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The Peopling of Silicon Valley, 1940 to the Present Day: An Oral History
The Peopling of Silicon Valley, 1940 to the Present Day: An Oral History puts a human face on the Valley. It does not pretend to be a history of the entire Valley during this period or of the technology industries for which the place is now famous. This is a personal history of a cross section of the people who have settled here and of the place they call home with just enough of the technology story to make it interesting.
The book encompasses the five major migrations to the Valley since World War II: the GIs, Lockheed, the chip makers, the minicomputer folks, and the software and web developers. Each is, if not the dominant group, at least a group representative of a particular period that lasted fifteen years or more. Each wave of people brought with it both increased economic prosperity and social change. This is their story, told as much as possible in their own words.
Tim Stanley is the author of The Last of the Prune Pickers: A Pre-Silicon Valley Story, a popular local history.
The book encompasses the five major migrations to the Valley since World War II: the GIs, Lockheed, the chip makers, the minicomputer folks, and the software and web developers. Each is, if not the dominant group, at least a group representative of a particular period that lasted fifteen years or more. Each wave of people brought with it both increased economic prosperity and social change. This is their story, told as much as possible in their own words.
Tim Stanley is the author of The Last of the Prune Pickers: A Pre-Silicon Valley Story, a popular local history.
350 pages, Paperback
Published September 6, 2017
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 7, 2017
I highly recommend this book.
February 19, 2022
►WHY'D YOU READ THIS BOOK?
I read this book because it is the follow up book to the author’s The Last of the Prune Pickers, which I read a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed. Plus, since I was born and raised in Silicon Valley, I knew this book would have me reminiscing.
►WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK?
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first-hand memories of people who lived in Silicon Valley.
Naturally, while reading this book, I felt the urge to tell some of my own history, and so I will do so here without too much regret because what I’m about to write is similar to what you will read in this book.
I’m a first-generation American, the very first American in my family as a matter of fact. My parents emigrated from England to Canada and then to America. My father worked at IBM and Memorex and later started his own company. Unfortunately, the California lifestyle corrupted him, as he became a womanizer and divorced my mother who had no work experience but fortunately ended up working in the assembly department for VeloBind in Sunnyvale. (Stanley’s book actually mentions how the lifestyle in California was looser than what most were used to coming into the area.) My mother then married my stepfather who was from France and worked at Lockheed as a machinist and then as a parts planner. They called him Frenchie, and he was a peculiar guy . . . well, let’s just say he was very French. In Stanley’s book, a former Lockheed employee named Al DeRidder tells the story of his work at Lockheed as a machinist and later a planner, and I’m quite certain he must have known my stepfather who has since passed away.
One landmark that wasn’t mentioned in the book and probably only briefly existed in history was the psychedelic-painted incinerator smoke stack at Valley Fair, and if anyone reads this review and remembers it, please leave a note below.
Today, there aren’t too many native old timers, many left in the late 80s and 90s. I can always tell the natives by the way they pronounce San Jose and Los Gatos. To my delight, Stanley actually mentions this shift in pronunciation and thereby validates what I had thought was my own exclusive observation.
The Peopling of Silicon Valley contains much more than just personal accounts of life in Silicon Valley. Stanley provides factual history, not only social but technological as well, and he’s organized the book by describing the major waves of migration into the Valley, starting from WWII.
►WHAT DIDN’T YOU LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK?
I think the image on the cover is good; however, he could have done so much more with the font used in the title.
►DO YOU RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO OTHERS?
If you were born and raised in Silicon Valley and you are of any adult age, then you will really enjoy reading this book. I encourage people to buy it and give it to all those who fled the Valley a couple of decades ago. This book, as well as Stanley’s The Last of the Prune Pickers, would be great required reading for California history courses.
By the way, if you attend the Santa Clara art and wine festival (http://santaclaraca.gov/visitors/art-wine-festival), you may be able to meet Stanley and have him sign a copy of the book for you. That’s how I obtained my copy.
I read this book because it is the follow up book to the author’s The Last of the Prune Pickers, which I read a few years ago and thoroughly enjoyed. Plus, since I was born and raised in Silicon Valley, I knew this book would have me reminiscing.
►WHAT DID YOU LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK?
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the first-hand memories of people who lived in Silicon Valley.
Naturally, while reading this book, I felt the urge to tell some of my own history, and so I will do so here without too much regret because what I’m about to write is similar to what you will read in this book.
I’m a first-generation American, the very first American in my family as a matter of fact. My parents emigrated from England to Canada and then to America. My father worked at IBM and Memorex and later started his own company. Unfortunately, the California lifestyle corrupted him, as he became a womanizer and divorced my mother who had no work experience but fortunately ended up working in the assembly department for VeloBind in Sunnyvale. (Stanley’s book actually mentions how the lifestyle in California was looser than what most were used to coming into the area.) My mother then married my stepfather who was from France and worked at Lockheed as a machinist and then as a parts planner. They called him Frenchie, and he was a peculiar guy . . . well, let’s just say he was very French. In Stanley’s book, a former Lockheed employee named Al DeRidder tells the story of his work at Lockheed as a machinist and later a planner, and I’m quite certain he must have known my stepfather who has since passed away.
One landmark that wasn’t mentioned in the book and probably only briefly existed in history was the psychedelic-painted incinerator smoke stack at Valley Fair, and if anyone reads this review and remembers it, please leave a note below.
Today, there aren’t too many native old timers, many left in the late 80s and 90s. I can always tell the natives by the way they pronounce San Jose and Los Gatos. To my delight, Stanley actually mentions this shift in pronunciation and thereby validates what I had thought was my own exclusive observation.
The Peopling of Silicon Valley contains much more than just personal accounts of life in Silicon Valley. Stanley provides factual history, not only social but technological as well, and he’s organized the book by describing the major waves of migration into the Valley, starting from WWII.
►WHAT DIDN’T YOU LIKE ABOUT THIS BOOK?
I think the image on the cover is good; however, he could have done so much more with the font used in the title.
►DO YOU RECOMMEND THIS BOOK TO OTHERS?
If you were born and raised in Silicon Valley and you are of any adult age, then you will really enjoy reading this book. I encourage people to buy it and give it to all those who fled the Valley a couple of decades ago. This book, as well as Stanley’s The Last of the Prune Pickers, would be great required reading for California history courses.
By the way, if you attend the Santa Clara art and wine festival (http://santaclaraca.gov/visitors/art-wine-festival), you may be able to meet Stanley and have him sign a copy of the book for you. That’s how I obtained my copy.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews