Archives West Finding Aid
Table of Contents
Soap Creek Valley History Project Oral Histories, 1978-1995
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- OSU Research Forests.
- Title
- Soap Creek Valley History Project Oral Histories
- Dates
- 1978-1995 (inclusive)19781995
1989-1995 (bulk)19891995 - Quantity
- 1 cubic foot, including 20 audiocassettes, (2 boxes)
- Collection Number
- OH 06
- Summary
- The Soap Creek Valley History Project Oral Histories consist of oral histories conducted primarily in 1989-1991 by the Oregon State University Research Forests to better understand the history, ecology, and culture of the Soap Creek Valley in Benton County, Oregon.
- Repository
-
Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR
97331-4501
Telephone: 5417372075
Fax: 5417378674
scarc@oregonstate.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Additional Reference Guides
-
Preliminary container list available online.
- Languages
- English
Historical NoteReturn to Top
The Soap Creek Valley History Project was initially authorized in 1989 by Dr. William Atkinson, Director of the Oregon State University Research Forests. Funding for the project was provided by the Oregon State University College of Forestry. The project included the transcription and publication of interviews conducted before 1989 as well as conducting new interviews which were published as a series of monographs.
All of the new interviews done in 1989-1991 were conducted by Bob Zybach, who also provided oversight for transcription and publication of the interviews. Zybach earned a BS in Forest Recreation Management in 1991; a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies in Forest Ecology, Cultural Anthropology, and Historical Archeology in 1999; and a Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences in 2003 -- all from Oregon State University.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The Soap Creek Valley History Project Oral Histories consist of oral histories conducted primarily in 1989-1991 by the Oregon State University Research Forests to better understand the history, ecology, and culture of the Soap Creek Valley in Benton County, Oregon. The collection consists of published transcripts of 12 interviews. Sound recordings (audiocassettes) for 5 of the interviews are also part of the collection. Transcript drafts, corrrespondence, and related materials are included.
Interviews with the following individuals are included: Wanda Marcks Cook, Donald Dickey, Paul M. Dunn, Lorna Grabe, Eugene Glender, James Hanish, Bessie Murphy, Charlie Olson, Velma Carter Rawie, John Jacob and Wilma Rohner, Edward Sekermestrovich, and Neil Vanderburg. Topics addressed in the interviews include farming and ranching, the Soap Creek School, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp at Camp Arboretum, and logging practices and saw milling. The interview with Velma Carter Rawie provides information about the town of Wells, Oregon, which was acquired in 1942 by the federal government as part of Camp Adair. Bessie Murphy's interview describes the native plants and flora of the Crescent Valley area of Benton County.
The interviews of Paul M. Dunn were conducted by Royal G. Jackson and Jennifer Lee in 1978-1979; Jackson also conducted, with Karen Thomas, the interview with Edward Sekermestrovich in 1980. The remainder of the interviews in the collection were done by Bob Zybach with the assistance of Judy Carlson, Marlene Finley, Phil Hays, Jan Meranda, Kevin Sherer, Angela Sondenaa, Neil Vanderburg, and George Wisner.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Preferred Citation
Soap Creek Valley History Project Oral Histories (OH 06), Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Processing Note
This collection is not fully processed; this guide is preliminary.
Acquisition Information
The published transcripts were transferred to the Archives by the Research Forests regularly as they were issued between 1991 and 1996. The sound recordings, as well as published transcripts and related materials, were part of the Horner Museum oral history collections until they were transferred to the Archives in 1996.
Related Materials
Bob Zybach used these oral histories for his 1999 MAIS thesis, Using Oral Histories to Document Changing Forest Cover Patterns: Soap Creek Valley, Oregon, 1500-1999, which is available online. A 2009 addition to the College of Forestry Records (RG 139) includes sound recordings of the interviews of Wanda Marcks Cook, Eugene Glender, James Hanish, Charlie Olson, John Jacob and Wilma Rohner, and Neil Vanderburg as well as additional oral history interviews and records of the Soap Creek Valley History Project. The Royal G. Jackson Papers include substantive documentary materials, photographs, and oral histories documenting the OSU Research Forests and Camp Arboretum. Additional oral histories of Benton County residents are part of the Oregon Pioneers Oral History Collection (OH 01). The Ernest Cook Photographic Collection (P 221) includes photographs that were published in the oral history Wanda Marcks Cook.
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Agriculture--Oregon--Benton County.
- Farm life--Oregon--Benton County.
- Forests and forestry--Oregon--Benton County.
- Logging--Oregon--Benton County.
- Women botanists--Oregon--Benton County.
Corporate Names
- Camp Arboretum (Benton County, Or.)--History.
- Civilian Conservation Corps (U.S.). Company 3503 (Benton County, Or.)--History.
- Soap Creek Schoolhouse Foundation--History.
Geographical Names
- Soap Creek Valley (Benton County and Polk County, Or.)--History.
- Wells (Or.)--History.
Form or Genre Terms
- Audiocassettes.
- Oral histories (document genres)
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Cook, Wanda Marcks. (interviewee)
- Dickey, Donald. (interviewee)
- Dunn, Paul M. (interviewee)
- Glender, Eugene. (interviewee)
- Grabe, Lorna. (interviewee)
- Hanish, James. (interviewee)
- Jackson, Royal G. (creator)
- Murphy, Bessie. (interviewee)
- Olson, Charlie. (interviewee)
- Rawie, Velma Carter. (interviewee)
- Rohner, John Jacob. (interviewee)
- Rohner, Wilma. (interviewee)
- Sekermestrovich, Edward. (interviewee)
- Vanderburg, Neil. (interviewee)
- Zybach, Bob. (creator)
Corporate Names
- OSU Research Forests. Soap Creek Valley History Project. (creator)
- Oregon State University. College of Forestry. (creator)
Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth
Nielsen.
2010
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
