Ronald V. Dellums (Finding Aid)

Ronald V. Dellums

1935 -

Favorite Color: Blue

Favorite Food: Beans

Favorite Time of Year: Spring

Favorite Vacation Spot: Island of Vanguilla

Interview Length: 177 minutes

Interview Date(s): March 13, 2003

Interview Location(s): 601 13th Street NW, Washington, D.C., 601 13th Street, NW, Washington, D.C.

Abstract

Ronald Dellums gives a family history of his mother's side. He tells how his mother grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and how her siblings came from Texas to West Oakland and created a transplanted family network. He then talks in depth about his grandmother and the positive influence she had on him and the values she instilled. Dellums gives the background of his father's family and talks about the different ethnicities that comprise his family tree. Then he tells how his father moved to California after his brother C.L. Dellums, where he eventually met his wife. Ronald Dellums then explains how his father, C. L. Dellums and A. Philip Randolph organized the first black trade union in American history, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Ronald Dellums discusses C. L. Dellums's achievements as a union leader and civil rights activist. Ronald Dellums recounts memories of his uncle C. L. Dellums and, among other stories, tells about how C. L. told him to "never become a politician." He then describes one of his earliest memories that, when playing by the street curb, a truck nearly backed over his legs. Dellums touches upon the multicultural atmosphere of West Oakland during the late 1920s. He explains how Southerners who moved to Oakland perceived him and how he then began to regain his southern speech style. Then, he goes into more detail about how West Oakland's cultural characteristics paralleled that of a southern environment. Ronald Dellums then tells of an extremely religious phase he went through when he was approximately eleven, as well as some of his traits as a youth. Ronald Dellums tells the story of a knife attack he experienced as a youth. He talks about being surrounded by violence and crime but luckily having his family and friends to shield him from a criminal life. Then he talks about switching from Catholic to public schools and his opinions toward education during junior high and high school. Dellums speaks about his parents' separation and explains how he still remained in close contact with his father. He then moves forward in time and tells about when, after his divorce from his first wife, he lived with his father and about the experiences they shared. Dellums discusses some of the things he learned about his father during those years and briefly explains why his father was always in the shadow of his brother C. L. Dellums. Going back to his high school days, Dellums talks about being offered a scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley and the reasons why he eventually lost the scholarship. He tells the story of how he broke this news to h Ronald Dellums discusses the disappointment he faced in the U.S. Marines, but admits that his experience there was a positive one overall. He explains how confidence and discipline were instilled in him through his Marine training and how he used these new traits to his advantage when he returned home and started college. Dellums describes his educational drive at San Francisco State and how his success there influenced him to attend graduate school. He talks about his financial struggles to afford graduate school and then about the fellowship he received that relieved the situation. Ronald Dellums shares his motivation behind entering psychiatric social work and about his first jobs in the field. He then discusses an experience that made him rethink his career path and led him to focus on helping oppressed people and their issues. Dellums explains how this new line of work brought him closer to the political community and eventually led him into politics. Ronald Dellums talks about the excitement he and his family had in their plans to relocate to Massachusetts in order for him to work on his Ph.D. at Brandeis University. Dellums explains the chain of events that changed his Brandeis plans and led him to becoming a member of the Berkeley City Council. He speaks about the infrastructure of the council and then about the differences between Oakland and Berkeley. Dellums explains how Berkeley was a hotbed for activism during the 1960s. He describes how the various activist groups became involved with each other's issues and how that propelled Berkeley's liberal national reputation. Ronald Dellums talks about how Berkeley's open-minded attitude helped him to be elected to the U.S. Congress. Ronald Dellums talks about being impressed by Robert Scheer and about how he attempted to join Scheer's campaign with Otho Green's. He then describes how, while a member of U.S. Congress, he was verbally attacked by Spiro Agnew. Dellums then goes into depth about the press conference that followed, the questions that were asked, how he responded and the overall outcome. He describes how he was treated when he entered the U.S. Congress in 1971 and was viewed as a radical because of the issues he brought forth. Ronald Dellums explains how, over time, his patience in Congress gained him respect.

46 Stories (See Ordered Story Set)