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Oral history interview with Nicholas Schneider and Edmund Schneider

  • SR 1075
  • Collection
  • 1985-04-18 - 1985-04-25

This oral history interview with Nicholas Schneider and Edmund Schneider was conducted by Rick Harmon at the Schneiders' home in Portland, Oregon, from April 18-25, 1985. The interview was conducted in two sessions.

In the first interview session, conducted on April 18, 1985, the Schneider brothers discuss their family history and early life in Portland. They speak at length about their first family home in Southeast Portland and they describe the appliances and utilities the house had in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They then describe the family home that they moved to in 1910. They also talk about the jobs they held, their education, and their recreational activities. They share their memories of Oaks Amusement Park, of the 1905 Lewis and Clark Exposition, and of the early Portland Rose Festival parades.

In the second interview session, conducted on April 25, 1985, the Schneider brothers continue to discuss their early life in Portland, including their recreational activities, their involvement with the Catholic Church, and their education. They also talk about their father's involvement with the Albers Brothers Milling Company. They then discuss their experiences serving in the U.S. Army during World War I. Nicholas Schneider also talks about experiencing anti-German and anti-Catholic discrimination. They close the interview by revisiting the topic of their father's involvement with the Albers Brothers Milling Company.

Schneider, Nicholas, 1892-1989

Oral history interview with Ida Mae Shepherd

This oral history interview with Ida Mae Shepherd was conducted by Greta Smith Wisnewski from August 14 to October 26, 2020. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the interview was conducted using Zoom, a video conferencing software. Shepherd was nominated by Oregonians to be interviewed as part of a program by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library to enhance and expand the range of voices in the library's collections. Interviewees are selected from the pool of nominees by a staff committee appointed by the historical society's executive director. The interview was conducted in five sessions.

In the first interview session, conducted on August 14, 2020, Shepherd speaks at length about her family background, particularly focusing on the life of her maternal grandmother, Edith Goodell Lee. She discusses her early life in the Eliot neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, and talks about businesses in the area. She then briefly talks about living in Vanport during World War II. She discusses her research into her family history.

In the second interview session, conducted on September 11, 2020, Shepherd speaks further about her family background, focusing on her paternal family. She revisits the topic of her early life in the Eliot neighborhood, and talks about her Catholic upbringing and involvement with the Immaculate Heart Catholic Church. She discusses how the Black community changed after World War II, as well as changes in the way white people treated them. She then continues to discuss living in Vanport as a teenager during World War II, including her social life, recreational activities, and segregation. She also talks about her early education and about jobs she worked after dropping out. She shares her experiences during the 1948 flood, including living in Guild's Lake for a short time afterward.

In the third interview session, conducted on September 25, 2020, Shepherd discusses her marriage to Theodore Cassidy Powell. She then talks about living in the Albina neighborhood in the early 1950s. She also revisits the topic of how the Black community changed after World War II, as well as how the way white people treated them changed. She talks about working as a janitor at KGW, and about her brief marriage to Curley Massey. She speaks about her marriage to Emmett Edwin Shepherd, about buying a house in the Eliot neighborhood, and about the changes in the neighborhood since the 1960s. She talks about raising a family, about her career in housekeeping and janitorial services, and about her experiences during the civil rights movement, including meeting Coretta Scott King. She shares her thoughts about police treatment of Black residents, talks about the mass displacement of Black residents during the construction of I-5 in the 1960s, and discusses the Black community in the Albina area of Portland.

In the fourth interview session, conducted on October 9, 2020, Shepherd discusses her experiences picking hops in the 1930s. She shares a childhood drawing she created of a tavern on Union Avenue, as well as a photograph. She talks about the people who lived in the Eliot neighborhood, and discusses her children, their families, and their careers. She revisits the topic of her experiences during the civil rights movement, and the topic of the mass displacement of Black people during the construction of I-5 in the 1960s, as well as during the expansion of Emanuel Hospital in the 1970s. She speaks at length about her involvement with Albina Fair Share and about working to reduce the amount of abandoned houses in the neighborhood. She talks about her involvement with Immaculate Heart Catholic Church.

In the fifth and final interview session, conducted on October 26, 2020, Shepherd speaks at length about how the Albina area of Portland, particularly the Eliot neighborhood, changed over her life. She also shares her reasons for living nearly her entire life in the area. She discusses how the ways that white and Black Portlanders interact have changed over her life. She talks about the death of her husband, Emmett E. Shepherd, about her volunteer work since her retirement in the late 1980s, and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected her activities. She discusses the political situation at the time of the interview in 2020, including protests in Portland and the presidential election. She closes the interview by talking about her recent stroke and recovery.

Shepherd, Ida Mae, 1929-2022

Oral history interview with Rhoda R. Madden

  • SR 9398
  • Collection
  • 1976-11-09

This oral history interview with Rhoda R. Madden was conducted by Charles Digregorio at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, on November 9, 1976, as part of the oral history program at the society's research library.

In this interview, Madden discusses her family background and early life in Portland. She talks about her recreational activities during her teens and 20s in the early 20th century, particularly camping. She discusses her involvement with the Portland Town Club, talks about running a dance school, and describes attending parties held by wealthy Portland residents.

Madden, Rhoda R. (Rhoda Rumelin), 1895-1983