{"id":255827,"date":"2026-04-07T14:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/255827\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T14:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T14:55:10","slug":"a-new-plan-to-document-long-beach-history-has-students-preserving-seniors-stories-long-beach-post-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/255827\/","title":{"rendered":"A new plan to document Long Beach history has students preserving seniors\u2019 stories \u2022 Long Beach Post News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kim McIntyre grew up exploring the alcoves and bays of Long Beach\u2019s famous Bembridge House<\/a>, a Queen Anne Victorian-style mansion near Drake Park. McIntyre\u2019s mother, who drove a library bookmobile around Long Beach, knew the house\u2019s owner, Dorothy Bembridge. The two would play piano and sing downstairs, while a young McIntyre navigated the attic. \u201cI knew all the secret passageways,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Later, as a cheerleader at Poly High School, McIntyre cheered the football team to frequent wins before studying to become a nurse. She was recruited to the Long Beach VA Hospital; there, she received eight marriage proposals. \u201cI think all the guys want a nurse to take care of them forever,\u201d she said. \u201cI said no to every one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, age 77 and retired, McIntyre is part of a local effort to record stories like hers. The Long Beach Gray Panthers, part of a national organization championing the needs of older adults, has partnered with interns at Cal State Long Beach to interview Long Beach seniors.<\/p>\n

\"\"Cal State Long Beach student Arianna Belmentez, left, interviews Gary Shelton as they are being recorded for Tales Bridging Generations, a project for StoryCorps by the Long Beach Gray Panthers at the Billie Jean King Library in Long Beach on Saturday, March 21, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n

Karen Reside, president of the Long Beach Gray Panthers, is conducting the project for StoryCorps, a national nonprofit collecting and archiving Americans\u2019 oral histories in the Library of Congress. Reside is focusing on Long Beach residents who, through their many years of life, have seen the city evolve. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to lose their knowledge,\u201d she said. \u201cWe want them to understand that their knowledge has value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ray Hetzel, 83, attended a Gray Panthers taping session after moving to Long Beach in October. He grew up in Rockaway, New York, and, in his \u201cill-spent youth,\u201d became an undercover police officer, he said. He quickly dispelled illusions of glamor: \u201cI was not a James Bond,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen I went undercover, I was a janitor.\u201d<\/p>\n

To keep his mother calm, he gave up the badge, he said, and went on to have a career as an artist, taking photos of models and actors in Texas, developing his skill as a painter, curating art museums and spending a stint as architect Philip Johnson\u2019s go-for (\u201cGo for this, go for that,\u201d Hetzel explained).<\/p>\n

Eventually, the Texas heat became too oppressive: \u201cI was basically a prisoner in my studio,\u201d he said, showing photo evidence that his thermometer clocked the pavement at a scorching 149 degrees. A business partner-turned friend had moved to Long Beach, and Hetzel, ready for a coastal breeze, followed.<\/p>\n

Now, he said he has more freedom and fewer age restrictions. \u201cHere, I don\u2019t feel like people refer to me as an old man,\u201d he said. \u201cIn Texas, they do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Shirene KcKinney, left, interviews Charla Franklin at the Billie Jean King Library on Saturday, March 21, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n

The interviewers who elicited these colorful stories are CSULB students studying political science, psychology and public health. Shirene McKinney, working toward her master\u2019s in public health and focusing on gerontology, wanted to intern with the Gray Panthers because of their mission to foster interaction between generations. \u201cIt\u2019s so important to share our lives, share our experiences,\u201d she said. \u201cWe grow so well from being in community with others.\u201d<\/p>\n

One goal of the project is to help young people understand how their community develops by interviewing those who shaped the city across decades, said Reside. Another goal is to help young people understand how much they have in common with seniors: \u201cStudents are having trouble finding housing. So are older adults,\u201d Reside said. Both groups face discrimination in the workplace, caregiving challenges and financial instability, she said, naming some of the issues the Gray Panthers focus on.<\/p>\n

\"\"Ray Hetzel is interviewed for Tales Bridging Generations. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n

Reside understands that common ground can begin with a conversation. \u201cOn family holidays, I would always go talk to the older people because their stories fascinated me,\u201d she said, referring to herself as \u201cthe keeper of the family history.\u201d She hopes to give others the opportunity to share their experiences, even if they don\u2019t have self-appointed family historians.<\/p>\n

On the third Saturday of each month from 10 a.m. to noon, Long Beach seniors are invited to the Billie Jean King Library to be interviewed. No need to sign up, Reside said. The next session will take place on April 18.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kim McIntyre grew up exploring the alcoves and bays of Long Beach\u2019s famous Bembridge House, a Queen Anne…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":255828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-255827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/255828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}