An audio recording of an oral history of Cal Clayton at his home in Forest Grove, Oregon. Clayton brings the interviewer into his den to show him various things of his life including a gun collection, photographs of his wife and her family, and animals that he has hunted. Clayton had come to Oregon right after high school with the intentions of going to college, but instead he joined the service and entered the war. Clayton talks about his experiences in the military and his traveling around Europe. After returning to Oregon, he started working for Haney Trucking as a trucker. During his time driving, Clayton became the first person to ever pull a set of triples in a truck. When he got in an accident on a trucking route, he was put in a hospital for three months with a broken back. Haney, the owner of the company, promised him a continuing job and had him go back to school for a couple years. Clayton then worked as an attorney for two years then at Haney in sales, was promoted to sales manager, and slowly worked his way to the top as vice-president of the company. During his time in Forest Grove, he has also served as a city councilman and governor. Clayton had met his wife in Portland and tells the story of how he met her. Clayton’s daughter joins the interview about halfway through to fill in some of the stories. Clayton also had three sons, but has since lost all of them in the military. The daughter shows pictures to the interviewer of her trip to Mexico with her sister and some of the grandchildren. She talks about her time working and her experience with those of different cultures, specifically with a Japanese worker. Near the end of the interview, all three people go outside to the yard and discuss rose bushes and how Clayton continues working on the land to “keep him young.” The interviewer asks about a guy named Ray Hodges since he lives in his old house, and Clayton talks about what kind of person he was. The interviewer finishes the interview with mentioning the “table” that people gathered around to talk about Forest Grove and how things have changed. Clayton also mentioned a truck that he had given to Washington County Museum, but since they could not keep it, it was moved to Vernonia and was there at the time of the recording. There are a couple short pauses in the interview at 11:27 and 16:15.
An audio recording of an oral history of Mary Windle about her family’s history reaching all the way back to the early nineteenth century. Windle first talks about her father’s side of the family, the Bennetts, who originally came from Cornwall, England, and emigrated to Canada in the early nineteenth century, and eventually moved to Washington. Windle inherited her grandfather’s sea chest that he had brought over from England. Then she talks about her mother’s side of the family, the Delanor-Sadds. They had settled in Cedar Canyon about the same time in the early nineteenth century. Eventually Windle’s family ended up in Cornelius, Oregon, where most of her relatives, including herself, attended school at Greenville. Windle talks about her childhood and remembers having a dog named Rover and riding ponies in long skirts. Windle recounts names and stories of her teachers at Greenville and her adventures into Forest Grove for shopping. She had started an annual family reunion that lasted for a while before it fizzled out. At about 20:00 of the recording, Windle shows her audience pictures of her parents and an uncle, as well as a book that came from her mother’s side of the family. The recording is really hard to hear in the beginning and throughout the first half with a popping in the sound and white noise.
An audio recording of a group conversation about local history in Forest Grove. The event was called Exploring Local History: A Sense of Place with Mary Cowan and Margaret Gilbert. The last 15 minutes of the recording is vintage (1930s or 1940s) music.
An audio recording of an oral history of Susanna “Sue” Harris and Edna Roberts recorded in about 1980 about their lives in Oregon. Harris was born in 1921 on a ranch in Oregon. She came to Forest Grove, Oregon, in 1977 looking for healthcare during a time that she was ill. She grew up in a country neighborhood attending a one-room schoolhouse with eight grades and one teacher. All of her life, Harris walked to school and in high school, she had to walk further to Vernonia. Church did not play a large part in her life because the nearest church was too far away to easily access it. She went to business college in 1956. Harris talks about her family and where her parents are from. Her mother was originally from Oregon while her father moved from Denmark but over the years living in Oregon, he lost his accent. Harris recounts how they spent their holidays and traditions including Christmas, the Fourth of July, and the last day of school. For entertainment, she attended dances, the theatre in Vernonia with her boyfriends, ate out in restaurants with her family, but there was no opportunity for her to play sports because she had to ride the bus home after school and was unable to stay after school. Work and school were her priorities. Each week, her mother made her clean her room and that was the only housekeeping chore that she had. She remembers listening to the radio frequently and then comments on the different transportation that she had been on in her life including a horse and buggy, automobiles, a ship, and an airplane. The Great Depression did not affect her family very much since they were self sufficient on their farm. Harris did not remember the Prohibition or World War One, but she did remember World War Two and the announcements over the radio of the bombing of Pearl Harbor and the signing of the truce to end the war. Then Harris talks about her two marriages and how they were brothers and both left her widowed. She never had any children of her own, but had her husbands’ children. Her favorite change in the world was electricity and not having to carry kerosene lamps around any longer.
