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Oral Histories & Workshop Transcripts

May 2002-ADAPSO Reunion Meeting--Washington, D.C.

The Software History Center, in conjunction with the Smithsonian National Museum of American History and the Charles Babbage Institute conducted Oral History interviews and pioneer workshops as part of SHC's ADAPSO Reunion meeting. Fourteen Oral History interviews of industry pioneers were conducted by computer historians and there were ten moderated workshops. All of these interview and workshop recordings have been transcribed and, after limited editing for clarity and accuracy, have been posted. The oral histories are posted on the Charles Babbage Institute website and the workshops are posted on the Computer History Museum website. The people interviewed and the workshop participants were all key players in the creation and evolution of the mainframe computer software and services industry during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

The abstract of each of these oral history transcripts is available by clicking on the name of the interviewee. The abstracts are reproduced with permission of the Charles Babbage Institute. The name of the interviewer is also shown. The full transcripts can be accessed from the Charles Babbage Institute website by clicking on the proper location in the abstract.

Pioneer
Historian/Interviewer
Coleman, Bruce William Aspray
Crandall, Richard Paul Ceruzzi
Durbin, Gary Philip L. Frana
Goetz, Martin A. Jeffrey R. Yost
Goldstein, Bernard David Allison
Keane, John F. Martin Campbell-Kelly
Keet, Ernest E. (Lee) Philip L. Frana
Lautenberg, Frank Paul Ceruzzi
Maguire, John William Aspray
Piscopo, Joseph A. Thomas Haigh
Schoenberg, Lawrence J. Martin Campbell-Kelly
Weissman, Robert Paul Ceruzzi
Welke, Lawrence Thomas Haigh
Wyly, Sam David Allison

The full transcripts of each of the workshops can be accessed from the Computer History Museum website by clicking on the name of the workshop (those not yet posted are marked with an asterisk). The names of the moderator and historian for each workshop are also shown.

Workshop Title
Moderator/Historian
Banking Litigation and Issues of the 1960s Bernie Goldstein/Tim Bergin
ADAPSO Conferences
Larry Welke/Nathan Ensmenger
Accounting Issues Larry Schoenberg/
Martin Campbell-Kelly
Telecommunications Issues
Joe Markoski/David Allison
Intellectual Property Issues Ronal Palenski/Bill Aspray
IBM Relations Oscar Schachter/Paul Ceruzzi
Big Eight Accounting Firms Dave Campbell/Thomas Haigh
Industry Image Rick Crandall/David Grier
Contracts Reference Directory Burt Grad/Phil Frana
Industry Roundtables John Rollins/Jeff Yost

May 2004-PC Software Conference--Needham, MA

When the Software History Center conducted a PC Software Conference in Needham, MA, fourteen oral history interviews were conducted, some of PC software pioneers and some of additional mainframe software pioneers. In addition, eleven workshops were conducted, all related to PC Software subjects.

The transcripts of all of the oral history interviews have been or will be posted on the Charles Babbage Institute website (those not yet posted are marked with an asterisk). An abstract of each of the posted transcripts is available by clicking on the name of the interviewee. The abstracts are reproduced with permission of the Charles Babbage Institute. The name of the interviewer is also shown. The full transcripts can be accessed from the Charles Babbage Institute website by clicking on the proper location in the abstract.

Pioneer
Historian/Interviewer
*Bricklin, Dan and Frankston, Robert Martin Campbell-Kelly
*Bricklin, Dan and Frankston, Robert Paul Ceruzzi
Dreyer, Jerry (on CHM website) Thomas Haigh
Dyer, Ben Nathan Ensmenger
*Fylstra, Dan Thomas Haigh
Harpst, Gary Tim Bergin
Imlay, John William Aspray
Johnson, Luanne
Janet Abbate
Landry, John David Grier
Maples, Mike Nathan Ensmenger
Ross, Douglas and Brackett, John Michael Mahoney
Rubinstein, Seymour Jeffrey R. Yost
Sachs, Jonathan Martin Campbell-Kelly
Schachter, Oscar Thomas Haigh

The full transcripts of each of the workshops can be accessed from the Computer History Museum website by clicking on the name of the workshop (those not yet posted are marked with an asterisk). The names of the moderator and historian for each workshop are also shown.

