Intro (Dyer):  This tape recorded interview is a continuation of the history of Columbia Junior College.  The interview is being conducted by Richard L. Dyer, history instructor at Columbia College.  The interview is with Arleen Wallace, secretary to the president.  Arleen is retiring at the end of May 1987.

RICHARD DYER: Now I’m talking with Arleen Wallace who is secretary of the president.  Arleen, why don’t you start by giving us some background information first in regarding where your childhood home was?

ARLEEN WALLACE: Well, I came…I was born and raised in Medford Massachusetts.  And I live there in the same house, for twenty-one years until I was married…to David.  And I went to school there—Medford High School—and then from there I went to Katherine Gibbs Finishing School and worked for four years as a secretary to a president of Willinpores.

DYER: Now, when you say a finishing school, what does that mean to Westerners?

WALLACE: Well, it was a secretarial school, but it was built on a college background. You had to have college courses in high school…all through school in order to be admitted.  They felt that you needed that background in order to go into administrative secretarial work and so that was a finishing school type, more than just a commercial college.

DYER: Well, I hadn’t thought of bringing this up, but there’s probably no other staff that has the style and the class that you have.  The immaculate appearance without a hair out of place and everything like that; is that a part of the finishing school?

WALLACE: Uh-hu. Yes.  They go into more than just stenography and typing and that type of thing.  They go into the whole gamut of administrative secretarial work.

DYER: So actually it’s like a college education. 

WALLACE: Yes, very compressed.  We would go from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon every day, five days a week in a very beautiful Brownstone in Back Bay in Boston.

DYER: Oh my.  How historic.

WALLACE: Yeah, it was very historic.  Off our classroom (our stenography classroom) was a very beautiful bathroom with all gold fixtures and a Sutton tub it was a home at the turn of the century.  All in laid ceilings, inlaid floors, banisters and circle stairways, it was very beautiful.

DYER: I see how nostalgic you’re getting.

WALLACE: (laughing) I did see a picture of it in one of our school magazines about two years ago and they had completely remodeled it modern and I just was …I was aghast…I though wow…

DYER: So when you retire you’re not going to go back there?

WALLACE: I’m not going to go back there, no. 

DYER: Now, you have excellent telephone manners and diction on the telephone.  Is that again a product of that training?

WALLACE: Yes, that was part of it. 

DYER: Because the pitch of your voice and the…you’re always in control…with the exception of today.

WALLACE: Well, thank you.

DYER: Okay, Arleen, you mentioned your employment before I cut in.  Now would you go back to that and give us an idea of where you were before coming to the West?

WALLACE: I worked for wool merchants in Boston—in South Station in Boston.  We imported raw wools and then sold them to the mills.  Very interesting job; I enjoyed it.  The surroundings were very poor, I mean as far…it was in an old warehouse building, but the offices are nothing like what we have here.  It was just a warehouse, but at that time it was a good job, and a good paying job; I mean $29 a week.  Everybody else was making twenty-five, and I had twenty-nine.  I thought I had the world by the tail.

DYER: And you had to be then, just barely in your twenties at that time. 

WALLACE: Uh, yes, I was just nineteen.

DYER: And then you mentioned you marriage to David.  That was in your home town in Medford?  

WALLACE: Yes.

DYER: Why did you pursue that? David was a local boy?

WALLACE: Oh no.  David was from California.  I had come out here to visit my grandmother and my aunt and uncle who had moved to California.  And my cousin had written me and she said, “I have a six foot man and a place to go.  When are you coming?” And so I was thing that it would be nice to sped a vacation out on the West Coast and so my company, I had three weeks’ vacation coming, and so my company said, ‘well, that’s not long enough to go to California,’ so they gave me two more weeks and a set of luggage. 

DYER: Gee that’s hard to believe.

WALLACE: I know.  They were really great.  So I came out here and I don’t know, I guess love at first sight. We had a blind date to go dancing under the stars over at the Fairfax Country Club over there in Marin County…Kentfield.  Over there they had a country club and we went dancing and started it, and so I was out here and he went back to Massachusetts in May and we announced our engagement and he came back in October and we were married.

