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Robertson, Burns, and Failing families papers

  • Coll 784
  • Collection
  • 1786-1988

Many of Portland's early settling families created long-lasting ties with one another through marriage and business relationships. Often leaving areas such as New England and San Francisco, the first generation of transplants found Portland to be a small town of new opportunities for trade and business from 1840-1855. Family relationships, such as those seen between the Robertson, Corbett, and Failing families beginning in the 1850s, often lasted for generations. Starting with the joint venture between Henry Winslow Corbett and brother-in-law Thomas Robertson (1817-1900), multiple other partnerships were later formed, including Robertson Heavy Hardware, Corbett, Failing and Company, Foster and Robertson and Corbett, Failing, and Robertson.

The Robertson family represented a crossroads of Portland familial relationships. Beginning with the arrival of Thomas Robertson and his wife Mary Freeland (Corbett) Robertson, from New York, multiple generations of the Robertson family went on to marry into different branches of other old Portland families, such Couch, Lewis, and Reed. Through these relationships, they also gained ties with several family lineages from the East Coast. Individuals in these families later attended elite schools, traveled widely and participated in family businesses to great success. They also contributed to Portland's civic life, becoming city or state officials, and serving as early supporters for institutions such as the Portland Art Museum and Reed College.

Robertson family

James F. Failing family papers

  • Coll 799
  • Collection
  • 1850-2009

James Frederick Failing was born in New York on March 24, 1842 to Josiah Failing and Henrietta Legge Ellison. His father and older brothers, Henry and John William, arrived in Portland in 1851, followed two years later in 1853 by James, their mother, and sister, Elizabeth. James completed his education at Portland Academy, then joined J. Failing and Co. as a clerk. The company was a wholesale hardware business started by Josiah and Henry Failing at the corner of first and Oak Streets. James later became a partner at Corbett, Failing and Company. The company operated under this name for 22 years, before later becoming Failing-McCalman Company, operated in part by James's three sons.

In 1877, James Failing became a director of the First National Bank in Portland, remaining a senior director until his death in 1920. He married Jane Johnson Conner in 1880. She was born in Albany, Oregon on February 14, 1855 to merchant John Conner (1820-1902) and his first wife, Martha Mariea Bancroft Whittlesey (1827-1861). Later, John Conner married James's sister, Elizabeth Ann Failing in 1863. Jane Conner and James F. Failing had five children: Edward Josiah (1881-1936), Kate Whittlesey (1883-1971), John Conner (1886-1951), Frederick Ellison (1892-1929), and Henrietta Chase, 1895-1989). Kate and Henrietta participated regularly in Portland civic life, volunteering with numerous organizations.

James Failing and his family were members of the First Baptist Church of Portland. He was involved in the development and construction of the church's Taylor Street building between 1892 and 1893, and was both a trustee and a deacon. His daughter Kate created scrapbooks documenting the history of the church. He was also a director of the Young Men's Christian Association and a trustee for McMinnville College (later known as Linfield College), and an active member of the Oregon Pioneer Society and the Auld Lang Syne Society. Both his father, Josiah, and brother Henry served as mayors of Portland. While James never held public office, he was regarded as a prominent individual in the Portland business and civic communities.

Failing, James F. (James Frederick), 1842-1920

Gerry Frank scrapbooks and memorabilia

  • Coll 855
  • Collection
  • Circa 1880-2018

Scrapbooks, photograph albums, photographs, papers, and ephemera compiled by or relating to Gerald W. "Gerry" Frank (1923-). Frank is a businessman from Oregon who worked at the department store Meier & Frank; opened a dessert shop in Salem, Oregon, named Gerry Frank's Konditerei; and was U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield's chief of staff.