Workshop Title
Moderator/Historian
PC Accounting Luanne Johnson/Nathan Ensmenger, Jeff Yost
VisiCalc: PC Software
Ed Bride/Bill Aspray,
Tim Bergin
Lotus 1-2-3 Jeff Tarter/
Martin Campbell-Kelly, Thomas Haigh
PC Systems Software Larry Schoenberg/ Paul Ceruzzi, Michael Mahoney
PC Word Processing Larry Welke/Janet Abbate, David Grier
*PC Marketing and Sales I: Sales Ed Bride/Janet Abbate, Michael Mahoney
*PC Marketing and Sales II: Packaging Jeff Tarter/Paul Ceruzzi, David Grier
*PC Legal I: Piracy Doug Jerger/ Bill Aspray. Martin Campbell-Kelly
*PC Legal II: Contracts Oscar Schachter/
Tim Bergin, Jeff Yost
*PC Technology I: Development Larry Schoenberg/
Paul Ceruzzi,
Nathan Ensmenger
*PC Technology II: Customer Support Larry Welke/Janet Abbate, Thomas Haigh

Nov. 2004-PC Software Conference II-Mountain View, CA

In November 2004 the Software History Center conducted a second PC Software Conference, this time at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. Six oral history interviews were conducted at this conference, four of PC software pioneers and two of additional mainframe/minicomputer software pioneers. In addition, there were three workshops conducted on PC Software subjects.

The transcripts of these oral history interviews have been posted on the Computer History Museum website.(those not yet posted are marked with an asterisk). An abstract of each of these transcripts is available by clicking on the name of the interviewee. The abstracts are reproduced with permission of the Computer History Museum. The name of the interviewer is also shown. The full transcripts can be accessed from the Computer History Museum website by clicking on the proper location in the abstract.

Pioneer
Historian/Interviewer
Carlston, Douglas Tim Bergen
Esber, Edward David Grier
Harris, Peter Thomas Haigh
Hendrix, Gary Dag Spicer
Kapor, Mitch William Aspray
Ross, Kenneth Paul Ceruzzi

The full transcripts of each of the workshops can be accessed from the Computer History Museum website by clicking on the name of the workshop (those not yet posted are marked with an asterisk). The names of the moderator and historian for each workshop are also shown.

Workshop Title
Moderator/Historian
*PC Data Base and Utilities Software Luanne Johnson/ Paul Ceruzzi, Jim Cortada, Thomas Haigh
*PC Personal Computing Software
Ed Bride/ Glenn Bugos,
Michael Mahoney, Jeff Yost
PC Financial Management Software Doug Jerger/Tim Bergin,
David Grier, Nathan Ensmenger, Mike Williams

Feb. 2006-Professional Services Meeting-Mountain View, CA

In February 2006 the Software Industry SIG conducted a workshop for founders of a number of professional services companies in the 1950s through the 1970s. Some related oral history interviews were conducted in 2006 and in 2007 and are included in this grouping. One of these transcripts is still in the process of being edited and will be made accessible through this website when it has been posted (it is noted with an asterisk). The following is a list of these interviews. An abstract of each of these transcripts is available by clicking on the name of the interviewee. The abstracts are reproduced with permission of the Computer History Museum. The name of the interviewer is also shown. The full transcripts can be accessed from the Computer History Museum website by clicking on the proper location in the abstract.

