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Oral history interview with Margaret Thiele Petti

  • SR 1074
  • Collection
  • 1987-03-26 - 1987-04-30

This oral history interview with Margaret Thiele Petti was conducted by Jim Strassmaier at the Henry Thiele Restaurant in Portland, Oregon, from March 26 to April 30, 1987, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library's oral history program. The interview was conducted in four sessions.

In the first interview session, conducted on March 26, 1987, Petti discusses her family background and early life in Vernonia, Oregon, including her family's history in the hotel business, her education, and her experience during the Depression. She talks about living and working in Portland during the Depression and describes how she came to work for Henry Thiele. She discusses her relationship with and marriage to Henry Thiele. She also talks about participating in illegal gambling and going to speakeasies in the 1930s.

In the second interview session, conducted on April 2, 1987, Petti revisits the topic of her early life in Vernonia, including her family's history in the hotel business and taking piano lessons. She then continues discussing her marriage to Henry Thiele, and speaks at length about Thiele's life and career. She talks about managing the Henry Thiele Restaurant in Portland, about serving alcohol after 1952, and about catering for the Kaiser shipyards during World War II. She discusses the menu at the Henry Thiele Restaurant, and talks about working with food suppliers. She then looks at photographs and talks about them.

In the third interview session, conducted on April 9, 1987, Petti revisits the topic of her marriage to Henry Thiele and talks about their home in Lake Oswego. She talks about Henry Thiele's involvement with Christian Science. She also revisits the topic of managing Henry Thiele Restaurant, and discusses serving alcohol, talks about managing her staff, and shares the history of the restaurant. She shares her opinions on national politics. She describes a failed deal to sell the restaurant in 1986.

In the fourth and final interview session, conducted on April 30, 1987, Petti continues to discuss managing Henry Thiele Restaurant and talks about the restaurant's clientele. She also talks about her social life at the time of the interview in 1987. She then discusses her marriage to August Petti. She talks about her plans for the future and about traveling with August Petti. The interview closes with Petti looking at photographs and talking about them.

Petti, Margaret Thiele, 1916-2001

Oral history interview with Adam C. Heim and Clara C. Heim

  • SR 1086
  • Collection
  • 1989-07-26 - 1989-09-13

This oral history interview with Adam C. Heim and Clara C. Heim was conducted by Jim Strassmaier at the Heims' home in Portland, Oregon, from July 26 to September 13, 1989, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library's oral history program. The interview was conducted in five sessions. Adam C. Heim was interviewed in sessions 1 and 2; Clara C. Heim was interviewed in sessions 3 and 4; and both were interviewed together in session 5.

In the first interview session, conducted on July 26, 1989, Adam C. Heim discusses his family background, including his Russian and German heritage and his father's career with the Union Pacific Railroad Company. He talks about his early life in the Albina neighborhood of Portland, including his education and recreational activities. He speaks about working on a sugar beet farm in Idaho; about the Portland harbor; and about his apprenticeship as a machinist for the Union Pacific Railroad.

In the second interview session, conducted on August 2, 1989, Adam C. Heim talks about his siblings, particularly his older brother, John Adams Heim. He continues to discuss his career with the Union Pacific Railroad. He talks about his marriage to Clara C. Heim and about raising their children. He speaks about his experiences living in Huntington, Oregon, during the Depression, including the death of one of his children from spinal meningitis. He also discusses returning to Portland in the 1940s; talks about his children, their families, and their careers; and describes being injured during a robbery.

In the third interview session, conducted on August 29, 1989, Clara C. Heim discusses her family background and early life in North Portland. She talks about her siblings, their families, and their careers. She discusses her health as a child, her education, and working as a telephone operator.

In the fourth interview session, conducted on September 7, 1989, Clara C. Heim continues to discuss her early life in North Portland. She talks about her marriage to Adam C. Heim, about raising a family, and about her experiences during the Depression. She discusses her children, their families, and their careers. She speaks about life in Huntington, and about her political beliefs.

In the fifth interview session, conducted on September 13, 1989, Clara C. Heim and Adam C. Heim discuss living in and raising a family in Huntington and in North Portland during and after World War II. They also talk about the Black population in North Portland. They speak about their relationship with their children, about the changes in the Catholic Church, and about their political beliefs. They close the interview by talking about their recreational activities.

Heim, Adam C. (Adam Clarence), 1902-1995

Oral history interview with Sergiu Luca

  • SR 11080
  • Collection
  • 2005-07-20 - 2005-08-17

This oral history interview with Sergiu Luca was conducted by Jim Strassmaier at Luca's home in Otis, Oregon, from July 20 to August 17, 2005, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library's oral history program. The interview was conducted in two sessions. Collection also includes two digital and three print photographs of Luca.

In the first interview session, conducted on July 20, 2005, Luca discusses his family background and early life in Bucharest, Romania, including his early education in playing the violin. He talks about immigrating to Israel with his family in 1950, his father's death shortly after, and continuing his musical education. He then speaks about studying violin in London, England, and in Switzerland with Max Rostal, and later studying violin in the United States at the Curtis Institute with Ivan Galamian. He talks about his involvement with Portland State University and the origins of Chamber Music Northwest, including its funding and early performances, and the reasons why he left the organization. He also discusses his restaurant, Uncle Chen's. He then talks about the origins of the Cascade Head Music Festival.

In the second interview session, conducted on August 17, 2005, Luca speaks at length about living with Jenny Grimm, wife of Socialist leader Robert Grimm, while studying violin in Switzerland. He discusses his career as a professor of violin at William Marshall Rice University in Houston, Texas. He also revisits the topic of his musical education, then continues to discuss the Cascade Head Music Festival. He closes the interview by talking about his musical process, the music he enjoys playing, and popular music pieces.