Early Oregon census and tax records, 1842-1880

  • Mss 1
  • Collection
  • 1842-1880

This collection consists of early census and tax records from the Oregon provisional and territorial governments and early Oregon statehood. The materials in this collection were gathered from early, mostly pre-1958, Oregon Historical Society Research Library accessions of census and tax related records. The early census and tax records document demographic and economic data for what are now portions of Oregon and California. Original census records include Elijah White's 1842 census; a census (1849) of males over the age of 21; Jackson County census rolls (ca. 1854-1855, 1858); a Washington County census (1856); a Washington County tax roll (1852); and an agricultural census for Clackamas County (1870). Typescript and photostat reproductions of census records include Joseph Meek's Census of Oregon (1845); Charles Wells’ Benton County census (1854); the United States Census roll for Coos County (1860); and a partial typescript of the 1880 United States Census for Wasco County. The collection also includes reports of the 1850 census for Butte and Calaveras counties in California.

Correspondence Collection

  • Mss 1500
  • Collection
  • 1800 - ?

Collection of materials assembled by the Oregon Historical Society comprised of various letters written from or to individuals in Oregon, ca. 1820-1973.

Women collection, circa 1899-1950

  • Mss 1534
  • Collection
  • 1899-1950

Collection of materials assembled by the Oregon Historical Society relating to women in Oregon, ca. 1899-1950. Included in the collection are postcards with anti and pro-suffrage images, the correspondence and diary of Mrs. Sylvia Thompson, the correspondence of M.H. Wicoxon, scrapbook of the League of Women Voters, papers of various women's political groups (including anti-suffrage groups) and newspaper clippings regarding women's rights, legal status and prominent women.

Lee Owen Stone papers, 1903-1977

  • Mss 2423
  • Collection
  • 1930 - 1977

Collection includes: Correspondence, sermons, awards and certificates, files from his activity in the Urban League of Portland and other civil and philanthropic associations, minutes of meetings for Men's Club of St. Philip the Deacon Episcopal Church, missionaries' quarterly reports, etc.

Stone, Lee Owen, 1903-1977

Brown, Clawson, and Parvin Family Papers

  • Mss 2506
  • Collection
  • 1739-1978

The collection includes correspondence, clippings, documents, and ephemera, most of which relate to Zimiri Parvin, James Nassau Brown, Mamie Parvin Brown, Vivian Z. Brown, and Verne Clawson Brown. There are also some materials on the Sutton, Taylor, and Price families, all related by marriage to the Parvins and Browns. Included are: musical compositions by Zimiri Parvin, letters from James Nassau Brown to his wife Mamie, a biographical article by Doris Huffman (1976), diplomas and certificates, high school yearbooks, a pocket diary of Josephine Taylor Sutton containing recipes, a program for a banquet honoring Susan B. Anthony in Salem in 1900, a Taylor family history document from the late 18th century, a group of baggage tags from hotels, and a collection of bank notes from the early 19th century. Among James Nassau Brown's letters is one of 1903 from Salem describing a typhoid epidemic.

Oregon Black History Project records

  • Mss 2854
  • Collection
  • 1844-1981

The Oregon Black History Project was a grant-funded project that conducted research on the history of African-Americans in Oregon up to the beginning of World War II. The project was directed by Elizabeth McLagan and culminated in her book "A Peculiar Paradise: A History of Blacks in Oregon, 1788-1940," which was published by the Georgian Press of Portland, Oregon, in 1980.

The collection consists of administrative records, research files, and photographs gathered or created by the Oregon Black History Project. Most of the research files consist of notes and quotes, photocopies, or excerpts from primary and secondary resources concerning the history of African-Americans in Oregon from the late 18th century to the mid-20th century. Most of these source excerpts were assembled between 1976 and 1979. Topics include early African-American emigrants to Oregon; the slavery debate in Oregon; exclusion laws and other forms of discrimination or violence against African-Americans; African-American business, social, and activist organizations; and early 20th-century African-American newspapers such as The Advocate, the New Age, and the Portland Times.

Photographs include portraits of African-American Oregonians; African-American social groups and activities; residences; and businesses operated by African-Americans in Portland, Oregon. Some of the photographs are copies of images originally published in newspapers such as Portland Times and The Advocate.

