C. Norman Winningstad oral history recording at his office in Beaverton, the home of Floating Points Systems Inc. The founder of Floating Points was Robert Carter in Beaverton, Oregon. At the time Tektronix was helping to create the small business and signed a contract with the founders of Floating Points that they did not and would not have any relation with them, despite the intertwining of some of the employees. The reasoning behind the name of Floating Points was told, focusing on the computer and mathematical reasons for the need of a system that would use floating points while doing math rather than fixed points. The creation of a system that would use floating points rather than fixed points would benefit scientist and physicist in their research and studies. From that question there came explanation of the benefits to having a system like floating points. The first five years of the business was slow with no major expansions. Following the slow start, the years to follow would create rapid growth in the business for it to eventually make their first sale internationally to Sophia University in Japan in 1972 or 1973. It wasn’t until 1977 that Floating Points System became aggressively active in the overseas market. C. Normal retired from being President of the corporation in 1981 because he was unable to keep up with technology due to the constant need of his assistance in the administrative side of the business.
An audio recording of an oral history of Luz Villaroel, including her work with the Beaverton School District as an ESL Counselor. File includes finding aid. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Margaret Derle Perkins on farming and settlement in Beaverton. Second tape is mostly inaudible. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part two of an audio recording of an oral history of Guy Carr about his life in Beaverton, Oregon, recorded on March 4, 1981. Carr continues talking about Beaverton in broader terms, talking about the people who lived in the city. He describes the early day entertainment as dances and baseball. He describes the different places that hosted dances and how baseball was made up of a “bush league” of men from all over the area. Carr describes how some people settled in the area including his stepdad, Mr. Pegg (the coroner), and the Fannos family, and gives short stories about other people in town including Blathers “The Old Goat” and Fred Vetter. Carr talks about selling tractors to farmers was like selling cars to people. Carr enjoys fishing and describes where he frequents. He tells the story of when he broke his leg and back while walking across a bridge during fishing and how he survived it. Other topics Carr covers include the first bank in Beaverton being the Pegg bank in 1910, where he grocery shops, drivers education, and the Beaverton school district while he served on the school board and his opinions on how the schools are doing. Throughout the interview, Carr mentions his collection of photographs, and the interviewer mentions that making a copy of them for history would be a good idea. A full transcript of the recording and a listed summary of topics discussed is given.
Part one of an audio recording of an oral history of Guy Carr about his life in Beaverton, Oregon, recorded on March 4, 1981. Carr was born in Colorado in 1900 and grew up in Virginia. After serving in the military during World War One, he moved to Beaverton in 1918 where his mom and stepdad owned Otto Ericson & Company, a Ford dealership, in Hillsboro and Forest Grove, Oregon. Carr details what Beaverton looked like when he first moved to the city and the farms and people that were around. Having learned to fly airplanes while in the military, Carr and some other men whom who he names, took part in building the Bernard Airport in about 1932. They also built airplanes and flew them around a bit. Carr mentions where some of those planes might have been located at the time of the recording. During the Depression, Carr was able to survive on his dealership businesses and he talks about how he bought and sold dealerships during this time also. During World War Two, there was an automobile shortage and Carr describes how he stayed afloat by working on cars but not selling them. He talks about the tire distributor in town called U.S. and Gates Rubber Company and how there was a large inventory of tires since the government had frozen the selling of tires. Carr involved himself in everything in town during the war to try to help people by being on City Council, the WPA making projects for people to build sidewalks, was chairman of the Water Committee to figure out the water system for Beaverton, was a volunteer fireman, and served as Acting Mayor a few times. Other topics that Carr talked about what the Oregon Electric Railway, the Multnomah Golf Club, the different highways between Hillsboro and Beaverton, the difference in being paid with warrants and scrips (a warrant drew interest, while the scrip was the face value), the Beaverton Airport, and the Premium Pictures Studio. Carr describes his antique car collection, how he was on “Faces and Places,” and talks about his health as what makes him rich rather than his money. The recording ends halfway through a conversation about Carr’s ancestry and his possible relation to Thomas Jefferson. There is a full transcript of the recording attached.
