Collection is open for research.
Sixty-six photographs of the shipyard fire were the gift of Ted Cox, July 1983 (Lib. Acc 16450, Photo Acc. 983D082); one album and two prints were the gift of Mrs. Robert R. Budrow, June 1990 (Lib. Acc. 19957, Photo Acc. 199D064).
The Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, also referred to as Oregonship, was the largest of three shipyards established in the Pacific Northwest by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser during World War II. The shipyard opened in 1941 and was located on the Willamette River near the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. It initially built merchant ships for the British government, then began to produce them for the U.S. Maritime Commission. The first Northwest-built Liberty ship, a type of vessel used to transport troops and cargo, launched from the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation on September 27, 1941. Over the course of the war, the shipyard built 330 Liberty ships, as well as Victory ships and attack transports. The shipyard ceased operations shortly after the end of World War II.
Source: "Kaiser Shipyards" by Gordon Oliver, Oregon Encyclopedia,
Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation photographic collection, Org. Lot 686, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Collection includes photograph albums that were individually designated as Album 103, Album 326, Album 388, Album 389, Album 430, Album 637, Album 846, and Album 924. Album 103, Album 326, and 2 folders of loose photographs were previously part of Org. Lot 154, the Oregon Shipbuilding Collection fire photographs collection, which was incorporated into this collection in January 2016.
Collection of black and white photographs, circa 1942-1945, assembled by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library from a variety of sources. The images depict the shipyard, workers, and ships of the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation in Portland, Oregon, and include an album on the all-woman launch of the S.S. Nehalem. Also included are images of fireboats and crews fighting a fire at the shipyard on August 30, 1945.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.