Our Oral History Collection
t this time, most of our oral histories are only accessible at the Museum. Most are stored on CDs and not easy to mount on the website. We are looking for volunteers to help convert these files and create transcripts of the interviews. We hope to eventually mount the transcripts on this site.
Henry Bischoff, Mitchell Kahn, and Joe LeMay Interviews
These interviews were done on tape in the mid-1970s as part of the research for Bischoff and Kahn’s From Pioneer Settlement to Suburb: A History of Mahwah, New Jersey, 1700-1976 (1979). The quality of these old recordings is poor, but they are usable with patience.
- Renee Buhlman, 1975 (Kahn)
- Wally Crawford, Town Clerk, 1974 (Bischoff)
- Jean Davidson, Suffern Judge, 1974 (Bishoff, Kahn and LeMay)
- Tom Demarest, on the Kakiat Patent, 1974
- Stephen Drobesh, West Mahwah, 1976 (LeMay)
- Lillian Frazier, Ladies Aid Society of Ramapo Reformed Church, 1974 (Bischoff)
- James Hackett, Town Committee in 1960s, 1973 (LeMay)
- Father Joseph Haluch, Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, West Mahwah, 1975 (LeMay)
- Janet Herlihy, Member of Township Committee, 1973
- William Heidgerd of Cragmere, 1975 (Kahn)
- Nellie Karpowich, 1974 (Bischoff)
- Barbara Jean Straut Keri and John Keri, 144 Church Street, West Mahwah, October 21, 1974 (LeMay)
- Frank, Kraus, Valley Road, May 27, 1974 (Bischoff, LeMay and Kahn)
- Joseph Krupinski, West Mahwah Tax Assessor, March 22, 1973 (LeMay)
- Robert and Olga Merrill, Fyke Road residents of 32 years, real estate and business, ca. 1975 (Kahn)
- Rocco Miraglio, 1975 (interviewed by a Ramapo College student)
- Peter Murphy, Town Committeeman, April 18, 1973 (LeMay)
- Lawrence and Jennie Nyland, April 16, 1976 (LeMay)
- Henry Roes, ca. 1975 (Bischoff/LeMay)
- Franklin Russell of Cragmere, 1975 (Kahn)
- Mildred Scherer, 1974 (Bischoff)
- Herman Steinbruch, Cragmere, March 3, 1975 (Kahn)
- Rachel Van Benschoten (grand daughter of Levi Hopper) and her son Walter Van Benschoten, 1974 (Bischoff and K. Coghlan)
- Michael Warhol, April 19, 1976 (LeMay)
- John Warhol, ca. 1975 (Bischoff/LeMay)
- Henrietta Zisgen, 1975 (Kahn)
Charles E. Carreras Interviews
Former president and archivist, Charles Carreras has conducted a number of interviews of Mahwah residents and people associated with Les Paul.
- Kenneth DeFerrari, October 8, 2009
- Bill Lamoreaux and Barbara Knichel, April 20, 2011
- Lou Pallo on Les Paul, February 10, 2011
- Jim Wysocki and Les Paul guitars, September 15, 2010
Other interviews
- Greg Armon, Edward Saiff, Mahwah Environmental Commission, 1974
- John Bristow interview of Mr. and Mrs. Francis Furman at a reception on June 20, 1990
- Janet Brown interview of Bill Suffern, February 23, 1974
- Tom Dunn, Hannah West and Tina Hunt, interview John W. Bristow, April 28, 2009
- Ralph Fredericks interview of William Trusewicz, September 17, 2005
- Edythe Glasgow and Henry Dobson interview Alice Hopper, 1965
- Carol W. Greene, typescript of interview with Nellie Karpowich (Isabel Hudson Collection)
- Carol and Dick Greene, Vanishing Mahwah Farms: An Interview with Alvina Pelz Frey and Judy Pelz Coughlin, Fall 1987
- Janice McCue interview of Charles E. Ellis, Jr., February 13 and April 2, 1981
- Gordon Miesse interview of Dan and Helen Scherer Courtney, July 1974
- Gordon Miesse interview of Frank Scherer, March 1974
- M. Wiley and E. Dater interview Jenny Wrathall Benjamin, October 3, 1972