Vivian Castleberry Oral History

Even after having recorded more than 1,500 oral history interviews, whenever I am asked to name my favorite interview subject, without hesitation I say that Vivian Castleberry is near the top of that list. I met Vivian at a public program early on in my career at The Sixth Floor Museum, and I was struck immediately by her warmth, humor and quiet intelligence. Even though she had previously recorded an audio interview with the Museum in 1991, I was eager to get her in front of our videocamera for a longer, broader interview about her legendary career in journalism. This 2004 recording, over a year in planning due to her very busy schedule, remains my favorite of the several sessions I enjoyed with Vivian Castleberry. Three days earlier, I had recorded an interview with her daughter, Carol Tate, whom Vivian poignantly references with tears in her eyes during this interview's most emotional sequence. Following this 2004 session, I had the great pleasure of moderating three educational programs with Vivian on our seventh floor between 2006 and 2009. And finally, recognizing the inevitable passage of time, I invited her back for yet another one-on-one interview in 2015. I felt that one of our most significant storytellers needed to be recorded at least once in high-definition with professional lighting in our studio-style Media Room. Yet as beautiful as that 2015 recording may look, Vivian was really at her best here in 2004. Nevertheless, my last conversation with her in 2015 really brought us full circle, and five years later, I still find myself wishing I could sit down and talk with her just once more. Vivian passed away in 2017. She left behind a remarkable legacy as the grandmother of Dallas journalism. -- Stephen Fagin, Curator