Part two of an audio recording of an oral history of Elva Rossi and her life in Beaverton, Oregon, recorded on October 26, 1982. Rossi continues with talking about growing crops on her dad’s farm and how he got them to Portland. She describes traveling by horse for about 2.5 hours to Portland to shop and the stores they stopped at. In 1900, her father left their farm and opened up a saloon that was very law abiding and kept until the Prohibition. Rossi attended Beaverton Grade School, Lincoln High School in Portland, and then Normal School to become a teacher. After teaching all of the grades in a one-room schoolhouse, Rossi left teaching to be a bookkeeper at Standard Oil company and then the Bank of California as a file clerk and in the analysis department. Rossi got married in 1935 but was divorced after only seven years. After her divorce, she was able to get a full time job again until she moved back to Portland to be with her sick mother. While living at home, she worked at Portland Trust in the analysis department. Rossi mentions the Columbus Day Storm, the Klu Klux Klan, and special holidays. From talking about family life with her grandparents to her friends in her youth and going to dances, Rossi describes life in Beaverton. A couple teachers Rossi talks about area Carl Fisher and Merle Davies who were both well liked in Oregon. The interview ends in the middle of a conversation. The voices are clearly audible throughout the recording. There is a full transcript attached with penciled-in corrections.
Part one of an audio recording of an oral history of Elva Rossi and her life in Beaverton, Oregon, recorded on October 26, 1982. Rossi tells the story of how her family ended up in Oregon, starting with her grandparents on each side of her family. Her father’s side was originally from Italy and moved to Oregon in about 1870. They had a small farm on which her father had to work, forcing him to quit school after only attending it for four years. Rossi’s mother’s family is scattered throughout states across the country, but she and her parents ended up in the area of Portland, Oregon, in about 1888. Rossi’s parents likely met at school or at a community social event since they both lived in the same area. They married in 1894 and built their big house in 1912. Rossi describes each of her parents, August and Hattie Rossi, and their personalities as well as their little farm in Beaverton that Rossi grew up on. Rossi’s father died in March, 1927, leaving his business to be run by Hattie through the Great Depression. Hattie found other ways to make money also by renting out bedrooms. Rossi’s current house that she is living in was built in 1962 and she’s lived in it since. She finishes with commenting a bit about her two brothers. The voices are clearly audible throughout the recording. There is a full transcript attached with penciled-in corrections.
An audio recording of an oral history of Paul Knepp and his wife about their life in Beaverton, Oregon, recorded on November 7, 1981. Born in different places, they both grew up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and eventually married each other there. They moved to Beaverton, Oregon, on February 29, 1936, after only a year of marriage. Paul attended University of Oregon and Mrs. Knepp went to Teacher College in order to teach the primary grades for a few years before she married. In Beaverton, they did some amateur farming until Paul got a job in Hillsboro doing labor. During World War Two, Paul was too old to join the service so he supported his country by working at the shipyards while Mrs. Knepp stayed home and raised their two sons, who both eventually became teachers. Mrs. Knepp started working for Beaverton School District in 1955 doing office and librarian work and stayed there until 1973 when she retired. After the shipyards, Paul worked for an accounting firm, then was an office manager, and finished with smaller, freelance jobs in accounting until he retired in 1971. Paul also served as a chairman on city council and then as mayor of Beaverton in either 1948 or 1949. They talk a lot about the city of Beaverton and how it has changed over the years that they have lived there. Form the people to the department stores that have come and gone, Beaverton has made steady progress and growth until it was a distinct city, separate from Portland. The Beaverton identity changed from a small town to a bigger city with its own sub-communities with their own identities within. They finish with acknowledging that there are bad things about Beaverton, but comparing it to other places, they believe that Beaverton is a great place to live. Paul and Mrs. Knepp go back and forth answering the questions and adding to each others’ answers. There is a full transcript of the interview attached with penciled corrections made throughout.
