Summary: Anne Fiorentino Grodin was interviewed by Julie Sullivan in February, 2005. Anne describes how Lafayette grew and changed during the 50 years from 1955 to 2005. Along with other family members she helped operate Valley Disposal from 1979 to 1989, when the company was sold to Waste Management Inc. Soon afterwards she became active […]
Oral History: Hirsh Morton – April, 2006
Summary: Hirsh Morton was interviewed by Julie Sullivan in April, 2006. Hirsh came to Lafayette in 1952 as the designer for well-known builder Jack Marchant. Later he operated an architectural firm in partnership with Frank Essert. Hirsh served on the city planning commission, and he also sought out opportunities to contribute his services to public […]
Oral History: Ned Robinson – October, 2005
Summary: Ned Robinson was interviewed by Julie Sullivan in October, 2005. He was the Fourth mayor of the City of Lafayette and served on the City Council for many years. His proposal for a city government that was limited to “the three P’s: good planning, police protection, and public works,” and therefore would not require […]
Oral History: Robert ‘Bob’ M. Fisher — June 28th, 2021
Summary: Bob Fisher was interviewed by Andree Duggan on May 28, 2021. He and his wife and children lived in Lafayette for 19 years, between 1966 when he became a professor of criminology at UC Berkeley and 1985, when they moved to New York for a new career opportunity. Not long afterward they returned to […]
Oral History: Barbara Langlois — March 24th, 2016
Summary: Barbara Langlois was appointed to the City’s Planning Commission in 1973, only five years after moving to Lafayette from El Cerrito. The next year, she won election to the City Council, and in 1975 she became the first woman to serve as Mayor. In addition to her duties as an elected official, Barbara was […]
Oral History: Anne Grodin — May 12th, 2009
Anne Grodin was Mayor of Lafayette from 1993 to 1994 and Citizen of the Year in 1999. She discusses all of the complications and work involved in the development of the Lafayette Library, which opened in the Fall of 2009.
