Dr. Charles Albert "Al" Shumate was a physician and expert in California history. Born and raised in San Francisco, Shumate attended the University of San Francisco before earning his medical degree from Creighton University in 1931. He served in the Public Health Service in WWII, and left the service as a major in 1946. He then turned to teaching, and became a professor of dermatology at Stanford, and taught at San Francisco General Hospital, UCSF, and St. Mary’s Hospital School of Nursing. In addition to his career as a doctor, Shumate was very successful as an amateur historian studying California history. He published numerous books on the subject, and participated in several organizations including the California Historical Society, where he served as a trustee. In this interview, Shumate discusses family background (Ortman family, Dr. Thomas E. Shumate and his career); childhood, neighbors, friends, family, and social life; society, politics, and character of San Francisco and its neighborhoods; medical school, internship, and practice of dermatology and syphilology; changes in most aspects of medicine since the 1930s; WWII service; organizations devoted to California history, libraries, and books; and Catholic organizations.