An audio recording of an oral history of Alfred Austin Wooden about her life in Beaverton, Oregon recorded on October 6, 1982. Her parents grew up and were married in Wisconsin, but when her mother inherited a farm in Oregon, the family moved. Wooden briefly describes the childhood of each of her parents and the amount of school that they attended. At first, Wooden’s father worked carpentry in Beaverton to provide for the family, but after moving to the farm, they lived and provided for themselves there. Wooden was born on the farm in Oregon and remembers her childhood well including going to school and doing chores. Her father took care of her a lot since her mother was a great seamstress and left for weeks at a time to stay at other families’ homes in order to sew. Wooden mentions a couple families in particular that her mother sewed for: the Walkers and the Weeds. The Walkers lived in Beaverton and had Walker Road named after them. Wooden remembers the great mourning that occurred when Grandpa Walker died. The Weeds had their own farm in Beaverton where they raised irises and peonies and held Open Houses to have them viewed. Wooden describes what the neighborhood looked like when she was young and who lived there, including some Chinese workers. Wooden recounts how traditions like Christmas were celebrated, the importance of religion, and in particular, a doll that she got for Christmas when she was six years old and still had at the time of the recording. The voices are clearly audible in the recording. Attached is a full transcript of the interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Dora Stipe and her life in Beaverton, Oregon, recorded on October 27, 1982. Stipe had moved to Beaverton in 1911 with her sister, Iva, from Nebraska after visiting during the 1909 Fair in Seattle, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. Both Stipe and her sister taught at the Beaverton Grade School for seven years. Her sister taught first and second grade while Stipe taught third and fourth grade. Stipe talks about what they did for fun including movies, dances, tennis club, and going to Portland to see plays and shop for clothes. Stipe describes her years teaching and how she enjoyed it very much putting on different after school programs including plays for the parents. But, she did not return to it after she got married. Stipe and Iva got married at a double wedding in 1917. Iva married a contractor named Robert Summers. Mr. Stipe had moved to Beaverton in 1911, first working as a master plumber and then as a Ford dealer. They met at a Tennis Club Dance and after marrying, Stipe worked in her husband’s office. Her husband’s business grew well over the years. Stipe has lived in the same house since 1923 when they built it. There are sounds of a clock chiming once in the background, but otherwise, the voices are clearly audible. There is a full transcript attached with a summary of topics discussed in front.
An audio recording of an oral history of Ivy Livermore Bany and her account of life in Beaverton from the early 1900s through the present. The audio is very faint in places and difficult to hear. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Ivy Livermore Bany and her account of life in Beaverton from the early 1900s through the present. The audio is very faint in places and difficult to hear. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Clarence Buffam of his life in Beaverton, Oregon, recorded on October 28, 1982. Buffam came to Beaverton in 1941 and transferred from the Portland post office to the one in Beaverton in 1943. Eventually, he was promoted all the way to up to First Assistant Post Master and stayed there until he retired in June, 1970. Buffam was involved in the Boy Scouts, serving as scoutmaster for a couple years. He also volunteered for the fire department. Since he lived the closest to the department, he had the fire phone at his house. Buffam describes the drills and activities for training, who was hired, what the pay per fire was, and how the wellhouse was the most important thing to save in a fire. He remembers what Beaverton was like then and what his job at the post office entailed. Buffam states that the growth of the post office matches the growth of the town because the higher population demands greater postal services. The voices in the recording are clearly audible. Attached is a full transcript of the interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Dale Scheller about his life in Beaverton, Oregon, during the Korean War. Scheller was born in Portland and grew up in Gresham, Oregon, on a dairy farm of 180 acres. By the start of the war, Scheller was married with a few kids and had a well-established dairy farm that was selling milk along nine different routes. Scheller describes what Hillsboro looked like in the 1950s, specifically regarding the school districts, the population growth, and the building of roads. He remembers the attitude toward the government being very patriotic and people wanting to take care of themselves. Scheller talks about how Communism restricted freedom and was not the right thing, but in giving a couple examples, how it could be better for some countries. Though being a farm boy, Scheller was aware of many things happening surrounding the war. He volunteered with the civil defense of the area in doing night watches on the grand stand. He knew people who fought in the war, but doesn’t remember any bomb drills or shelters in the area. Scheller comments on the different values that were held over the generations between the Korean War and the Vietnam War and how that affected how the wars were received. The biggest difference between the 1950s and contemporary to the recording for Scheller was the administration and how it was being run. Scheller finishes with talking about how the community has grown and how he would like the see the livability of the agricultural area continue to grow. Voices in the recording are clearly audible and there are random background noises such as a clock chiming and a phone ringing. The interview took place as part of the Century High School oral histories project.
An audio recording of an oral history of Jane Dykslag of her life in Beaverton, Oregon, during the Korean War recorded on May 30, 2000. Dykslag was in her late twenties during the Korean War living in Washington County. Prior to the war, she was teaching primary grades at Skyline School in Multnomah County, but during the war, she switched to substitute teaching. She recounts doing bomb drills with her students, but does not remember any bomb shelters in the area. There was a lot of talk about communism then, but personally, Dykslag did not fear it. She describes how they were trying to recruit more people to join the war effort and was afraid of her husband having to go when he had already fought in the South Pacific. Outside of the communism issue, Dykslag believes that people trusted the US government more back then than now because today, there is more talk of politics in the media. The interview occurred as a part of the Century High School oral histories project. The voices in the recording are clearly audible.