Pioneer
Historian/Interviewer
Case, Richard Burton Grad
Canning, Richard Burton Grad
Frank, Werner Jeffrey R Yost
Goldberg, Jay Burton Grad
Goldsmith, Barry William Aspray
Gentry, Richard Burton Grad
Patrick, Robert
Thomas Haigh
Professional Services Workshop Burton Grad and
Carol Anne Ances

IT Corporate Histories Project-2004-2006

Oral histories of a number of prominent software executives were included in the software company collections developed under the auspices of the IT Corporate Histories Project. The transcripts of these oral histories are directly accessible through this website from the Computer History Museum (www.computerhistory.org) Collections/Oral History webpage or from the IT Corporate Histories website (www.computerhistory.org/corphist/) by clicking on the name of the interviewee.

Pioneer
Interviewer
Alan Rievman (NCSS) Burton Grad
Andy Hertzfeld and Bill Atkinson (Apple) Grady Booch Suzanne Crocker (editor)
Dave Schmidt (Tymshare) Ann Hardy and Luanne Johnson
Gary Morgenthaler (Ingres) Luanne Johnson
John Warnock and Charles Geschke (Adobe) Bernard Peuto (Moderator)
LaRoy Tymes (Tymshare) Ann Hardy and Luanne Johnson
Lynn Sanden (Tymshare) Ann Hardy and Luanne Johnson
Paul Brainerd (Aldus)
Suzanne Crocker
Richard Bayles, Judd Boykin, Harold Feinleib, Nick Pisarro and Nick Rawlings
(NCSS - RAMIS/NOMAD
Burton Grad
Robert MacDonald (Informix) Luanne Johnson
Roger Sippl (Informix) Luanne Johnson
Warner Sinback (GEISCO) Luanne Johnson

Mar. 2007-NACCB Meeting--Mountain View, CA

In March 2007, the Software Industry SIG conducted a meeting at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA for the pioneers who founded the NACCB (National Association of Computer Consultant Businesses). These firms generally used independent contractors to carry out programming services for their clients. At this meeting we conducted four oral history interviews of NACCB pioneers, held three plenary sessions and ran four workshops.

The transcripts of the oral history interviews have been or will be posted on the Computer History Museum website (those not yet posted are marked with an asterisk). The name of the interviewer is also shown. The full transcripts can be accessed from the Computer History Museum website by clicking on the name of the interviewee.

Pioneer
Historian/Interviewer
Grace Gentry Luanne Johnson
Fred Shulman Burton Grad
Harvey Shulman Jeffrey R. Yost
*Mark Roberts Glenn Bugos

The transcript of each of the plenary sessions and workshops is available from the Computer History Museum website by clicking on the name of the workshop (those not yet posted are marked with an asterisk). The names of the moderator and historian for each workshop are also shown.

Workshop Title
Moderator/Historian
*Plenary #1: Pre-1706 History Burton Grad
*Plenary #2: Early NACCB History Burton Grad
*Plenary #3: Continuation of NACCB History Burton Grad
*Customer Relations Workshop Burton Grad/Glenn Bugos
*Independent Contractor Relations Workshop Luanne Johnson/Jeffrey Yost
*Business Operations Workshop Burton Grad
*Business Specialization Workshop Ed LaHay/Jeffrey Yost

June 2007-RDBMS Meeting-Mountain View, CA

In June 2007 the Software Industry SIG conducted a meeting for a number of the relational data base management systems (RDBMS) industry pioneers at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. The attendees included people who had worked on the RDBMS technology and on the products and in the companies which specialized in this area (IBM, Informix, Ingres, oracle and Sybase). In conjunction with this meeting, five oral history interviews were conducted, along with two plenary sessions and eight workshops.

The transcripts of the oral history interviews will be posted on the Computer History Museum website (those not yet posted are marked with an asterisk). The name of the interviewer is also shown. The full transcripts can be accessed from the Computer History Museum website by clicking on the name of the interviewee.

