Filiz Dogru was born in Turkey, came to the United States in 1990, and settled in West Michigan in August 2003. He is a professor at Grand Valley State University and an active member of the Niagara foundation and the Turkish American Michigan...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives,...
Noella Le Duc was born in Graniteville, Massachusetts in 1933. She grew up playing baseball with the boys, and when she was sixteen, a friend of her mother’s introduced her to one of the AAGPBL players, Rita Briggs, who arranged a tryout for her...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives,...
Gloria Cordes Elliott was born in Staten Island, New York, in 1931. She grew up playing ball with her brothers, and first learned about the AAGPBL when they played an exhibition game on Staten Island in 1949. She tried out for the league before...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; Video recordings;
World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army
Donald Jandernoa served in the Army Air Corps from 1943 to 1945. He trained as a B-24 pilot and flew missions for the 15th Air Force, based in Italy, in the later stages of the war. He describes the training process and his combat experiences in...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives,...
Jane Jacobs Badini was born in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, in 1924. She grew up playing softball, first with her brothers, and later with organized teams. She was a talented pitcher, and one of the players recruited by the AAGPBL when it was formed in...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); United States--History, Military; Michigan--History, Military; Veterans; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives, American; United States. Army; Video recordings
Robert Van Hammen enlisted in the Michigan National Guard in 1940, and served in the intelligence section of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd (Red Arrow) Division until 1945. He trained with his unit in Louisiana, and then was shipped first to...
Robert Robson is a military veteran who was born and raised in Grand Rapids. He signed a contract with the navy in 1962 and spent 4 years in active duty and 2 years in the inactive reserves. He has a lot of memories from his time in the navy and...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945; Baseball players--Indiana;...
Mary Lou Caden (née Studnicka) was born in Oak Lawn, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. She grew up in the Oak Lawn area and started playing softball with the neighborhood kids and transitioned to playing for local teams. She played as a short-stop in...
Mark Connorton is a mathematics major at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He discusses his alcohol and drug addiction issue and how it affected his relationship with his parents.
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives,...
Mary Louise “Wimp” Baumgartner was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1930. She played in the AAGPBL from 1949 to 1954 as a catcher for Peoria and South Bend. She went to college in the off season, and after the league folded she became a teacher...
Philanthropy and society--Personal narratives; Charities--Michigan; Associations, institutions, etc.--Michigan
Joel Orosz discusses his education and work at the Kalamazoo Public Museum, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. He authored a book on how to be a grantmaker. He shares stories about...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University; Women
Estelle Wolf was born 21 July 1886. Miss Wolf spent two years at Simmons College in Boston, Massachusetts. She was one of the founders of the Mary Free Bed Guild in Grand Rapids. She taught school and photography in New York, and was active in...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives,...
Terry Donahue was born in 1925 in a farming community in Saskatchewan, and grew up playing baseball with her family and friends, and softball at school. At the age of fifteen, she was recruited onto the Moosejaw Royals, a women’s softball team,...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945; Baseball players--Indiana;...
Lois Youngen was born in a small town in Ohio in 1933. She grew up playing baseball with boys from her town, and played on a boys’ team for several years before switching to a girls’ softball team while in high school. She learned about the...
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University
George Cass Shelby was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on 5 December 1878.
Michigan--History; Local histories; Memoirs; Oral histories (document genre); Grand Rapids (Mich.); Personal narratives; Heritage Hill (Grand Rapids, Mich.); Grand Valley State University
Robert Davis worked as an engineer for Westinghouse and was a professor of engineering. Mr. Davis had degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the University of Michigan. He was active in the public schools and was a local...
Oral history; Veterans History Project (U.S.); Video recordings; All-American Girls Professional Baseball League--Personal narratives; Baseball for women--United States; Baseball; Sports for women; World War, 1939-1945--Personal narratives,...
Jeneane Lesko was born in Springfield, Ohio, in 1935. She grew up playing sports, practicing with men’s baseball and basketball teams. She was playing for a softball team in Lima, Ohio, when she was recruited into the AAGPBL. She was a pitcher...
Civil rights--Michigan--History; Age discrimination
Born March, 3rd 1959 to parents Richard and Eve Holland. Youngest of three children with brothers Gary and Terry. Grew up in Grand Rapids, graduating from Crestwood high school. She then continued her education at Central Michigan University with a...
Philanthropy and society--Personal narratives; Charities--Michigan; Associations, institutions, etc.—Michigan; Women
Virginia Esposito (Ginny) is the Founding President of the National Center for Family Philanthropy. She discusses her early life, education, and work as teacher and administrator at the Council on Foundations, and CEO of the National Center for...
Philanthropy and society--Personal narratives; Charities--Michigan; Associations, institutions, etc.—Michigan; Women
Virginia Esposito (Ginny) is the Founding President of the National Center for Family Philanthropy. She discusses her early life, education, and work as teacher and administrator at the Council on Foundations, and CEO of the National Center for...
