GCC Oral History Interviews

Angelina Vannini Stevens (1888-1986) was born in Siena, Italy, and moved to the United States as a young child. She was an artist in her own right, specializing in portraits. She married William Lester Stevens in 1926, with whom she had one son, Milton. The interview was recorded in preparation for an exhibit at Greenfield Community College about William Lester Stevens, a landscape artist from Conway, MA. Sheila Seaman conducted the interview, during which Arthur Shaw also asked several questions. In this interview, Stevens discusses her life with Lester, his artistic style and influences, and places they traveled and lived, among other topics.

Betty J. Turner Thomson (1926-2017) was born in Bluefield, West Virginia, and graduated from Lynchburg College, where she met her husband, Dr. Lewis O. Turner (1923-1979). Together, they had two daughters. In 1980, she remarried John Thomson. She returned to Greenfield after Dr. Turner’s death, where she started a bereavement support group. Turner Thomson recorded this narrative on cassette at the request of an unidentified man named Jack, apparently as part of a project about the history of Greenfield Community College. In it, she primarily discusses her first husband, Lewis O. Turner, and his tenure as second president of GCC, from 1964-1978. She discusses the purchase of land for, selection of building design, construction, and opening of the GCC campus. She also discusses the creation of the Greenfield Community College Foundation, faculty and staff unionization at GCC, and Tuner's cancer, among other topics. She recorded this narrative while Theodore Provo was president of GCC, some time between 1983 and 1988.

Paul Rich (1943-2024), a lifelong resident of Greenfield, MA, earned a bachelor’s degree at Windham College in VT and a teaching certificate from UMass Amherst. He served in the Vietnam War and then taught U.S. History and Government at Greenfield High School. John M. Drew completed this interview for a history class at Greenfield Community College. In this interview, Rich discusses his experiences in Vietnam, including the futility of the war, drug use by soldiers, racial discrimination, his observations of and thoughts on war crimes, the My Lai massacre, and his hopes that the U.S. learned something from the war.