Eikenberry, Eric
Person
Found in 13 Collections and/or Records:
Andy Zalan interview, 2022-08-12
Item
Identifier: dcpl_dcohc048_01.wav
Abstract
In this oral history, Andy Zalan unspools his life on a bike, both as a courier and an organizer of events, from alleycat races to international courier championships that bring the courier community together, both in D.C. and globally. Andy lays out his youth in Washington, D.C., including early stints as a BMX enthusiast and a lifelong passion for photography that led him to get a degree from the Corcoran School in Foggy Bottom. He then reflects on the joys and difficulties of courier...
Dates:
2022-08-12
Cal Steve interview, 2022-08-10
Item
Identifier: dcpl_dcohc048_02.wav
Abstract
In this oral history, Cal Steve walks his interviewers through the ins and outs of both bicycle courier work and alleycat racing, speaking with both authoritative knowledge and an easy sense of humor. After a childhood in Washington, D.C., Cal took up work as a bicycle courier in his early twenties. He started racing alleycats around the same time. Over the course of the interview, Cal reflects on riding a bike as a child and teenager and hanging with friends at a famous dirt bowl in Fort...
Dates:
2022-08-10
Carolyn Stieff interview, 2021-11-13
Item
Identifier: dcpl_dcohc032_01.mp3
Abstract
Please note this interview was recorded over a telephone call. Carolyn Stieff reflects on her time as an active member of the WMATA union Amalgamated Transit Union 689. Thrust into the labor movement in 1974 while still in her first months on the job, she participated in the 1974 wildcat strike. After that experience Carolyn soon got involved in the union. She speaks about what it was like to be one of the first female bus drivers in DC, a role that brought her both harassment and praise...
Dates:
2021-11-13
Craig Simpson interview, 2021-11-13
Item
Identifier: dcpl_dcohc032_02.mp3
Abstract
Please note this interview was recorded over a telephone call. Craig Simpson reflects on his life as a labor organizer, with special attention to the 1978 Metro Strike and the nearly three decades working with the labor movement as an employee of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA). Craig remembers the events between 1974 and 1978 that led to the 1978 Metro wildcat strike in precise detail. While the previous generation of bus drivers was entirely white men, the...
Dates:
2021-11-13
DK interview, 2022-10-07
Item
Identifier: dcpl_dcohc048_03.wav
Abstract
In this oral history, DK ties together his personal stories in both the cycling courier and punk music subcultures in Washington, D.C. and other major East Coast cities. Due to the crossover between the D.C. punk scene and courier community of the early 2000s, DK, an avid punk fan and musician, picked up a bike as a means to get by—a decision that opened a career as a courier, racer, and organizer of formal and informal races. Throughout his narrative, DK uncovers the linkages between the...
Dates:
2022-10-07
James Daniels interview, 2021-11-17
Item
Identifier: dcpl_dcohc032_03.mp3
Abstract
Please note this interview was recorded over a telephone call. In this oral history, James Daniels reflects on his time working at WMATA (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) and his work with the labor movement while at WMATA and beyond. He also speaks about his time growing up in South Carolina, where he lived until he was 12. The part of South Carolina he is from was still dependent on the cotton economy, and as a young child he picked cotton on a plantation. He remembers the...
Dates:
2021-11-17
Kevin Keefe interview, 2022-09-29
Item
Identifier: dcpl_dcohc048_04.wav
Abstract
In this oral history, Kevin Keefe reflects on his lengthy career as a bicycle courier, which began in mid-1980s and continued in several forms through the mid-2010s. Kevin also used his personal story to reflect on the myriad changes and shifts within both the courier community and the city at large. Kevin's route to becoming a courier was not always straightforward—he both spent a stint in the Navy during the Vietnam War, and he also worked for NASA for a stretch. A genuine love of the...
Dates:
2022-09-29
Laurence Parks interview, 2023-01-12
Item
Identifier: dcpl_dcohc048_05.wav
Abstract
In this oral history, Laurence Parks reflects on his life and lifestyle as a messenger. Notable discussions include his deep dive on the former political economy of the messenger industry and its once close ties, in D.C., to both white-shoe law firms and the man-made disasters and scandals from which they profited, and his after-hours visits to the House and Senate office buildings. Laurence spends much of the interview hopping between winding and humorous anecdotes, including an early-1990s...
Dates:
2023-01-12
Mike Golash interview, 2021-07-17
Item
Identifier: dcpl_dcohc032_04.mp3
Abstract
In this oral history Michael Golash talks about how his early life influenced his decision to take a leadership role in the 1978 Metro wildcat strike and the ways that the strike played a central role in many of his future decisions. First, Golash speaks about growing up in Albany, New York where observing the city's party-machine helped to formulate his early ideas about politics. The 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was another key point in his political development. Golash's...
Dates:
2021-07-17
Ron Majors interview, 2021-11-16
Item
Identifier: dcpl_dcohc032_05.mp3
Abstract
Ron Majors reflects on his decades working as a bus operator for WMATA (Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority) and the importance of the union for strengthening the rights of workers. Though he joined Metro in 1980, two years after the 1978 Metro wildcat strike, he saw evidence of the strike's lasting legacy regarding labor militancy all around him. Ron talks about what it meant to always be 'strike ready' and how this affected labor relations. He also speaks about his Catholic...
Dates:
2021-11-16
Additional filters:
- Subject
- Labor movement 7
- Local transit 7
- Strikes and lockouts 7
- Amalgamated Transit Union 6
- Bicycle messengers 6
- Employee rights 6
- Racing 6
- Wildcat strikes 6
- 16th Street Heights (Washington, D.C.) 4
- Labor unions 4
- Langdon (Washington, D.C.) 4
- Segregation 4
- Solidarity 4
- Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 4
- Working class 4
- Friendship Heights (Washington, D.C.) 3
- Navy Yard (Washington, D.C.) 3
- Petworth (Washington, D.C.) 3
- Park View (Washington, D.C.) 2
- 14th Street (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Adams Morgan (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Atlas District (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Black Workers Movement 1
- Carver Langston (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Catholic Church 1
- Community activists 1
- Downtown (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Dupont Circle (Washington, D.C.) 1
- H Street Corridor (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Howard University 1
- Kingman Park (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Massachusetts Heights (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Noma/Sursum Corda (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Orangeburg Massacre, Orangeburg, S.C., 1968 1
- Pleasant Plains (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Progressive Labor Party 1
- Shaw (Washington, D.C.) 1
- Socialism 1
- Student movements 1
- Truxton Circle (Washington, D.C.) 1 + ∧ less
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