Vernon Hall was born in San Pedro in 1936. He grew up in San Pedro, attended UCLA to study engineering, and then came back to San Pedro, where he lives today. His grandfather is Swedish, lived in Minnesota until they moved to San Pedro in 1905.  His grandfather and father were machinists who worked on ships in the harbor. 

Scope & Content Note: 
Vernon describes growing up in San Pedro, and Cabrillo Beach as the social center of town. He reminisces about the times he and his friend would swim and hang out there.  He recalls Beacon Street in the late nineteen forties.  Known as the toughest few blocks in the world because merchant seaman from all over would gather, drink, and cause havoc.  When he was younger, San Pedro’s small central business district had everything you needed: clothing stores, hardware stores, five and dime stores, and movie theaters. He describes San Pedro as a small town where everyone got along.  Yugoslavians, Serbo-Croatians, Italians, Norwegians, and Swedes were the “melting pot” of the ethnic groups.  Catholicism was the main religion, and many people attended Mary Star of the Sea Parish, which remains the largest parish in San Pedro. While studying engineering at UCLA, Mr. Hall worked as a surveying assistant for two summers.  As a Civil Engineer Vernon, was involved in many planning projects and project management projects at the port. After retirement, Vernon Hall wanted to give back to the community. Because of his friendship with, at the time, City Councilman Rudy Svorinich, he became a chairperson to a committee of a group of citizens in charge of transforming a federally-owned property into a nature preserve.  Vernon Hall discusses his experience with Project Management, the political challenges, the financial constraints, environmental concerns, and the vision of several groups collaborating and communicating their ideas into one cohesive design to serve the community.