The interview with Harris ends at about 21 minutes and there is a pause in the recording before it switches to the interview with Edna Roberts. Roberts was born in Washington in 1891, but lived in Park Place, Oregon, in a country house next door to her combo school and church. She did not have any full-blooded siblings but had many half siblings from her father and stepmother. She talks about Memorial Day and the Fourth of July as holidays that she remembers. Roberts did not want to talk about what she did for entertainment, though she never danced or played horseshoe, and cards were not allowed in her house. She remembers going to the theatre for the first time in Oregon City and working in a restaurant for a while. As a teenager, she did housework and babysat for a mother of three and was given a lot of responsibility in that job. Roberts also talks about the different modes of transportation that she had been on in her life. She also does not remember the Great Depression but remembers World War One over World War Two because of a nephew that had died in the first war. She finishes with talking about her two marriages and how she also did not have any children of her own.
There were many older women in the room with the woman interviewer and Harris and Roberts. At times near the end, it is hard to distinguish who is answering all of the questions, Roberts or another woman. They all agreed on liking President Eisenhower when he ran for president and that a country neighborhood where everybody knows everybody is a nice way to live. The recording has a lot of white noise in the background throughout the entire tape, but the voices are clearly audible throughout. At about 3 minutes into the recording, a high pitched screech noise starts and gradually gets louder until it stops at about 29 minutes.
An audio recording of an oral history Hugh McGilvra, Lorna McGilvra, George Hoar, Eric Stewart, and Gladys Haynes on the history of Forest Grove. Part 2 of 2.
An audio recording of an oral history Hugh McGilvra, Lorna McGilvra, George Hoar, Eric Stewart, and Gladys Haynes on the history of Forest Grove. Part 1 of 2.
An audio recording of an oral history of Hector Hinojosa. He was born in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico, and migrated to Harlingen, Texas with his family when he was two years old. After Harlingen experienced an economic downturn, the family began migrating seasonally across the country for agricultural work and eventually settled in Washington County. In spite of his abilities, Hector found himself struggling in high school due to a strict policy that penalized him for absences he took to help his family. Hector dropped out during his sophomore year and worked full-time managing a co-op gas station to help support his parents. After a year he was able to return to school through Job Corps in Portland and obtain his GED. Upon graduation Job Corps offered Hector part-time work as a counselor and gave him a scholarship to attend Portland State University to study guidance and counseling. Once he completed the program, Hector worked as a counselor at Forest Grove high school, and after several years began work with a program at University of Oregon to help struggling high school students obtain GEDs. Hector then spent a year working as a recruiter for Colegio César Chávez, and then moved to California to work for Castle & Cooke and negotiate labor contracts between the company and union leaders such as César Chávez. Hector eventually returned to Washington County. He resides in Hillsboro and continues to do independent consulting work for businesses. During his years in Washington County Hector has also been involved with a number of social service organizations.
