Oral history interviews with Bertha Holt [Sound Recording 06]

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SR1060_T03S2

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Oral history interviews with Bertha Holt [Sound Recording 06]

Date(s)

  • 1992-11-05 (Creation)

Extent

Audiocassette; 00:30:18

Name of creator

(1904-2000)

Biographical history

Bertha Marian Holt was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1904. She attended the University of Iowa and earned a nursing degree around 1925. In 1927, she and Harry Spencer Holt, her cousin, were married. Growing up in a large family, she had always planned to have a large family of her own. The couple had four children and adopted eight from South Korea. The couple lived in Firesteel, South Dakota, until 1937, when they settled in Lane County, Oregon. Together, she and Harry Holt founded the adoption organization Holt International Children's Services in the wake of the Korean War. They successfully lobbied to change the laws surrounding international adoption. Bertha Holt tells her family's story in the book "The Seed from the East." She died in 2000.

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Tape 3, Side 2. In the second session, conducted on November 5, 1992, Holt continues discussing her experience during the Dust Bowl drought. She talks about relocating to Lane County, Oregon, where Harry Holt got involved in the timber business and started his own sawmill. She also revisits the topic of Harry Holt’s family background and early life. She describes the community in Lane County, adapting to the Oregon climate, and getting involved with the Baptist Church. She talks about raising children and about Harry Holt’s health, and how World War II affected his sawmill. She also discusses family trips to Alaska by boat. She speaks about a heart attack that Harry Holt suffered in 1950.

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Copyright for interview and photographs is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

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  • English

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