Series SR 1115 - Oral history interview with Becky Johnson

Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 01] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 02] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 03] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 04] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 05] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 06] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 07] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 08] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 09] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 10] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 11] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 12] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 13] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 14] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 15] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 16] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 17] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 18] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 19] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 20] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 21] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 22] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 23] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 24] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 25] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 26] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 27] Oral history interview with Becky Johnson [Sound Recording 28]
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Identity elements

Reference code

SR 1115

Name and location of repository

Level of description

Series

Title

Oral history interview with Becky Johnson

Date(s)

  • 1986-06-25 - 1993-03-31 (Creation)

Extent

.1 cubic feet 15 audiocassettes (13 hr., 32 min., 11 sec.)

Name of creator

Johnson, Becky (Elizabeth Avery Hill), 1913-2007

Biographical history

Elizabeth "Becky" Avery Johnson, nee Hill, was born in Indiana in 1913. Her family moved to Bellevue, Ohio, when she was an infant. She graduated from Miami University in Ohio in 1935 with a bachelor's degree in education, and subsequently from Wellesley College with a master's degree. She taught English at high schools in Lima, Ohio, and in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, until 1942. She joined the Navy during World War II, serving in the WAVES beginning in 1943. While in the service, she was stationed in Portland, Oregon, where she met Sam Johnson, who later became an Oregon state representative. They were married in 1944 and had two children. She was a member of several organizations, including the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, the Teachers Standards and Practices Commission, and the Oregon Historical Society. She died in 2007.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

This oral history interview with Elizabeth Johnson was conducted by Rick Harmon and Jim Strassmaier at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, from June 25, 1986, to March 31, 1993. In the interview, Johnson discusses her family background and early life in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Bellevue, Ohio, including her family's religious faith, and life under Prohibition and during the Depression. She then discusses attending Miami University, including joining a sorority, her involvement with the YWCA, and the discrimination she saw. She also discusses attending Wellesley College, then teaching English to high school students. Johnson then talks about her experience as a woman in the Navy during World War II, serving with the WAVES, particularly her time stationed in Portland and Astoria, Oregon.

Johnson then discusses, at length, the family background and early life of her husband, Oregon State Representative Sam Johnson. She discusses Sam Johnson's youth and his education in the San Francisco area and in France, as well as his struggle with hereditary gout. She talks about their marriage and settling in Redmond, Oregon, and Sam's career with his family's timber business, including a trip they took to Chile to explore timber opportunities there. She also discusses the S.S. Johnson Foundation.

Johnson goes on to talk about her involvement in Oregon politics, including her involvement with the Oregon Republican Women's organization, campaigning for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and particularly her role on the State Board of Education. She also talks about Sam Johnson's time in the Oregon House of Representatives, his relationship to the changing Republican Party, and legislation he was involved with. She also discusses his time as mayor of Redmond. Johnson closes the interview by talking about her family life.

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use elements

Conditions governing access

Collection is open for research.

Physical access

Technical access

Conditions governing reproduction

Copyright held by the Oregon Historical Society. Licensed under Creative Commons, BY-NC-SA: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Languages of the material

  • English

Scripts of the material

Language and script notes

Finding aids

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Custodial history

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Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

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Related descriptions

Notes element

General note

Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Becky Johnson, by Rick Harmon and Jim Strassmaier, SR 1115, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

General note

Forms part of the Oregon Legislature Oral History Series.

General note

Incomplete transcript (149 pages) and handwritten index (10 pages) available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Specialized notes

Alternative identifier(s)

Description control element

Rules or conventions

Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), 2nd Edition.

Sources used

Archivist's note

Sarah Stroman

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