Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Series
Title
Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant
Date(s)
- 1988-07-20 - 1988-09-07 (Creation)
Extent
.1 cubic feet 4 audiocassettes (3 hr., 40 min., 31 sec.)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Rupert Reid Bullivant was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1903. He attended the University of Oregon, earning his bachelor of law degree in 1926. He met Norma Jean Wilson while at college and they were married in 1926; they later had one child. They returned to Portland, where Bullivant practiced law. He formed his own law firm in 1938. He was elected to the board of governors for the Oregon State Bar in 1937, serving as president in 1938. He taught at Northwestern College of Law in Portland, leaving that post in 1943. He served on the Portland Planning Commission from 1939 to 1953. He also became a commissioner on the National Conference on Uniform Laws in 1948. Norma Jean Wilson died in 1979. In 1980, he and Louise Storia were married. He died in 1992.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Charles Allan Hart, Jr. was born in Minnesota in 1909. His family moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1911 and he spent the bulk of his childhood in the Irvington and Portland Heights neighborhoods. He attended Stanford University and Yale Law School. He returned to Portland in 1935 and joined his father's law firm, Hart, Spencer & McCulloch. He was an assistant U.S. attorney from 1936 to 1938. He then worked as counsel for the Bonneville Power Administration from 1938 to 1941. He was drafted in 1942 and served as an officer in the U.S. Army's Judge Advocate General Corps during World War II. He married Ruth Patterson in 1942 before being shipped out to serve in the Philippines and Japan. The couple later had three children. After his discharge in 1946, Hart practiced law at Pendergrass, Spactlan and Bullivant. In 1956, he left to form the Hart, Davidson, and Veazie law firm. In 1957, Governor Bob Holmes appointed Hart to the State Board of Higher Education. He served in that position until 1964. He was also active in the Oregon Democratic Party, the Portland chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, the Sylvan School District Board from 1952 to 1956, and the Catlin Gabel School Board from 1962 to 1971. He was also campaign chair for Maurine Neuberger during her successful run for a U.S. Senate seat in 1960. In 1968, he switched law firms, moving to Lindsay, Nahstoll, Hart, and Krause. Hart retired from practicing law in 1985. He died in 2002.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
This oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant was conducted by C. Allan Hart from July 20 to September 7, 1988. In this interview, Bullivant discusses his family background and early life in Portland, Oregon. He discusses his college experience at the University of Oregon, including his involvement with the school paper, the Oregon Daily Emerald. He then talks about his marriage to Norma Jean Wilson and his return to Portland, where he practiced law. He talks about judges he argued before, particularly Judge James Alger Fee, cases he tried, and lawyers he worked with. He describes the history the law firm he started in 1938. He also briefly talks about teaching at the Northwestern College of Law in Portland; serving on the board of governors of the Oregon State Bar, and as its president; serving on the Portland Planning Commission; and serving as a commissioner on the National Conference on Uniform Laws. He discusses representing insurance companies, public transportation companies, and dairy companies. He also speaks about his personal life and activities. He closes the interview by revisiting some of the discussion from the first tape, about his family background.
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 U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/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
General note
Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant, by C. Allan Hart, SR 1211, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
General note
Forms part of the United States District Court Oral History Project.
General note
Audio for Tape 1, Side 1, is of poor quality.
General note
Incomplete transcript (84 pages) and handwritten index (6 pages) are 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
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Fee, James Alger, 1888-1959 (Subject)