McLagan, Elizabeth, 1947-

Abigail Scott Duniway papers

  • Mss 432
  • Collection
  • 1852-1915

Writer, pioneer, editor, and champion of women's suffrage, Abigail Scott Duniway was born in Groveland, Illinois, in 1834. One of her brothers, Harvey Scott, would become the editor of the Oregonian. The Scott family traveled overland to Oregon in 1852, a trip on which Abigail's mother and youngest brother died. The family came first to Oregon City, then settled in Lafayette. Abigail taught school at Eola, and in 1853 she married Benjamin C. Duniway, with whom she had four children. After her husband was incapacitated in an 1862 accident, Duniway supported her family through teaching and a millinery business in Albany, Oregon. After moving to Portland in 1871 she published and edited The new northwest and became Oregon's leading advocate of women's suffrage. She moved to Idaho in 1887 and helped to achieve women's voting rights there in 1896. After returning to Oregon she was instrumental in the passage of Oregon's own women's suffrage bill in 1912. Her writings include the autobiography Path Breaking (1914) and the novel Captain Gray's Company.

The collection, which represents only a small portion of Duniway's papers, includes: the records of the Oregon State Equal Suffrage Association, including minute book, membership and account books, constitutions, a small amount of correspondence, and a copy of a letter from Susan B. Anthony regarding the woman's suffrage movement; and records of the Duniway Publishing Company, consisting of cash, mailing and advertising ledgers (1880-1886) of the publication The new northwest. Also included in the collection is a copy of a typed transcript of Duniway's journal kept during her family's overland trek from Illinois (1852 April 2) to Oregon City, Oregon (1852 September 28), on which her mother and younger brother died. The transcript contains an introduction by Leslie M. Scott. A subscription list from the Oregon State Secular Union from 1891 can also be found in the collection.

Duniway, Abigail Scott, 1834-1915

Oregonian glass negatives

  • Org Lot 139
  • Collection
  • 1850-1930

This collection consists of glass negatives taken by photographers for the Portland, Oregon based newspaper, The Oregonian. Most of the photographs in this collection are undated but the bulk of the photographs are believed to be taken between 1890 and 1920.

Oregonian (Firm)

Kiser Photo Co. Photographs

  • Org. Lot 140
  • Collection
  • 1901-1999

The Kiser Photo Co. photographs include images produced by the Kiser Brothers, the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition Official Photographic Co., the Kiser Photo Co., and the Winter Photo Co. from 1901-circa 1927. Other imprints include Fred H. Kiser Studios, Kiser Studios, and Scenic America Company. The collection contains both vintage black-and-white and hand-colored prints, including stereographs and panoramic photographs, as well as copy prints made from original Kiser negatives. The bulk of the images are examples of Kiser's landscape and mountain photography in Montana, Oregon, and along the Columbia River Gorge and Columbia River Highway, among other places, as well as of various places in Portland, Or. Other subjects include the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis, Mo., 1904; the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in Portland, Or., 1905; landscape photographs taken for various railroad companies, 1903-1916; photographs of ships and shipbuilding in the Portland, Or. area, taken for the Emergency Fleet Corporation, 1918-1919; and photos of Kiser studio buildings in Portland, 1909-1923.

The collection also contains contemporary photomechanical reproductions of Kiser photographs, dating from 1903-circa 1930. These include postcards, photomechanical prints both loose and in albums, and publications containing reproductions of Kiser work. There are also background materials that contain biographical notes Fred H. Kiser and the history of his work with photography that were gathered during collection processing and date from 1903-1999.

Many images in the collection were made by the Kiser Brothers or Kiser Photo Company and its photographers but were produced for sale to the public over a long period of time, first by the Kiser Photo Company and then the Winter Photo Company. After Kiser sold part of his business to Winter in 1915, it appears that Kiser continued to make prints from earlier images for which Winter held the negatives, possibly by making copy negatives from original prints. Photographer Benjamin Gifford also bought Kiser negatives and produced them for sale; many of the copy prints in this collection were made from Kiser negatives that are housed in the Gifford and Prentiss photograph collection, Org. Lot 982.