DYER: Oh, that’s nice.  Sound romantic.  (Both laughing), Maybe you shouldn’t pursue the rest of it.

WALLACE: Well, of course it wasn’t as great as some because it was all through the mail. But apparently it worked out.  We’ve been now, it will be 39 years in October. 

DYER: Gee, that’s good.  How about the family?

WALLACE: Uh.

DYER: You have any children?

WALLACE: Oh yes. I have three.

DYER: Three children.

WALLACE: Uhu.

DYER: And their names?

WALLACE: David, Scott, and Colleen.

DYER: and are they in the area?

WALLACE:   They are all in Modesto.  They are all in business for themselves in Modesto.

DYER: Well, now that we have you California. Let’s talk about Columbia College.  When were you hired for the secretarial position in Columbia?

WALLACE: In August.  I started August 19^th of 1968.

DYER: And, so that goes back to even before the campus was here. 

WALLACE: Right, we were at 77 North Washington Street.  And Dusty, and Bob Deil, Jean, and Shirley Appling and I were down there at the time.  And then Helen came in—Helen Runest and Larue.  And about then we were wall-to-wall desks and chairs. (Laughing) and so we have some really fond memories of 77 North Washington. Whenever Dusty had anybody come in, we had to turn off the copy machine, which was right by his desk, because when it was going he could not converse with his guests and I couldn’t do any filing if Bob had anyone with him because my filing cabinet was opposite the chair of his guest, I would have had to sit in their lap in order to do my filing. But we had a lot of good laughs and a lot of fun.

DYER: I remember being in that building when I had an early interview.  It was a little tight.

WALLACE: It was extremely tight. 

DYER: To sit on ones lap for an interview is a little close.  Well, when you were interviewed, was there any special process that they went through?  Columbia is always known for rather unusual procedures when they go through an interview.  Was it an intimidating interview or…

WALLACE: No, actually I had answered the ad for an evaluation technician and I didn’t have the slightest idea what an evaluation technician was, but I thought, ‘well it’s worth a try.’ So I just came in and talked to Jean Peterson and explained my background and at the time I hadn’t worked for twenty years in an office situation because we always had our own business and I was Dave’s girl Friday, only I worked Monday through Sunday.  And so this was my first experience…oh, I was raising my children too of course at that time.  And so it’d been twenty years since I applied for a job anywhere. And so she explained that an evaluation technician was a specialized type of job and so since I didn’t have that background…why, she would let me know. Well, she called at told me that I wouldn’t be able to take that job, but if I was interested in part-time to let her know.  So I thought, ‘well, that’s better than nothing.’  At the time we had bought property up here and we had run into a lot more expenses than we had thought.  So, well, I’ll go back to work for a year.  But then she called me back and said that they had a secretarial position open and would I be interested.  Well, apparently that was when Shirley was secretary to Bob Deil at that time and so she took the evaluation technician position, which opened up the secretarial position for Bob, which I applied for and was hired. 

DYER: See that’s really interesting because Shirley remained in that capacity for the rest of her career until she left just a few years ago and you did also except for you moved from person to person didn’t you?

WALLACE: Right.

DYER: Who were the people that you worked with at that capacity? 

WALLACE: Well, when I started with Bob, he had financial aid, he was also, as well as the dean of occupational education, he was also responsible for admission and records. Publicity—he was a tremendous PR man.  He was out night after night talking with anyone who would listen about Columbia College.  And so then, I worked with him for three years and then we decided—the administrators decided—we needed a dean of student services on campus because we were outgrowing Bob doing all of this.  He was going 24 hours a day.  And so then we…I had to make up my mind and decide whether I wanted to stay with occupational education or go with the students in the student area.  And I really enjoyed working with the student, so I opted to interview with Paul Becker when he was brought on campus as the new dean of student services. 

DYER: So that was here.

WALLACE: Oh, yes.  We were on campus then because that was in 1971.  And so I talked with Paul and he allowed me to be his secretary.  And so I was secretary to Paul for three years until Jean Peterson resigned in 1974.  And then I talked with Dusty; and at that time of course we didn’t have screening committees, and affirmative action and all of that and so he hired me to take Jeans place. 

