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Identifier
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PUA_MS166_003
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Title
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Don Skinner oral history recording
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Description
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Don Skinner oral history interview on the Gay Nineties and Barbershop Ballad Contest, recorded June 19, 2025 at the Friends of Historic Forest Grove Old Train Station Museum in Forest Grove, Oregon. Born in 1948, Skinner grew up in Forest Grove and served in the Vietnam war as a Photographic Laboratory Specialist in the Army before working for and retiring from Tektronix. He and his wife Cheryl are responsible for putting together the Old Train Station Museum as it is today. Elle Griego, the interviewer, was a History and French undergraduate student at Pacific University from 2022-2026.
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In the interview, Skinner shares his memories of the festival and contest. He recounted his childhood at Harvey Clark grade school, where students learned and performed Gay Nineties songs; the festival's attractions, including the Boot Hill Gang and traveling amusement park rides; and the festival's decline in the 1970s and 1980s, attributing it to changes in community interest. Skinner also discusses his involvement with Friends of Historic Forest Grove and the Old Train Station Museum.
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The Gay Nineties was an annual festival in Forest Grove, Oregon, centered around a theme of nostalgia for the 1890s decade. The event, which ran from 1947 through the 1990s, featured a parade downtown, residents dressing up in 1890s-themed costumes for the celebrations, local businesses decorating their window displays, and the crown jewel of the event, the Original All-Northwest Barbershop Ballad Contest, which earned Forest Grove the nickname “Ballad Town U.S.A.”
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This is one of a collection of oral history interviews on the Gay Nineties Festival and the Barbershop Ballad Contest at the Pacific University Archives. This recording is accompanied by a transcript, which was made through AI in 2025 with manual corrections.
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Date: Year(s)
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2025
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Date: Display
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June 19, 2025
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Extent
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1 video file (55 min.)
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Copyright
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http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
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Contributor
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Griego, Elle
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Format
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MP4
