Byron Quann
1940 -
Interview Length: 67 minutes
Interview Date: March 18, 2009
Interview Location: WHBG Channel 20, 223 Walnut Street, Harrisburg, PA
Byron Quann has fond memories of growing up on Herr Street in the 1940s - a time when "projects" was neither a negative term nor an inhospitable place. He remembers charming stories about his neighborhood, including basketball at Reservoir Park and wandering downtown to Mary Sach's and Crego's. He experienced discrimination firsthand when he was refused attendance at a school that was mostly white. His parents sued the Harrisburg School District, and though they lost, Quann feels he is better off for having had attended a different school. A Renaissance man, Quann has been an athlete, scholar, Army intelligence officer, salesman, bus boy and member of the Country Club of Harrisburg. Before retirement, Byron was CEO of Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts.
- Byron Quann states his name for the record
- Byron Quann discusses where he was born and immediate family
- Byron Quann talks about his schooling in Harrisburg
- Byron talks about high school sports in the Harrisburg area
- Byron discusses his local Harrisburg neighborhood during his youth
- Byron Quann talks about his time spent at Dickinson and Chicago Law School, as well as his transition into the U.S. Air Force
- Byron discusses his career with IBM and his involvement in developing local recreational sport programs
- Byron Quann talks about moving back into Harrisburg and becoming CEO of the Whitaker Center and about other venues in Harrisburg that preceded it
- Byron Quann discusses living in New York City during 9/11 leading him back to Harrisburg
- Byron discusses his involvement in the African-American publications sold in Harrisburg
- Byron Quann talks about how downtown Harrisburg has changed since living here as a child, including shopping, movie theatres, hotels and sports
- Byron talks about his father's ties to the community
- Byron talks about music and Woodstock
- Byron talks about his memory of Harrisburg
