Between the mid 1970s and mid 1980s, Pauline Pearson led an initiative to collect oral histories about John Steinbeck. Approximately 130 individuals were interviewed, resulting in over 350 hours of audio interviews. Subjects vary widely, but typically focus on John Steinbeck or the life and conditions in Salinas and the Central Coast from the 1900’s to the 1960’s, especially the 1930’s and 40’s. Interviews are available as CDs for listening and transcripts are available for selected interviews.