In January 2014, graduate students Jennifer Keil (M.A. in Oral and Public History) and Cindy Keil (M.A. in English) instituted the “Over the Bridge” Oral History Project. They set up the museum’s social media accounts (YouTube, Facebook and Instagram) to promote the museum and this project. You can see their curated collection of stories on the YouTube Legacy Project Playlist. Transcripts/Recording Logs and physical DVDs were provided to the narrators for archival purposes. This project was featured in the museum’s Spring 2014 newsletter and the Newport Beach Indy. “To meet Keil, you’d expect that she also earned her doctorate in Enthusiasm. She came to the museum last year when she and her sister, Cindy, helped to institute the museum’s oral history project, titled “Over the Bridge.” As Balboa Island’s original cottage homes are inexorably disappearing, so are some of the more senior residents.”

The Keils interviewed long-term residents and integral leaders of this community. Today, the project contains nearly 100 interviews. These individuals interviewed are the cornerstone of the community. The Keils helped establish rapport with these community leaders who became active volunteers and donors of the museum because of this interview process. Oral histories can be an incredible part of the museum development process and support a capital campaign.

One of our favorite interviews was with the Lee Family and Wing Lam who shared the history of Shanghai Pine and Wahoo’s Tacos. See the 033.3 Wing Lam and Mr & Mrs Lee’s John Wayne Story — 00:04:08

Four highlight reels were created to engage visitors at the oral history station. They are the following: Over the Bridge, Holiday Memories, Jolly Roger Memories, Celebrity Encounters.

The poster (above) was presented at the 2016 Southwest Oral History Association session at the Center for Oral and Public History at CSUF. Cindy and Jennifer presented, “Over the Bridge: Creating a Sustainable Oral History Program” at the Southwest Oral History Association conference in March 2015 and at Oral History Association national conferences. The following videos are media links to the interviews.

• OH 001 Alice Dear — 00:19:40
• OH 002 Peggy Marotta — 00:10:19
• OH 003 Joyce Harris — 00:19:54
• OH 004 Marion Walters — 00:25:20
• OH 005 Bill Maxwell — 00:22:31
• OH 006 Pam Phillips — 00:33:59
• OH 007 Bob Gilmartin — 00:26:59
• OH 008 Maxwell Phillips — 00:27:44
• OH 009 Ralph Rodheim — 00:36:23
• OH 010 Marcia Working — 00:36:33
• OH 011 Patti Culpepper — 00:48:27
• OH 012 Randy Seton — 00:38:30
• OH 013 Hanne Parks — 00:29:48
• OH 014 Bill Crawford — 00:29:03
• OH 015 Don Cook — 00:37:04
• OH 016 Ed Hubbard — 00:23:37
• OH 017 Leonard South — 00:24:08
• OH 018 Marcy Cook — 00:28:17
• OH 019 Mary Hardesty-Clayton — 00:28:05
• OH 020 Thomas Mellon — 00:26:09
• OH 021 John and Mona Swain — 00:35:29
• OH 022 Jay and Anne Greer — 00:40:39
• OH 023 Dan Stringer — 00:14:12
• OH 024 Richard Higbie — 00:45:06
• OH 025 Jack and Joan Northrup — 00:37:24
• OH 026 Brent and Peggy Ogden — 01:03:01
• OH 027 Ray Lowy — 00:15:23
• OH 028 Susan Webster — 00:26:48
• OH 029 Barry Meguiar — 00:42:42
• OH 030 Mike Smith — 00:22:55
• OH 031 Bill Stewart — 01:30:59
• OH 032 Rolly Pulaski — 00:46:35
• OH 033 Wing Lam, Mr. & Mrs. Lee — 00:36:33
• OH 034 Ellis Morcos — 00:46:17
• OH 035 Mayor Diane Dixon — 00:36:27
• OH 036 Al Shonk — 00:29:29
• OH 037 Lynn Newton — 01:08:32
• OH 037.1 The Island Kangaroo — 00:09:00
• OH 038 Tom & Cindy Houston — 00:48:00
• OH 039 Shirley Pepys — 00:42:25
• OH 040 Dave Kunst & Jenni Samuel — 01:15:52
• OH 041 Captain Bert Minshall — 00:42:30
• OH 042 Hank Moreno — 00:30:40
• OH 043 Bruce Knott