Longtime staff members of The Bancroft Library, the Institute of
Governmental Studies, the Lawrence Hall of Science, and of the
Berkeley League Women Voters gathered at the Women's Faculty Club
on January 31 to honor Harriet Nathan for her more than 35 years
of service to the University as a writer for IGS, and an
interviewer for ROHO. Some of her past interviewees were also
present. Nominally, Harriet was retiring, for the second or third
time; (actually, she is still working on interviews with Chancellors
Heyman and Tien and a famous fiber artist). In truth, the
reception was a well-plotted surprise presentation of the
Berkeley Citation by former Chancellor Tien, and Harriet was
indeed surprised.
Harriet Nathan came to work for ROHO in 1966 on a one-day-a-week
basis, filling out her work week with research and editing at the
Institute of Governmental Studies. A graduate of the UC Class of
1941, Harriet was the first woman to be appointed managing editor
of the Daily Californian. Subsequently, she did writing for
President Robert Gordon Sproul, took care of her family and raised
her two daughters, served as president of Berkeley's League of
Women Voters, and got a master's degree in journalism before
returning to the work world as a writer for the Centennial History
of the University. It was then she moved on to IGS and ROHO.
Well prepared to do interviews on the history of the University,
Harriet Nathan soon became director of the University History Oral
History Series for ROHO, later branching out to fiber artists and
California craftsmen. She has done some 40 oral histories in her
34 years of part-time work, including a two-volume history of
Ewald Grether, Dean of the School of Business, which took 18 years
to complete.
For the Institute of Governmental Studies, among the many
publications she worked on, her book "Critical Choices in
Interviews: Conduct, Use, and Research Role," 1986, remains one
of their best sellers.
For the Lawrence Hall of Science's Equals project on teaching
mathematics, Harriet and Nancy Kreinberg wrote "Teachers' Voices,
Teachers' Wisdom: Seven Adventurous Teachers Think Aloud," 1991.
A gifted writer, Harriet Nathan wrote many brochures, introductions,
and grant proposals for ROHO. Harriet's definition of oral history
appears on the front page of every ROHO interview: "It is a spoken
account, offered by the interviewee in response to questioning, and
as such it is reflective, partisan, deeply involved, and
irreplaceable."
Thank you, Harriet, for the legacy.
Willa Baum
Director
Regional Oral History Office
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