie" Lochte Redden, Montessori educator and stained glass artist, discussing her German extended family, her upbringing in Kerrville, Texas, life in New York, and travel with her husband John throughout Texas and western United States to photograph, catalogue, and reproduce Native American pictographs, or rock paintings.
Date: December 6, 2016
Creator: Collins, Francelle Robison; Flory, Bonnie Pipes & Redden, Jo Ann Lochte
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joe Schmerber, December 5, 2017 transcript

Oral History Interview with Joe Schmerber, December 5, 2017

Interview with Joe Schmerber, who worked for and helped establish departments in Mooney Aircraft Company and Bridgestone Tires. The interview discusses his parents, early years as one of nine children, his work experience, education, interest in aviation, and family life.
Date: December 5, 2017
Creator: Collins, Francelle Robison; Flory, Bonnie Pipes & Schmerber, Joe Henry
System: The Portal to Texas History
Oral History Interview with Joyce and Bob Barton, October 24, 2017 transcript

Oral History Interview with Joyce and Bob Barton, October 24, 2017

Interview with Joyce and Bob Barton. Joyce played stand-up string bass with the Poverty Playboys. She holds a Fine Arts degree and painted, particularly oils. Her work has been exhibited in Kerrville and numerous regional juried shows. She is married to Bob Barton, a lawyer, who served as Assistant County Attorney, County Attorney, District Attorney, and District Judge. He also taught at St. Mary's Law School and authored two books for law enforcement officers. The couple have three children, three grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.
Date: October 24, 2017
Creator: Collins, Francelle Robison; Flory, Bonnie Pipes; Barton, Joyce Taylor & Barton, Robert Rhea
System: The Portal to Texas History