Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant

Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant [Sound Recording 01] Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant [Sound Recording 02] Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant [Sound Recording 03] Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant [Sound Recording 04] Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant [Sound Recording 05] Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant [Sound Recording 06] Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant [Sound Recording 07] Oral history interview with Rupert R. Bullivant [Sound Recording 08]

Identity elements

Reference code

SR 1211

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

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Finding aids

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Custodial history

Immediate source of acquisition

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Accruals

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Existence and location of copies

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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

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Accession area