George Durward Griffith was interviewed for the Port of Los Angeles Centennial Oral History Project. George Griffith was born on May 9, 1921, in Kansas City, Missouri. Due to severe allergies, his family moved to California, where he developed a deep love for the ocean and sailing. The interview begins with Griffith discussing his early years in Anaheim, California, where he grew up on an orange grove. He recalls his initial interest in the ocean, which began with building and using a small flat iron skiff, and later expanded into sailing.

Oral history interview with George Pasha.

Geraldine Knatz was interviewed for the Port of Los Angeles Centennial Oral History Project. Geraldine Knatz, born in 1951 in Paterson, New Jersey, served as the Executive Director of the Port of Los Angeles. Her early interest in science, particularly in marine biology, was sparked during her college years at Rutgers University, where she began researching the New York Harbor. This initial exposure to harbor environments influenced her decision to pursue graduate studies at the University of Southern California (USC), focusing on the Los Angeles harbor for her dissertation.

Gloria Radmilovich was interviewed for the Port of Los Angeles Centennial Oral History Project. Radmilovich was born in 1938 in San Pedro, California, to a Yugoslavian father who worked as a fisherman and a mother from Sacramento. Her father was particularly known for his cooking, both at home and aboard fishing boats, where he worked as a cook. Radmilovich grew up in a close-knit community in San Pedro, where she enjoyed a vibrant childhood filled with family gatherings, music, and cultural events.

Gretchen Tostrup was interviewed for the Port of Los Angeles Centennial Oral History Project. Tostrup, born in San Pedro in 1955, comes from a family deeply connected to the maritime and longshore industries in the area. Her maternal grandfather was a ship chandler, and her paternal grandfather was a founding member of Local 13, a longshore union. Tostrup herself worked in her grandfather’s chandlery and later became one of the first women to work on the waterfront as a longshore casual.

Oral history interview with Haruye Sakamoto.

Helen DiMaggio was born in 1919 in Los Angeles and raised in San Pedro. Her father, originally from what was then Austria and later became Yugoslavia, traveled the world as a young man with a sea captain before settling in Los Angeles. Helen's mother, who came from Mexico, met Helen's father in Los Angeles, where she worked as a waitress. The couple married in 1918 and moved to San Pedro shortly thereafter. Helen's father established a wholesale fish business in San Pedro in 1921, named Star Fisheries, which became a family enterprise.

Irene Almeida was born on August 20th, 1929, in her family home in San Pedro, California, on 18th Street. A midwife attended her birth, as was common at the time. Her father, a small fishing boat owner, was out at sea when she was born. By the time she was born, her mother, who had married at 15, was 19 and found it challenging to take care of three children, prompting her father to eventually switch from fishing to longshoring for a living. Irene's parents were immigrants from Madeira Island, a volcanic island off the coast of Africa.

Oral history interview with James Hahn. 

James Yamamoto, born in 1936, hails from Terminal Island, California. His early life was shaped by the local Japanese fishing community and his father's grocery store. The onset of World War II marked a period of upheaval for Yamamoto and his family, as they were subjected to internment along with many other Japanese Americans. This experience had a profound impact on his family's ship chandlery business. Post-war, Yamamoto witnessed and adapted to the evolution of communication within the shipping industry.