Name/Title
Oral History of Richard HenningEntry/Object ID
2019.003.001Scope and Content
Henning attended Taft Junior College before transferring to San Jose State University. He received his master's degree from San Jose State and his Doctor of Education from the University of Southern California. He moved to Los Altos for a teaching opportunity at Foothill College. The Los Altos Rotary Club collaborated with Rotary clubs in India to raise funds and implement a clean water system in three villages in India. Rotary International matched the funds raised, which allowed them to provide significantly more money for the project than they would have been able to alone.
As assistant principal of student activities at Foothill College, Henning started the speaker series that eventually became the Celebrity Forum in 1968. Henning has invited some Secretaries of State and every president, except George W. Bush, to the Celebrity Forum since Gerald Ford. The interview focuses on the projects Henning has worked on as part of the Los Altos Rotary Club in collaboration with other Rotary Clubs both internationally and locally. He co-founded the Rotary Youth Leadership Awards, the Presidents-Elect Training Seminar, aided the international Wheelchair Foundation, and organized the Rotary speech contest in six Bay Area counties. Henning was also part of the committee that created The Los Altos Story, a film about AIDS in Los Altos.
Henning first became interested in the work of the Rotary Club when the local club took down a hateful message that declared Taft as inhospitable to Black people and replaced it with a welcoming sign. Subsequently, when given the chance to go to a Rotary-hosted conference in Japan as an ambassador of goodwill, he gladly agreed. His experience changed his outlook on life, and he continued to work toward the betterment of his community.Collection
Oral History CollectionOral History Details
Interviewee
Richard HenningInterviewer
Judy WilliamInterview Date
Apr 16, 2018