Oral history interviews with Herbert Retzlaff [Sound Recording 01]

Identity elements

Reference code

SR1311_T01S1

Name and location of repository

Level of description

Item

Title

Oral history interviews with Herbert Retzlaff [Sound Recording 01]

Date(s)

  • 1989-02-15 (Creation)

Extent

Audiocassette; 00:30:42

Name of creator

Biographical history

Herbert Retzlaff was born in Königsberg, Germany (which is now Kaliningrad, Russia) in 1903. During World War I, his family was evacuated to Berlin. He attended the University of Munich for three years. Inflation in post-World War I Germany drove him to seek employment abroad, ultimately landing him in Portland, Oregon, in 1924, where a fellow German American offered him a job at a gas company. In 1932, he and Lucile N. Martin were married. During the Depression, Retzlaff studied accounting at the Oregon Institute of Technology and became a CPA in 1933. In 1939, he began working as an accountant for Fred Meyer Inc. In 1955, he became a vice president of Fred Meyer Inc., and he retired in 1972. Lucy N. Martin died in 1978, and in 1980, Retzlaff and Helen E. Amacher were married. He was a patron of the Portland Opera, and established the Herbert Retzlaff Chair of Management Accounting endowment at Portland State University in 1986. He died in 1999.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

Tape 1, Side 1. In the first session, conducted on February 15, 1989, Retzlaff discusses his family background and early life in Germany, including his education, the history of the region where he grew up, and his memories of World War I. He discusses the inflation that post-World War I Germany suffered and how it led to him seeking employment abroad, and talks about his immigration to Portland, Oregon, in 1924. He talks about adjusting to life in the United States, jobs he worked when he first arrived, and studying to become an accountant. He then talks about his career as an accountant for Fred Meyer Inc. beginning in 1939. He discusses working with Fred Meyer, and talks about some of his colleagues and about the organizational structure of the company. He talks about his role as vice president in charge of the controller department of Fred Meyer Inc., from 1955 to 1972. He describes the role of the Executive Council, the organizational structure of the controller department, and the transition to computerization. He speaks about merchandising, economic forecasting, and lessons Fred Meyer Inc. learned from its competitors. He describes the growth of the company during his career, as well as purchasing real estate for new store locations.

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and the estate of Herbert Retzlaff. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Languages of the material

  • English

Scripts of the material

Language and script notes

Finding aids

Acquisition and appraisal elements

Custodial history

Immediate source of acquisition

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

Related materials elements

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related archival materials

Related descriptions

Notes element

Specialized notes

Alternative identifier(s)

Description control element

Rules or conventions

Sources used

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Digital object metadata

Digital object (Master) rights area

Digital object (Reference) rights area

Accession area