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Arthur Winston interview on NPR

Contributed by Wad on September 28th, 2007 at 2:00 am

[tags]los angeles, mta, national public radio, arthur winston, storycorps[/tags]

Arthur Winston
Arthur Winston at age 99.
Credit: Rick Jager/Metro (downloaded from Wikipedia)

National Public Radio airs one of the last interviews given by Metro’s most dedicated employee, Arthur Winston. He spoke with his great nephew, Eric Anthony Givens, just before he passed away less than a month after retiring on his 100th birthday.

He made news and set world records for working for most of his adult life for Metro and its precedessor agencies, beginning with the Los Angeles Railway in 1924. When Winston started his career, African Americans were not allowed in front-line jobs, so he tok a job cleaning vehicles. And he stuck with it.

Former president Bill Clinton gave Winston an “Employee of the Century” award in 1996. In 1997, Metro named Division 5, the garage near Leimert Park where Winston worked, after him.

NPR airs the interview in a partnership with StoryCorps, an organization recording life stories of Americans. The StoryCorps Griot Initiative is a one-year project seeking to collect oral histories from 1,750 African Americans, with World War II and civil rights movement stories of particular interest.

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There are 3 Responses to “Arthur Winston interview on NPR”:

  1. So when will it be broadcast?

    Arthur had an incredibly interesting tale, missing only one day of work in over seven decades, and that to bury his wife. He was working double shifts in his 90’s, outworking people who could have been his great-great-grandchildren.

    He was not exactly the most talkative guy in the world — I never heard him say more than a four-word sentence, so I’d love to hear this — WHEN, FOR GOSH SAKES?

    Tom Rubin

    Comment by Tom Rubin on October 1st, 2007 at 6:07 pm »Reply« resta suma

  2. its there now tom. pretty short and funny how authur laughs at his nephew when he tells him he loves him at the end.

    Comment by tykejohnson on October 1st, 2007 at 6:36 pm »Reply« resta suma

  3. NPR airs these periodically. The Winston one aired last Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s a special arrangement with StoryCorps.

    The audio interviews should be up on the StoryCorps site.

    Comment by Wad on October 2nd, 2007 at 3:52 pm »Reply« resta suma