SANTA ANA : Books Trace History of Pioneer Families

During a brief ceremony at the Old County Courthouse last week, the Orange County Pioneer Council and Cal State Fullerton unveiled six books of interviews with men and women who helped shape local history.

As part of the organizations’ oral history project, the books focus on local families and their experiences in the county’s early years, when much of the area was farmland. So far, several dozen books have been completed, each detailing the lives and recollections of some of the county’s pioneer families, said Art Hansen, director of Cal State Fullerton’s oral history program.

Composed of lengthy transcribed interviews, the books “provide a sense of historical depth in a community that tends to be too (rooted in) the present and future,” he said.

The latest set of books covers the lives of Francis and Betty Griset, Art and Matt Nisson, Dorothy Parslow, Bob and Phyllis Schildmeyer, Leigh and Lucile Tournat, and Lena Mae Thompson. Maureen Rischard, spokeswoman for the Pioneer Council, said that copies of the books will be given to several local libraries.