The Seal Beach Historical Resources Foundation collects the historical experiences, memories, and perspectives of prominent community members and longtime residents. These help us to understand the history, culture, activities and stories of life in the Seal Beach community over the years.
Many of the Oral Histories were an early project of the Seal Beach Historical Society. We have recovered many of them thanks to Libby Appelgate who conducted many of the interviews and provided us with her copies of these documents.
First person stories are articlres written by long-time Seal Beach residents for the 75th anniversary, for the centennial, or just for newspaper articles.
Virginia Haley – Memories of SB’s longest-living resident, who is still going strong at 104.
Joan Stegman – memories of vacationing and playing around Anaheim Bay in the 1930s and early 1940s and the beginnings of the Seal Beach Historical Society
Norma Pranter – Tent City and Early Seal Beach Politics
Lloyd Murray – early surfer, and first Chief of Lifeguard department
Florence Tyler – Life on Hellman Ranch
Larry Howard – Growing Up in Seal Bech in the 1930s and 1940s
Earl Shea – lifeguarding in the 1930s on Anaheim Bay
Willard Hanzlik – fighting the gambling czar in the 1950s
Paul Calvo – city council memories of getting the gamblers out in the 1950s
Virginia Haley
Joyce Ekbert
The Lawhead Brothers
Seal Beach Police Department
Marx Dressler – longtime Principal and SB Superintendent of Schools
VIDEO ORAL HISTORIES (most from SBTV 3)
Virginia Haley
Joyce