Note on dates and photographers’ negative numbers: Kiser and Winter often issued prints of the same images over a long period. Prints sometimes include copyright dates in the photographer’s imprint. The dates provided in this guide include: actual date of photograph if known, copyright date if known, or circa dates derived from photographers’ negative numbers and image content. Kiser Brothers did not use a negative numbering system as far as can be determined. Kiser Photo Co.’s earliest assigned numbers represent the firm’s output but also may be for images made by the Kiser Brothers but marketed later. They are low numbers preceded by an “x”. Kiser seems to have adopted a consecutive numbering system by about 1906. The numbers are handwritten in pencil on the verso of prints. After he purchased part of the business in 1915, Winter appears to have continued the consecutive numbering system from where Kiser Photo Company left off. After 1915, Kiser appears to have adopted a new numbering system, using a “C” prefix.

Kiser, Fred H., 1878-1955

Oregon Association of Colored Women's Clubs photographs, 1953-1988.

  • Org. Lot 587
  • Collection
  • 1953 - 1988

Photographs and other materials that were assembled for the Northwest Black Heritage exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society, documenting the history and activities of the Oregon Association of Colored Women's Clubs and its constituent groups. The photographs depict the presidents of the Oregon Association of Colored Women's Clubs, including Katherine Gray, the association's first president; state and regional conventions; affiliated clubs; community service activities; winners of the association's Katherine Gray Memorial Scholarship; and federated girls' clubs associated with the organization. Also included is a photograph of the exhibit panel and photocopies of newspaper clippings and other materials used in the exhibit panel.

Oregon Association of Colored Women's Clubs

Rev. Lee Owen Stone Collection

  • Org. Lot 651
  • Collection
  • 1903 - 1977

Photographs documenting the career of Rev. Lee Owen Stone, (4/24/1903-3/10/1977), at St. Philips Episcopal Church, 120 N. E. Knott St., Portland. Rev. Stone was Vicar of St. Philips from 1936 until his retirement in 1972. He was active in community agencies and the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon. Rev. Stone was a founder of the Portland Urban League. In addition, he established the St. Philips Church Cooperative (Lee Owen Stone) Preschool. Rev. Stone was Portland's first black Episcopal priest, and hist first wife, Leota A. Stone, was one of Portland's first black public school teachers.

Stone, Lee Owen, 1903-1977

Oregon Labor Oral History Program

  • SR OLOHP
  • Collection
  • 1993 - 2018

The Oregon Labor Oral History Program, building upon the work begun in the 1980s of former Oregon AFL-CIO officer Nellie Fox Edwards, collects oral histories of individuals who have advocated for working people of Oregon, including public figures, union members, and workers. OLOHP accomplishes this work in affiliation with the Pacific Northwest Labor History Association and with the support of the Amalgamated Transit Union 757, volunteers and students.

Oral history interview with Elise F. Wendel

  • SR 1004
  • Collection
  • 1985-01-30 - 1985-02-27

This oral history interview with Elise F. Wendel was conducted by Rick Harmon in Portland, Oregon, from January 30 to February 27, 1985. The interview was conducted in five sessions.

In the first interview session, conducted on January 30, 1985, Wendel discusses her family background and early life in Southwest Portland, in the area that later became the Park Blocks. She talks about the people in her neighborhood and how the neighborhood changed during the time she lived there. She describes her childhood home at length. She talks about her experience growing up as a Jewish person in Portland, her recreational activities, and a family trip to Europe just before the outbreak of World War I. She also briefly shares her memories of civilian life during World War I and of the 1918 flu epidemic. She discusses her education, including attending Catlin Gabel School and studying in Paris, France.