Luca, Sergiu, 1943-2010

Oral history interview with Helen M. Brunner

  • SR 1302
  • Collection
  • 1989-01-21 - 1989-01-21

This oral history interview with Helen M. Brunner was conducted by Jim Strassmaier on January 21, 1989, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library's oral history program. In this interview, Brunner discusses her family background and talks about coming to Eugene, Oregon, in 1920. She talks about her education and studying to become an accountant at Eugene Business College. She discusses her early accounting jobs and experiences during the Depression. She then speaks about working as an accountant for Fred Meyer Inc. from 1940 to 1946. She talks about working with Herbert Retzlaff, shares her opinion on labor unions, and describes a typical work day. She speaks about the operations for Fred Meyer Inc., about the employee compensation, and about the Meyer family from the perspective of an employee. She closes the interview by discussing living in Portland during World War II.

Brunner, Helen M. (Helen Marie), 1905-2007

Oral history interview with Dick K. Harmon

  • SR 2406
  • Collection
  • 1995-12-29

This oral history interview with Dick K. Harmon was conducted by Jim Strassmaier on December 29, 1995, as part of the Legacy of Hope: Catholics and Social Justice Project, which collected interviews with Catholic clergy and social justice activists in Oregon about their work on social action in the Roman Catholic tradition.

In this interview, Harmon discusses his family background and early life in Colorado, and talks about his interest in learning about the roots of violence in American culture. He describes his college experience at the University of Chicago, and describes how he became involved with the Industrial Areas Foundation. He speaks at length about his work as a social justice organizer for the IAF and later for the Brooklyn Ecumenical Cooperatives. He talks about the communities he worked in, about the people he worked with, and about the relationship between his work and his Christian faith. He shares his opinion on the organization and rules of the Catholic Church. He then speaks at length about his work with the Portland Organizing Project in Oregon, an alliance of churches founded in 1985 to further social justice. He closes the interview by sharing how his social justice work helped him to process his abusive childhood, and by discussing the concept of sin.

Harmon, Dick K. (Richard Keylon), 1937-

Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey

  • SR 3149
  • Collection
  • 1998-01-19 - 1998-04-01

This oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey was conducted by Jim Strassmaier from January 19 to April 1, 1998, as part of the Oregon Historical Society's oral history program. The interview was conducted in seven sessions. The transcript includes additional information provided by Gilkey.

In the first interview session, conducted on January 19, 1998, Gilkey discusses his family background and early life in Albany, Oregon, including his education, his early interest in art, and working on the family ranch. He talks about teaching art classes at Albany College, about spending a summer as a fire lookout in the Santiam National Forest, and about his marriage to Vivian E. Malone. He discusses studying art at the University of Oregon, and also talks about his work on the official book for the 1939 New York World's Fair.

In the second interview session, conducted on January 28, 1998, Gilkey shares his experiences in New York City from 1936 to 1939, and speaks further about his work on the official book for the 1939 New York World's Fair. He discusses the development of his taste in art while in New York, shares anecdotes about Salvador Dali, and talks about the type of art he worked on. He shares his experience as an art professor at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and talks about some of his students. He then talks about his service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, including his training in Texas, and writing to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to suggest forming a unit to protect art in the European theater.

In the third interview session, conducted on February 4, 1998, Gilkey continues to discuss his service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He speaks at length about commanding a unit of soldiers tasked with recovering artworks stolen by the Nazis, as well as collecting Nazi propaganda art and the politics involved in returning recovered art. He talks about the people he met while in Europe.

In the fourth interview session, conducted on February 11, 1998, Gilkey continues to speak at length about recovering artworks stolen by the Nazis. He talks about his living situation and social life while in Europe, about the many German artists he met, and about meeting displaced European people. He discusses his return to Oregon in 1947 and chairing the art department at Oregon State College, which is now Oregon State University. He speaks about his work as dean to develop the college of humanities into the college of liberal arts, and about developing an international exchange program.

In the fifth interview session, conducted on February 18, 1998, Gilkey revisits the topic of German artists that he met while recovering stolen art in Europe. He also describes witnessing the Nuremburg trials and learning details about the Holocaust. He talks about how his art style changed after his war experiences, about post-war hostilities with Russia, and about displaced people in Europe. He then talks about some of his artworks and his printmaking process. He speaks further about his work as dean at OSU to develop the college of liberal arts, and about developing an international exchange program. He also talks about his relationship with OSU President Robert W. MacVicar, and about student protests in 1969 and 1970.

In the sixth interview session, conducted on February 25, 1998, Gilkey discusses his retirement from OSU in 1977. He talks about his work as a curator for the Portland Art Museum and as a part time professor at the Museum Art School, which is now the Pacific Northwest College of Art. He talks about the construction of the Vivian and Gordon Gilkey Center at the art museum, about his art collection, and about other Portland art collectors. He speaks about some of his OSU students, about some of his colleagues at the Portland Art Museum, and about his personal philosophy.

In the seventh and final interview session, conducted on April 1, 1998, Gilkey revisits the topic of student protests at OSU in 1969 and 1970. He speaks further about his work at the Portland Art Museum and about his colleagues, and talks about the museum's administration. He discusses his work developing the Oregon Arts Commission, the reasons the Museum Art School left PAM and became the Pacific Northwest College of Art, and about the construction of the Gilkey Center. He describes curating the International Print Show at PAM in 1997 and talks about the future of PAM. He closes the interview by discussing the careers of his students at PNCA, OSU, Stephens College, and Albany College.

Gilkey, Gordon