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Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Series
Title
Oral history interview with Monroe Sweetland
Date(s)
- 2002-03-16 (Creation)
Extent
.1 cubic feet 3 audiocassettes (2 hr., 48 min., 45 sec.)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Monroe Mark Sweetland was born in Salem, Oregon, in 1910. His family moved to Michigan in about 1915, and he spent the bulk of his childhood. He began his involvement with the Democratic Party when he was just 10 years old by clandestinely organizing a party meeting. He entered Wittenberg University in Ohio at age 16, then attended Cornell University and Syracuse Law School in New York. He met Lillie Megrath while attending Syracuse Law School and they were married in 1933. He returned to Oregon in 1935 and subsequently worked with the Commonwealth Federation, promoted progressive politics, and was instrumental in the rise of the Democratic Party to political power in the state. He also owned several newspapers in Oregon, including the Molalla Pioneer, the Newport News, and the Milwaukie Review. He represented Clackamas County in the Oregon House of Representatives 1953, and served in the Oregon Senate from 1955 to 1962. After leaving the Legislature, he moved to California and lobbied for the National Educaton Association. After retiring from politics, he began a business selling dried floral arrangements, called Western Wilderness Products. He returned to Oregon after his wife, Lillie, died in 1985, and he ran unsuccessfully for the Oregon Senate again in 1994. He died in 2006.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
This oral history interview with Monroe Sweetland was conducted by Andrew Bryans on March 16, 2002. In this interview, Sweetland discusses his family background and early life, including his childhood in rural Michigan; his early involvement in Democratic politics; and his experiences at Cornell University. He discusses his political activism during college, including his involvement with the Student League for Industrial Democracy and his political activism on behalf of Socialist candidates. Sweetland also discusses his political activities after his return to Oregon in 1935, including his work with the Oregon Commonwealth Federation and his decision to leave the Socialist Party and join the Democratic Party. Also discussed is his work with labor unions; the New Deal programs; and his work with the Oregon Democratic Party. He briefly talks about World War II and its effect on Oregon politics, particularly the effect the Hitler-Stalin pact had on American communists and the Oregon Commonwealth Federation; internment of Japanese-Americans; and his own pacifism.
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Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Copyright held by the Oregon Historical Society. License under: Creative Commons, BY-NC-SA: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
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Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
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Finding aids
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Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
Monroe Sweetland papers, Mss 1747, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Additional oral history interviews with Monroe Sweetland are held by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Monroe Sweetland, by Andrew Bryans, SR 1130-1, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
General note
Forms part of the Oregon Legislature Oral History Series.
General note
Incomplete transcript (86 pages) is available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
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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
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Democratic Party (Or.) (Subject)
- Oregon Commonwealth Federation (Subject)
- Socialist Party of the United States of America (Subject)