Pioneer
Historian/Interviewer
C. J. Date Thomas Haigh
*Mark Hoffman Burton Grad
*Ken Jacobs Burton Grad
*Lawrence Rowe Burton Grad
*Michael Stonebraker Burton Grad
*Moshe Zloof Burton Grad

The full transcripts of the plenary sessions and workshops can be accessed from the Computer History Museum website by clicking on the name of the session (those not yet posted are marked with an asterisk). The names of the moderator and historian for each workshop are also shown.

Workshop Title
Moderator/Historian
*Plenary #1: RDBMS History: Early Years Burton Grad
*Plenary #2: RDBMS History: Later Years Burton Grad
*Technology: through 1980 Workshop Burton Grad/Michael Mahoney
*Financing/Starting the Businesses Workshop Luanne Johnson/Thomas Haigh

*IBM RDBMS History Workshop

Burton Grad/Thomas Haigh
*Informix History Workshop Luanne Johnson/
Michael Mahoney
*Oracle History Workshop
Burton Grad/Thomas Haigh
*Ingres and Sybase History Workshop Doug Jerger/Michael Mahoney
*Technology: 1980 through 1995 Workshop Burton Grad/Michael Mahoney
*Growing/Selling the Businesses Workshop Luanne Johnson/Thomas Haigh

July 2007-Luanne Johnson Pioneer Oral History Interviews

In the mid-1980s, while working on a consulting assignment, Luanne Johnson became aware that virtually none of the software pioneers she was contacting for information had ever been interviewed about their experiences founding a software company in the 1960s and 1970s. She decided that this information should be preserved and began interviewing people she knew through her membership in ADAPSO. These interviews were with people who had been instrumental in founding and building the independent software companies that became the basis for today's software industry. The following is a list of the interviews which she conducted from 1986 through 2002. These digitized audio recordings and their edited transcripts are being turned over to the Computer History Museum as part of the Software Industry Special Interest Group Oral History Collection Project.

The transcripts of these oral history interviews will be posted on the Computer History Museum website (those not yet posted are marked with an asterisk). The name of the interviewer is also shown. The full transcripts can be accessed from the Computer History Museum website by clicking on the name of the interviewee.

Pioneer
Historian/Interviewer
Walter Bauer Luanne Johnson
Gerry Cohen Luanne Johnson
John Cullinane Luanne Johnson
Wil Dixon Luanne Johnson
*Frank Dodge Luanne Johnson
*David Duffield Luanne Johnson
*Gary Durbin Luanne Johnson
Marty Goetz Luanne Johnson
Marty Goetz Luanne Johnson
*Bernie Goldstein Luanne Johnson
*Peter Harris Luanne Johnson
*John Imlay Luanne Johnson
*Pitch Johnson Luanne Johnson
*Lee Keet Luanne Johnson
*Ken Kolence Luanne Johnson
*John Landry Luanne Johnson
*Dale Learn Luanne Johnson
John Maguire Luanne Johnson
*Jim Mann Luanne Johnson
*Harry Markowitz Luanne Johnson
*Jim McCormack Luanne Johnson
*Archie McGill Luanne Johnson and Burton Grad
*Mario Morino Luanne Johnson
*Bill Newcomer Luanne Johnson
Tom O'Rourke Luanne Johnson
*Norman Nie Luanne Johnson
*Tom Nies Luanne Johnson
*Joe Piscopo Luanne Johnson
John Postley Luanne Johnson
Ken Ross Luanne Johnson
*Larry Schoenberg Luanne Johnson and Burton Grad
*Aso Tavitian Luanne Johnson
*Dick Thatcher Luanne Johnson
Frank Wagner Luanne Johnson
*Larry Welke Luanne Johnson
*Duane Whitlow Luanne Johnson
Hugh Williams Luanne Johnson and Burton Grad

Additional interviews will continue to be conducted by the Software Industry SIG. They will be listed here and posted on the Computer History Museum website as they are transcribed and edited.

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