The John A. Svensson Oral History, dated 2002-2010, contains audio recordings, administrative information, and transcripts of the interview between John A. Svensson and Brian Shoemaker of the American Polar Society conducted on October 15, 2002, and correspondence from 2010 about the transcripts of the interview. This interview was a part of a series of polar oral histories sponsored by American Polar Society and Ohio State University's Byrd Polar Research Center Archival Program, with funding from the National Science Foundation. Major topics that Svensson discussed include his experiences serving with the U.S. Naval Construction Battalions, also known as the Seabees, at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, his experiences and the living conditions on the floating ice island T-3, also known as Fletcher’s Ice Island (named after U.S. Air Force Colonel Joseph O. Fletcher), working aboard the USCGC (United States Coast Guard Cutter) Staten Island and the University of Washington’s R/V (Research Vessel) Thomas G. Thompson in the Bering Sea, the work he did measuring currents and water chemistry on T-3 and during his voyages in the Bering Sea, teaching in Seattle and Alaska, and working as a commercial fisherman in southeast Alaska.