DYER: And now you’re serving as Dr. Cunningham’s…

WALLACE: Yes, in 1979, of course, Dusty retired and Dean came on and so I’ve been working with him ever since. 

DYER: This is sort of a difficult question, but could you walk us through maybe a typical day—not a Friday—but like a typical day in your office here in the president’s complex of rooms.

WALLACE: I don’t know that we really have a typical day.  Every day is something different depending on what’s going on in the in the other areas of the college.   

DYER: Do you come here first then? Are you the first one here on campus to open up…

WALLACE: Yes. 

DYER: We’re still talking about a typical day.  Why don’t you give us an example of some of the things that go on in your office?

WALLACE: Well Dr Cunningham, of course, is involved in meetings, people coming in, meeting with the administrators; he’s called on to make…to be present when groups meet.  We have…of course many visit us to the office.  Some are people from the community come the community come in, faculty come in of they need something that they need to talk with him about, students come in.  Then of course there is always the correspondence that needs to be answered and telephone calls constantly.  The phone never stops ringing.  We have three lines coming and there is very seldom dull moment on those. 

DYER: What is the trick on being able to maintain a tranquil disposition when that phone rings off the hook, as they say?

WALLACE: Well, I think you just have to try and judge as to if the phone call that you’re on is a type of a phone call that you don’t feel you could interrupt the person as quite often it is in this office, you let the other one ring.  We do have backup.  The business office—we have a little system that if I don’t answer my phone on three rings then they will pick it up.  So usually if I’m on the phone and I don’t feel I can get off to answer the other phone, they will pick it up so we don’t miss the calls.  And that does take a lot of stress off me as far as trying to get a ringing phone.  And we did that purposely so that we wouldn’t ever have the phone in the president’s office ring off the hook with nobody answering it. 

DYER: A source of fascination for me has always been you filing cabinets.  It seems you can close your eyes and you can go to all kinds of interesting little pockets back there.  It’s incredible when I think of this through that…what do you store in those cabinets?

WALLACE: Oh, we store just a multitude of correspondence on whatever comes in.  Of course, we file by subject matter and things the subjects will be front and center for a certain amount of time and then it kind of goes into obsolescence and we’ll clean it out and find it that matter has been put to rest then we’ll just destroy it if it’s that type of thing or else file it in the conference room here where we keep a few things that we probably shouldn’t throw out—at least not for awhile. 

DYER: where do you file the automobile credit cards?

WALLACE: Um….

DYER: Is that under auto or credit?

WALLACE: No, it’s under credit cards. 

DYER: …special category for it. Arleen, do you have off-campus commitments…in the district office or seminars that you go to?

WALLACE: Well, I try to go to any seminars that they have that are, you know, pertain to my area.  I’ve been to some of them on the computers.  I’m not sure that they have been too successful in training me.  And of course we’d had several on…I’ve got several on, oh, one was on stress in Sacramento put on by one of the companies that do this.  Another one was on, I don’t remember the name of it, but it had to do with getting along with your boss and typing the secretary and typing the boss and seeing the different types of people.  Whether you were the type that could get along in some cases we found with some of the women in the group that they were at complete odds, personality wise, with their boss.  And they…

DYER: And they’d been with them for twenty years or so?

WALLACE: Well I don’t know because of course this was a large group.  But anything that I felt would be advantageous to me I would go to. 

DYER: Do you have to take a lot of dictation or note at meetings?

WALLACE: I do in meeting here, yes. And we have, whenever Dr. Cunningham has meetings that he wants to have a record, I’ll sit in and take notes and then type it up for him. And the n I am secretary to the president’s advisory committee, which meet a couple of time a year and which we take copious notes. 

DYER: What about any memorable or special events.  You mentioned 77 Washington Street, what about Box 1849 Columbia College? Special events that have occurred here? Unexpected things?

