Oral History Project

During the spring of 2023, the officers of the Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society (RHGS) decided to implement an Oral History Project as an appropriate way for the organization to mark the Sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) of the founding of Richardson. This web page contains those videos, which are posted on YouTube, in the order in which they were recorded.

Interview #1 (May 8, 2023) Art Roberts, former Collins Radio Engineer and MCI Vice-President

Interview #2 (July 3, 2023) Barbara Sucher, Berkner High School Counselor and Richardson Resident since 1954

Interview #3 (October 12, 2023) Frances Long, former Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society President

INTERVIEW #1: ART ROBERTS

On May 8, 2023, RHGS President Steven Butler interviewed former Collins Radio engineer and MCI Vice-President Art Roberts about his 35-year-long career in telecommunications, most notably his critical role in the building of the system that was used by the Apollo 11 astronauts to communicate with Earth during the first lunar landing in July 1969, and also his post-retirement community volunteer activities with Leadership Richardson, the Richardson Chamber of Commerce, and the City of Richardson planning commission.

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INTERVIEW #2: BARBARA SUCHER

In this July 3, 2023 interview, Richardson Historical & Genealogical Society President Steven Butler asks Berkner High School Counselor and longtime Richardson resident Barbara Sucher to tell what Richardson was like in the 1950s, when her family first moved there, how the city has changed in the seven decades since then, and what her job is like.

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INTERVIEW #3: FRANCES LONG

In this October 12, 2023 interview, 82-year-old longtime Richardson-area resident Frances Long discusses her role as president of the R.H.&G.S. during the late 1980s and early 1990s, recalls some of the group's successes and failures, shares stories about herself and some of the "old timers" with whom she had the privilege of associating, comments on some of the difficulties that the society is presently trying to deal with, and discusses her ongoing role as a church historian and archivist.

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