In the second interview session, conducted on February 6, 1985, Wendel continues discussing her education, including attending Catlin Gabel School and studying in Paris, France, and attending a finishing school in New York. She talks about her father, I.N. Fleischner, and his department store, Fleischner, Mayer & Co. She then talks about her experiences at Wellesley College. She speaks about her marriage to Harold Fox Wendel and talks about his early life.

In the third interview session, conducted on February 13, 1985, Wendel continues discussing her marriage to Harold F. Wendel and his early life. She talks about Harold F. Wendel's career as president of the Lipman & Wolfe department store, including competition with Meier & Frank, changes he made to the business, and his management of his employees. She compares the managerial styles of I.N. Fleischner and Harold F. Wendel; talks about how the Depression affected Lipman & Wolfe; and discusses Harold F. Wendel's involvement with the Oregon State Sanitary Authority and other civic organizations.

In the fourth interview session, conducted on February 20, 1985, Wendel continues discussing her marriage to Harold F. Wendel, including the house they lived in and raising a family. She talks about her involvement with the Council of Jewish Women, the Temple Beth Israel Sisterhood, and the League of Women Voters. She also briefly discusses her involvement in civil defense activities during World War II. She speaks at length about her involvement with the Girl Scouts, including securing property for a summer camp.

In the fifth and final interview session, conducted on February 27, 1985, Wendel continues discussing her involvement with the Girl Scouts, discusses some of the events she helped organize for the group, and talks about some of the ways the organization has changed. She closes the interview by discussing her other volunteer activities.

Wendel, Elise F. (Elise Fleischner), 1905-1986

Oral history interview with Paul T. Gillette

  • SR 822
  • Collection
  • 1983-02-09

This oral history interview with Paul T. Gillette was conducted by Jim Strassmaier on February 9, 1983. An unidentified woman was also present and occasionally contributed interview questions.

In this interview, Gillette discusses his family background and early life in Ellston, Iowa, including life on his grandparents' farm. He talks about teaching high school in South Dakota and shares his memories of the Depression. He discusses his marriage to Jennie Maude Maule, his association with football player Frank Leahy, and working for the Kresge Company, which later became Kmart, in Buffalo, New York. He reflects on the places he lived and shows photographs to the interviewers, while discussing the effects of aging on his appearance and health. He then revisits the topic of his family background and early life in Ellston, Iowa. He talks about his religious affiliation, coaching basketball at a school in South Dakota, and attending the University of South Dakota. He closes the interview by revisiting the topic of working for the Kresge Company.

Gillette, Paul T. (Paul Traverse), 1902-1992

Oral history interview with Eric J. Lindquist

  • SR 906
  • Collection
  • 1990-07-06

This oral history interview with Eric Lindquist was conducted by Beverly A. Brown on July 6, 1990, at Rogue Community College in Grants Pass, Oregon. The interview was part of the Rogue River Valley Oral Histories, 1989-1990 series, which were interviews conducted by Beverly A. Brown as research for her book "In Timber Country: Working People's Stories of Environmental Conflict and Urban Flight." There is no audio for Tape 2, Side 2, but it is represented in an incomplete transcript.

In this interview, Lindquist discusses his family background and early life in Medford, Oregon, including life on the family farm, the family pets and livestock, and his education. He talks about his involvement with the Jehovah's Witnesses and the reasons why he left the church. He describes his friends and social life during high school, his interest in science, and how he felt unsupported by his teachers. He talks about the reasons why he didn't from graduate high school, his hopes for college, and retail jobs he held. He then speaks at length about working for the Fourply mill in Grants Pass. He describes his job duties, and talks about recent layoffs and the ownership of the Fourply mills. He shares his thoughts about the spotted owl and the view within the lumber industry that the environmental movement is responsible for the industry's decline. He discusses how the areas of Grants Pass and Medford have changed since his childhood, his love of camping, and his plans for the future. He closes the interview by talking about his political beliefs.