WALLACE: I can’t…we’ve had so many good times here that, oh, I remember Dusty’s picnic in the perk was quite a time.  We use to enjoy coming out with Dusty when we were building the campus and that was always quite an experience to come out here and watch the building go up and I remember one time coming out with Shirley Appling when the learning resources center here was under construction and they had the foundation and they had the uprights on some of the outside walls…I can’t remember if the roof girders were on.  And we stood in the middle of this huge piece of concrete and said what are we going to do with all this space?  We’re going to have to have roller skates to get around and now I look around and see how we’re still desks are still bumper to bumper and I have to laugh at our wondering, ‘what are we going to do with all this space.’  And then I remember working with Bob Deil when we were building the health building and the heavy equipment and the fire house.  I think those were the three in that phase.  And then I was responsible for ordering all of the equipment for these three buildings and I was very glad that I had some background in automotive terminology since my husband has always been involved with automotive machine shops and so on, so at least I knew what tools were, because I was ordering the wrenches and the screw drivers and cranes and everything they had up there and going through all these catalogues and I think back on it and I think, gosh, I typed weans of purchase orders for all of this; every little thing.  And of course in the health building and the fire house we did the same thing.  I wasn’t as well versed on those but it was an interesting time. 

DYER: What about frustrations?

WALLACE: Well, those were many back then because there just were not enough of us to do all of the work that had to be done and we were covering bases; as I said, Bob was dean of occupational education, he was involved in building these buildings—he designed some of them and them\n he equipped them.  Trying to do that, he was also with the admissions and records, so we had to keep out eye on that and to make sure that things were going along in there.  And then he was involved in public relations and speaking engagements.  People were always calling for him to come and speak for them, trying to work that into the schedule there just were not enough hours in the day. 

DYER: that has to be a source of frustration.

WALLACE: It was.  It was because we wanted so much to get it all done.  It was all imperative that it be done and just trying to find time was frustrating. 

DYER: Did you have to take a lot of work home or worries home?

WALLACE: Well, yes.  A lot more so then because a lot of those requisitions and things I’d take home and price out at home from the catalogues.  Sears catalogues and I became really good friends during those years and trying to write those little tiny numbers and things down, so I’d take them home and try to get something so I could type it more rapidly at work.  And those were frustrating times.  Very rewarding because we…we were all a family then.  It seemed like we had such a good rapport.  Everybody was working together to get this institution, to get the baby walking.  We were crawling along, but to get it walking and on its own.  And I don’t know, we just had such a camaraderie that it was really fun times as well as frustrating.

DYER: …the frustrations were quick to go.

WALLACE: Right.  They were resolved, and you knew that it wasn’t for not—that something was going to get accomplished. 

DYER: Well, as we look ahead, you must have plans for your retirement.  Special plans?

WALLACE: Oh, yes.  Well…we go a little old home in Columbia—about 130 years old—that we’ve been remodeling for the last several years and that will take us for as long as we want to do it, I’m sure. 

DYER: Do you do that?

WALLACE: We do it ourselves…most everything; although some of the things now we will probably have somebody else do.  Out son is a contractor and so he has been our backup.  He is the one who’s been doing the heavy work and then we do the finishing work. 

DYER: Now, this was the sight of the 1949 gold rush sentential pageant wasn’t it?   Where you home is now.

WALLACE: I think it was ’39.  Was it ’39? It wasn’t the thirties?

DYER: Well, ’49 would be the 100^th anniversary f the gold rush. 

WALLACE: Well, there was one that was done in ’39, well’31, well in the thirties I know.  There were two of them…

DYER: ’32 would have been the Bret Harte pageant.  Would that have been the one?

WALLACE: Well this was the one…there was apparently a girl in Columbia who married a director of a movie company down in Los Angeles and they came back up here and one put on this pageant and they did it on the property next to us one year.

DYER: That’s on the slope of that…

WALLACE: Yeah.  I can’t think of the name of the people that own it.  They still own the property…

END OF TAPE

General Information:

Interviewer: Dyer, Richard L.

Interviewee: Wallace, Arleen (Secretary to the President)

Name of Tape: Faculty Interviews in the History of Columbia Junior College (CC_hist_14_0)

When: Early 70s

Transcriber: Ariella (September 2008)

Transcriber’s Note: For the rest of the interview proceed to the next tap (CC_hist_14_1)