Pioneer activist for environmental justice in Silicon Valley, 1967-2000 : oral history transcript / 2003

178 Pages·2003·5.5 MB·English

by  Smith, Ted, 1945- ive

BANG
MSS
2004/157
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BANG
UniversityofCalifornia Berkeley

Regional Oral History Office University ofCalifornia
The Bancroft Library Berkeley, California
Environmental Justice and Grassroots Environmentalism
in the San Francisco Bay Area
Ted Smith
PIONEERACTIVIST FORENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE EN SILICON VALLEY, 1967-2000
With an Introduction by
Luke W. Cole
Interviews Conducted by
Carl Wilmsen
in 2000
Copyright 2003 by The Regents ofthe University ofCalifornia
Since 1954the Regional Oral History Office has been interviewing leading participants in or well-placed
witnesses to majorevents inthedevelopmentofnorthernCalifornia,the West, andthenation. Oralhistory
is amethod ofcollecting historical informationthroughtape-recorded interviews between a narratorwith
firsthand knowledge ofhistorically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, with the goal of
preservingsubstantiveadditionstothehistoricalrecord. Thetaperecordingistranscribed, lightly editedfor
continuity and clarity, and reviewed bythe interviewee. The corrected manuscript is indexed, bound with
photographs and illustrative materials, and placed in The BancroftLibrary atthe University ofCalifornia,
Berkeley, and in otherresearch collections forscholarly use. Because it is primary material, oral history is
notintendedto presentthefinal, verified, orcompletenarrativeofevents. Itisaspoken account,offered by
the interviewee in response to questioning, and as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and
irreplaceable.
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All uses ofthis manuscriptarecoveredby alegal agreementbetween TheRegents
ofthe University ofCalifornia and Ted Smith dated June 19, 2003. The manuscript is
thereby made available for research purposes. All literary rights in the manuscript,
including the right to publish, are reserved to The Bancroft Library ofthe University of
California, Berkeley. No partofthemanuscriptmay bequoted forpublication withoutthe
writtenpermission oftheDirectorofThe BancroftLibrary oftheUniversity ofCalifornia,
Berkeley.
Requests for permission to quote for publication should be addressed to the
Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, Mail Code 6000, University of
California,Berkeley94720-6000,andshouldinclude identificationofthespecificpassages
to be quoted, anticipated use ofthe passages, and identification ofthe user.
It is recommended that this oral history be cited as follows:
Ted Smith, Pioneer Activist for Environmental Justice in
Silicon Valley, 1967-2000, an oral history conducted in
1999 by Carl Wilmsen, Regional Oral History Office,
The BancroftLibrary, University ofCalifornia,
Berkeley, 2003.
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The Environmental Justice and Grassroots Environmentalism
in the San Francisco Bay Area Oral Histories have been funded by
the FloraLamson Hewlett Fund ofThe Bancroft Library.