Lindquist, Eric J., 1969-

Oral history interview with Nona E. Colley

  • SR 927
  • Collection
  • 1987-09-25

This oral history interview with Nona E. Colley was conducted by Jim Strassmaier at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, on September 25, 1987. Jan Wells was also present. In this interview, Colley discusses her experience working with Amos Burg as a child and starring in his film about children in England for Encyclopedia Britannica. She talks about her long-term correspondence with Burg. She also discusses her family and life as a child in post-war Britain.

Colley, Nona E., 1938-

Oral history interview with Ethel L. Vaughters

  • SR 935
  • Collection
  • 1981

This oral history interview with Ethel L. Vaughters was conducted by her son, Robert Vaughters, at Ethel L. Vaughters' home in the summer of 1981. The interview was conducted in four sessions on two audiocassettes. These recordings are duplicates on four audiocassettes which were created in October 1988.

In the first interview session, Vaughters discusses her family background and early life in Chicago, Illinois, and in Portland, Oregon, including the origins of her name; her childhood home; and her early education. She also talks about the health of her parents and siblings, her first jobs, and the fashion she wore. She talks about childhood games and recreation.

In the second interview session, conducted on July 3, 1981, Vaughters continues discussing her early life in Portland, including her memories of civilian activities during World War I, radio programs her family listened to, and her neighborhood. She also talks about her social life. She briefly discusses her marriage to an unidentified man and their divorce a few years later. She talks about returning home to Portland with a young child and about the jobs she worked. She then speaks about her marriage to Richard Flowers Vaughters in 1931 and the death of his parents the same year.

In the third interview session, Vaughters continues discussing her marriage to Richard Flowers Vaughters in 1931 and the death of his parents the same year. She talks about their experience during the Depression, including Richard F. Vaughters' work at Oregon fish hatcheries in Scio, Roaring River, and Hebo. She speaks at length about raising a family in these towns. She also talks about managing her household.

In the fourth and final interview session, Vaughters discusses Richard F. Vaughters' work at the fish hatchery in Hebo, Oregon. She talks about raising a family there and about crabbing in Sand Lake. She talks about relocating her family to Portland in the early 1940s and about the death of her parents shortly thereafter. She describes rationing during World War II and her children's education and recreational activities.

Vaughters, Ethel L. (Ethel Lucille), 1905-1987

Spruce Production Division lantern slides

  • Org. Lot 1062
  • Collection
  • 1917-1919

Lantern slides depicting activities of the Spruce Production Division in Oregon and Washington State during World War I.

United States. War Department. Spruce Production Division

Tabor family photographs

  • Org. Lot 968
  • Collection
  • 1885 - 1895

Collection consists of photographs collected by the Tabor family. Most of the photographs are believed to have been taken or acquired by J. W. Tabor and Margaret Tabor during a trip to Portland, Oregon in 1895. Subjects include various views of Portland, including City Park (now Washington Park) gardens and bear pit, Mount Tabor reservoir, the Portland Heights cable car line, the Willamette River waterfront, and the Morrison Bridge; Celilo Falls; photographs of James Waucop Tabor, Margaret S. McNulty Tabor and her cousin, Alice Bachman Bettner; and a coroner's investigation of a body found in a mining camp near Granite, Oregon. None of the photographers are identified.

Senator Mark O. Hatfield Oral History Project

  • SR Hatfield
  • Collection
  • 1987 - 1988

This series of interviews was conducted with Senator Hatfield’s congressional aids, staff and advisors. Senator Hatfield had a long and distinguished career in public service. He began his career as an Oregon State Legislator. He was both Oregon’s youngest Secretary of State and Governor. Later, he was a United States Senator from Oregon for 30 years, the longest term of any senator from Oregon. He is perhaps best known for his early and consistent opposition to the Vietnam War.

