SR 9481

Collection

Oral history interview with Katherine O'Neill

• 1980-03-14 (Creation)

.1 cubic feet; 1 audiocassette ( 1 hr., 3 min., 13 sec.)

This oral history with Katherine O'Neill was conducted by Linda S. Dodds at O'Neill's home in Portland, Oregon, on March 14, 1980. At the time of the interview, Dodds' name was Linda S. Brody. Admiral John H. Besson, who was a cousin of O'Neill's, and several unidentified women were also present and contributed to the interview.

In this interview, O'Neill discusses Smith and Watson Iron Works in Portland, a business operated by her grandfather, Charles Smith. She talks about the sorts of items the business produced, including steam donkeys and parts for the Kaiser shipyards in Portland. She also talks about the Schnabel family home that later became the Multnomah County Hospital; the family's ownership of the Congress Hotel and many of the hotel's famous guests; and the legal career of her father, Charles J. Schnabel, including his 1921 murder by a disgruntled client. She closes the interview by talking about her early life and education in the King's Hill neighborhood of Portland.

Collection is open for research.

Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following license: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

• English

Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Katherine O'Neill, by Linda S. Dodds, SR 9481, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Handwritten index (2 pages) is available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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

Sarah Stroman

• Hotels--Oregon--Portland
• Ironwork--Oregon
• Lawyers--Oregon--Portland
• Murder--Oregon--Portland

• Congress Hotel (Portland, Or.) (Subject)
• Smith and Watson Iron Works (Subject)
• Smith, Charles E., 1839-1912 (Subject)
• Schnabel, Charles Joseph, 1867-1921 (Subject)

• Interviews