Steven Cole
Port of Los Angeles Centennial Oral History Project
The Port of Los Angeles celebrated its Centennial on December 9, 2007. As part of the Port of Los Angeles Centennial Oral History Project, these interviews feature various members of the Los Angeles Harbor Area community who were interviewed in 2007 to document different eras in Port history.
National Capital Contracting
Steven Cole was born in 1942in San Pedro, California. His m other, originally from Oakland, moved to San Pedro as a young child, while his father, a machinist from Amherst, Nova Scotia, arrived in San Pedro around 1918 or 1919. Cole's father worked at the Los Angeles Shipyard, which later became Todd Shipyard, before transitioning to the electrical business. Steven Cole grew up in San Pedro, assisting his father with the family electrical business, Cole's Battery, established in 1923. This business evolved from selling radios and performing electrical work on automobiles to servicing fishing boats and other marine equipment.
Scope and Content Note
The interview with Steven Cole covers various aspects of his life and the history of San Pedro, focusing on his family's migration to the area and the evolution of their business. Cole recounts his father’s journey from Nova Scotia to San Pedro, his involvement in shipyard work, and the subsequent establishment of Cole's Battery, a family-owned electrical business. Cole describes his early memories of San Pedro, including significant local events like the snowfall in the late 1940s and daily life growing up in a tightly-knit community. He details the business's development from radio sales to marine electrical services and its role in the local maritime industry. The interview also highlights Cole's interactions with local fishermen and his long-standing relationship with the Ishibashi family, Japanese farmers who played a significant role in the community. Cole shares anecdotes about the Fishermen’s Fiesta and discusses the challenges faced by the fishing and shipbuilding industries over the years.
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