Interviewees include: Douglas Coe, associate director of The Fellowship, who has had close relationships with many American politicians; Martin Gold, a member of the United States Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad, appointed by George H.W. Bush, he was counsel to Bill First, Howard Baker and Mark Hatfield; Loren Hicks, counsel to Hatfield and later held many judgeships in Oregon, including circuit judge for Marion County; and Sam Mallicoat, a veteran of WWII and the Korean War, and Chief of Staff for Senator Hatfield during his first senate term.

Catholic Ladders collection

  • Coll 51
  • Collection
  • 1840-1896

Collection consists of hand-drawn and commercially printed Catholic ladders designed by Francis Norbert Blanchet between 1840 and 1859. The hand-drawn 1840 ladder is believed to have been drawn by Blanchet. The ladder matches extant examples of Blanchet’s handwriting and is addressed to his brother A. M. A. Blanchet at Cedars parish in Canada. Also included in the collection are three printed lithograph ladders with instructions written in French (1846-47 ladder), Spanish (1856 ladder), and English (1859 ladder). There are also photostatic copies of two additional early examples of Blanchet ladders. The collection also includes one Pictorial Catechism printed in 1896 that was designed by Albert Lacombe based off Blanchet’s ladders.

Blanchet, Francis Norbert, 1795-1883

Oral history interview with Jeanne M. Radow

  • SR 9029
  • Collection
  • 1978-03-15

This oral history interview with Jeanne M. Radow was conducted by Roberta Watts at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, on March 15, 1978. In this interview, Radow discusses her involvement with Planned Parenthood and describes the services the clinic provides and its organizational structure. She talks about the opposition Planned Parenthood faces due to its abortion and birth control services, and discusses laws regarding reproductive rights that had recently passed in Oregon at the time of the interview in 1978. She speaks at length about the early years of Planned Parenthood in Portland. She describes the methods of birth control available at the time of the interview in 1978, as well as opposition towards sex education in schools. She then talks about her early life in New York, New York; discusses her service in the Army Nurse Corps in the Philippines at the end of World War II; and talks about working as a nurse for Planned Parenthood around the United States. She closes the interview by returning to the topic of her involvement in the Planned Parenthood clinic in Portland and the services the clinic provides.

Radow, Jeanne M. (Jeanne Michaels), 1921-2013

Oral history interview with Vera Katz

  • SR 9044
  • Collection
  • 1982-04-28 - 1982-05-19

This oral history interview with Vera Katz was conducted by Linda S. Dodds at Katz's home in Portland, Oregon, from April 28 to May 19, 1982. At the time of the interview, Dodds' name was Linda S. Brody. The interview was conducted in two sessions.

In the first interview session, conducted on April 28, 1982, Katz discusses her family's immigration to the United States from Nazi Germany in 1940. She talks about her early life in New York City, including her education and learning English. She then discusses her experience studying sociology and psychology at Brooklyn College; talks about her interest in modern dance and studying under Martha Graham; and speaks about her marriage to Mel Katz. She also briefly talks about working in marketing while in New York. She then discusses relocating to Portland, Oregon, in 1964, in order to support Mel Katz's career, and describes her early impressions of Portland. She talks about the beginnings of her political career working for Robert F. Kennedy's 1968 presidential campaign. She discusses lobbying the Legislature with the Kennedy Action Corps and how that led to her ultimately running to represent Multnomah County in the Oregon Legislature in 1972. She talks about her campaign, legislation she worked on, and her involvement with the Women's Caucus. She also talks about balancing her home life in Portland with her role as a legislator in Salem.

In the second interview session, conducted on May 19, 1982, Katz continues discussing representing Multnomah County in the Oregon Legislature from 1973 to the time of the interview in 1982. She continues talking about legislation she worked on, and discusses working with lobbyists and her fellow legislators. She talks about representing and connecting with her constituency, her role in Democratic party leadership in the Legislature, and her committee assignments. She discusses her experience as a woman legislator; describes her political philosophy; and speaks about serving on the Ways and Means committee. She closes the interview by discussing her plans for the future.

Katz, Vera, 1933-2017

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