The VHM Oral History Project — celebrating Venice’s diverse cultural heritage through the first-hand stories of our community members.
The Venice Heritage Museum's Oral History Project an initiative to document, showcase, and nurture Venice’s diverse historical legacy by collecting memories and commentaries of historical significance through professionally recorded interviews.
To know where we are going, we have to know where we’ve come from. To that end, this storytelling initiative is a valuable tool for VHM to preserve our city’s internationally renowned history — alongside physical artifacts and other museum objects.
The VHM Oral History Project will serve as a permanent resource to educate, engage, and inspire present and future generations of residents, historians, and the millions of tourists who visit our city each year.
To know where we are going, we have to know where we’ve come from. To that end, this storytelling initiative is a valuable tool for VHM to preserve our city’s internationally renowned history — alongside physical artifacts and other museum objects.
The VHM Oral History Project will serve as a permanent resource to educate, engage, and inspire present and future generations of residents, historians, and the millions of tourists who visit our city each year.
Introductory Sizzle Reel. Debuted at VHM Film Festival, August 2022
Sample Interview with Harry Perry, iconic Boardwalk musician. Debuted at VHM Film Festival, August 2022
Sample Interview with Joan Huff, niece of one of Venice’s founding African-American residents, Irving Tabor (Chauffeur and confidante of Abbot Kinney). Debuted at VHM Film Festival, August 2022
Interviews in production to-date include:
Bob Zaugh | Printer for the radical Peace Press; Vietnam Resistance
Daniel Samakow & James Evans | Owners of Danny's and James Beach; Venice Pride contributors; LGBTQIA+ community members
David Hertz | Renowned architect; Worked for Light & Space Movement artists
David Weissman | LGBTQIA+ community of the 70s and 80s
Dolores De Luce | Performer with "The Cockettes", a gender-queer performance theater troupe
Elayne Alexander | Venice Historian and Author; VHM Board Historian Emeritus
Gerry Fialka | Venice Film and Literary Historian / Cultural Curator
Francisco Letelier | Chilean-born Muralist
Grant Francis | Venice High School Shop Teacher (35 yrs - Retired)
Harry Perry | Iconic musician performing for 40+ years on the Boardwalk
Henry Diltz | Renowned Rock & Roll Photographer; Photographed The Doors on Venice Beach
Jack Hoffman | 40+ year real estate entrepreneur
Jason Sugars | Culture bearer of the Black Arts Movement; 4th generation Oakwood resident
Jataun Valentine | Descendent of Irving Tabor, Abbot Kinney's chauffeur; Oakwood community leader
Joan Huff | Nonagenarian niece of Irving Tabor
Josh "Bagel" Klassman | Venice Underground Photographer of the 1980z Dogtown scene
Lance Diskan | The Voice of the 1970s Fabulous Fox Theatre
Larry Bell | Renowned artist of the Light & Space Movement
Lennon Family | Members of the band VENICE; Descendants of the Lennon Sisters; Family came to Venice in 1910s
Linda Azuzerta | Resident of the Venice Canals from birth, 1940s to today
Linda Lucks | Community rights activist since the 1960s
Mickey Gallagher | Lifeguard Section Chief (Retired)
Dr. Naomi Nightingale | Original Save Venice leader; Oakwood community leader; Civil rights activist
Paul Tanck | Graphic artist; Founding member of the Venice Heritage Foundation
Rhoda Huffey | Author
Rhoda Makoff | Octagenarian member of the Shul on Beach
Oscar Galan | Founder of the renowned Hecho En Venice brand
Robert Huff | Great nephew of Irving Tabor; 3rd generation resident of Oakwood
Roger "Mona" Webster | Commercial real estate owner since the 1960s
Sheila Goldberg | Co-founder of the Venice Art Walk
Stephen Pouliot | Founding member of the Venice Heritage Foundation
Steven Ehrlich | Renowned architect with creative roots in Venice
Thom Mayne | Renowned architect with creative roots in Venice
Tom Sewell | Venice historical collector & artist; Co-creator of "Fantasy by the Sea" film & book w/ Tom Moran
Tony Bill | Writer, director, producer, business owner, and longtime Venice resident
Victor Rideau | 3rd generation Oakwood community fixture
Victoria Ramirez | Co-owner of Venice institutional business, Mars Body Shop
Viva Vinson | Musician; Grew up on Ocean Front Walk; Daughter of Dolores DeLuce
William McNally aka "Sweet William" | Historian; Author of "Venice of America: The American Dream Come True" (1976)
Daniel Samakow & James Evans | Owners of Danny's and James Beach; Venice Pride contributors; LGBTQIA+ community members
David Hertz | Renowned architect; Worked for Light & Space Movement artists
David Weissman | LGBTQIA+ community of the 70s and 80s
Dolores De Luce | Performer with "The Cockettes", a gender-queer performance theater troupe
Elayne Alexander | Venice Historian and Author; VHM Board Historian Emeritus
Gerry Fialka | Venice Film and Literary Historian / Cultural Curator
Francisco Letelier | Chilean-born Muralist
Grant Francis | Venice High School Shop Teacher (35 yrs - Retired)
Harry Perry | Iconic musician performing for 40+ years on the Boardwalk
Henry Diltz | Renowned Rock & Roll Photographer; Photographed The Doors on Venice Beach
Jack Hoffman | 40+ year real estate entrepreneur
Jason Sugars | Culture bearer of the Black Arts Movement; 4th generation Oakwood resident
Jataun Valentine | Descendent of Irving Tabor, Abbot Kinney's chauffeur; Oakwood community leader
Joan Huff | Nonagenarian niece of Irving Tabor
Josh "Bagel" Klassman | Venice Underground Photographer of the 1980z Dogtown scene
Lance Diskan | The Voice of the 1970s Fabulous Fox Theatre
Larry Bell | Renowned artist of the Light & Space Movement
Lennon Family | Members of the band VENICE; Descendants of the Lennon Sisters; Family came to Venice in 1910s
Linda Azuzerta | Resident of the Venice Canals from birth, 1940s to today
Linda Lucks | Community rights activist since the 1960s
Mickey Gallagher | Lifeguard Section Chief (Retired)
Dr. Naomi Nightingale | Original Save Venice leader; Oakwood community leader; Civil rights activist
Paul Tanck | Graphic artist; Founding member of the Venice Heritage Foundation
Rhoda Huffey | Author
Rhoda Makoff | Octagenarian member of the Shul on Beach
Oscar Galan | Founder of the renowned Hecho En Venice brand
Robert Huff | Great nephew of Irving Tabor; 3rd generation resident of Oakwood
Roger "Mona" Webster | Commercial real estate owner since the 1960s
Sheila Goldberg | Co-founder of the Venice Art Walk
Stephen Pouliot | Founding member of the Venice Heritage Foundation
Steven Ehrlich | Renowned architect with creative roots in Venice
Thom Mayne | Renowned architect with creative roots in Venice
Tom Sewell | Venice historical collector & artist; Co-creator of "Fantasy by the Sea" film & book w/ Tom Moran
Tony Bill | Writer, director, producer, business owner, and longtime Venice resident
Victor Rideau | 3rd generation Oakwood community fixture
Victoria Ramirez | Co-owner of Venice institutional business, Mars Body Shop
Viva Vinson | Musician; Grew up on Ocean Front Walk; Daughter of Dolores DeLuce
William McNally aka "Sweet William" | Historian; Author of "Venice of America: The American Dream Come True" (1976)