Hector speaks about why his family moved to Washington County, the living and working conditions that his family experienced in Oregon, and the racism that he experienced in Texas and Oregon. He describes his own struggles in an education system that was not sensitive to his familial obligations, and how those experiences informed his work as a counselor, negotiator, and consultant. Hector elaborates on the importance of culture and language to one’s sense of identity, and on both personal and community struggles to offer improved opportunities for Mexican-ancestry and Latino people in and around Hillsboro. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part 1 of an audio recording of an oral history of Dr. Toshio Inahara, speaking about his experience as a Japanese American in Washington County during World War II. This is a brief introductory interview that was conducted in order to prepare for the longer interview in Part 2. Topics in this section include: moving to a strawberry farm Hillside, Oregon, near Gales Creek and Forest Grove in the 1930s; driving at age 10; going to school in Hillside, Forest Grove High School and Hillsboro High School; moving to other farms near Hillsboro and Helvetia; obtaining a special permit in 1942 to allow the family to continue farming and not go to an internment camp; picking hops and doing other labor to make ends meet; hearing about Pearl Harbor; and white neighbors who leased one of their properties during the war. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part 2 of an audio recording of an oral history of Dr. Toshio Inahara, speaking about his experience as a Japanese American in Washington County, Oregon. Topics in this section include: birth in 1921 in Tacoma, WA; moving to Hillside near Forest Grove, OR in 1931; his father learning to farm and raising strawberries; education in a one-room schoolhouse; playing baseball; going to the Japanese School in Banks on Sundays; driving a truck beginning at age 10; moving to other farm properties near Hillsboro and Helvetia; building a house near Hillsboro in 1941; hearing about Pearl Harbor and facing discrimination and restrictions; getting a special permit for his family to spend the war farming in Eastern Oregon, avoiding detention at Minidoka internment camp; moving to Vale, Oregon; renting a former chicken hatchery as a house; losing most of their land in Washington County; leasing their house to a white family during the war; going to college to become a doctor; the postwar Japanese community; and other topics. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Arthur P. Ireland recorded on April 28, 1978. The interview starts with a brief introduction to the Ireland family history dairy farming on their donation land claim starting in the mid-nineteenth century. He describes the uses of certain breeds of cows, the specifics of the dairy market, the building of cheese and creameries factories, and the growth of demand in Portland for milk. From personal involvement, he talks about the Milk War in Portland in 1930 and how the Dairy Cooperative Association was involved. Legislation on dairy production and a typical day on the farm in Forest Grove, Oregon, are also detailed. The last half of the recording is harder to hear due to some background noise and white noise. There is a full transcript of the interview along with an introduction and index to the interview.
The third and last part of an audio recording of an oral history of Enedelia Schofield recorded in March, 2013, about her life in Forest Grove, Oregon. In this section, she talks about her realization of how her minority status affects other people in situations, studying and passing the bar exam ten years after she had gone to law school, and getting a job as a principal at Echo Shaw Elementary School in Forest Grove, Oregon. Though not well received at first, Enedelia tells the story of how she gained the respect of those working with her and the parents entrusting their children to her school. She held a large part in starting the Dual Language Program at Echo Shaw School. She also describes how she met her second husband and got married. Enedelia finishes with giving the advice to people to get involved in the community and help people not become another statistic.
The second part of an audio recording of an oral history of Enedelia Schofield recorded in March, 2013, about her life in Forest Grove, Oregon. Through this section, Enedelia talks about her time at the Lewis and Clark Law School where she learned the value of study groups and what schools can do for minority students. Through these years in her life, Enedelia redefined what success looked like to her and after working as a clerk for a courtroom for a few years, she switched to education. After teaching at the elementary level, she went into an administrative program that allowed her to also get her master’s degree. Enedelia learned over the years the gift she had of being bilingual and what opportunities were opened up to her, as well as the challenges that were presented. She also talks about what she learned from her first marriage and being a Hispanic woman in each of her social settings. At 11:30 of the recording, there is a few second break as the recording switches.
An audio recording of an oral history of Enedelia Schofield recorded in March, 2013, about her life in Forest Grove, Oregon. She starts with describing her memories of the first four years of her life in Texas and the reasons for moving to Oregon. Staying in migrant camps, Enedelia learned at a young age how to work hard for her education and what she wanted. This interview outlines Enedelia’s life through a private Catholic elementary school, a public junior high school, through high school, and into college at Pacific University. Enedelia faced many hardships throughout her education such as experiencing discrimination for the color of her skin, a teacher changing her name, being questioned for academic achievements, accused for cheating, and speaking English at school and Spanish at home. Her determination to go to college got her into Pacific University in Forest Grove, Oregon, where she was able to study her own Spanish culture as well as education. Enedelia has a passion for experiences and how that shapes how people interact with others and learn a second language. There is an attached biography and abstract to the recording.
An audio recording of an oral history of Emilio Hernandez, including being born in Texas, life in the army, coming to the county, and Forest Grove. File includes finding aid. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Emilio Hernandez, including being born in Texas, life in the army, coming to the county, and Forest Grove. There is a partial transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Emilio Hernandez, including being born in Texas, life in the army, coming to the county, and Forest Grove. There is a transcript of this interview.
