You don't have to be famous for your life to be history!  The California Maritime Academy’s Oral History Project is seeking people who have attended or worked for the Academy from its beginnings in 1929 up to modern times.  Your memories (and mementos) of your time at the Nautical School/Academy are important.  They help us document the evolution of the institution – how it operated in the early years, memorable events, and how events influenced its history…and your lives. 

We’re also deeply interested in alumni who went on to serve in such arenas as World War II, Korea, Viet Nam and the Gulf Wars.  This is particularly important because your experiences, often in the merchant maritime arena, have never been as well chronicled as those in the traditional military ranks.   If you served in a conflict arena, what did you do, what were your experiences, and how did your training at the Academy prepare you?

Additionally, you may have collected memorabilia from your time at the Academy or during your working career which have historical value.  We’d love to explore such holdings and either make copies for our Library's Campus History Collection, or in selected cases and with your permission, accept the originals for our collections.

Your history and documents will become part of the Cal Maritime Library -- accessible by researchers and historians interested in learning more about both the Academy and the lives of its students, faculty and staff both during and after their time here.

Whether your were a student, faculty, staff, or affiliated in other ways, we are actively seeking your oral history.  There are two ways you can help create a record of your recollections:

Contact the Oral History Coordinator         Download Cal Maritime's Oral History Kit