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Hillman Lueddemann papers, 1903-1995

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Lueddemann, Hillman, 1895-1990
Title
Hillman Lueddemann papers
Dates
1903-1995 (inclusive)
1940-1986 (bulk)
Quantity
17.5 cubic feet, (27 document cases, 11 flat boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Collection Number
Coll 14
Summary
Papers of a businessman and civic leader of Portland, Oregon, including materials related to McCormick Steamship Company, Pope & Talbot, Consolidated Freightways, Portland General Electric Company, Navajo Forest Products Industries, and the Oregon Department of Commerce. Papers include correspondence, scrapbooks, clippings, photographs, financial records, and ephemera.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided by the family of Hillman Lueddemann.
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Historical Note

Born in Tuscumbia, Alabama, in 1895, Hillmann Lueddemann (known as "Lueddie") came to California as a child with his family around 1900. His father, Frederick A. Lueddemann, eventually became a banker in San Jose. His mother was Delia Hillman Lueddmann. Hillman worked for a time as a sports writer for the San Jose Mercury, and came to Portland, Oregon, around 1915, taking a job with his uncle Max Lueddemann in a realty firm. After serving with distinction with the U.S. forces in France during World War I, he returned to San Francisco, where he married Gertrude Davis (1893-1949), daughter of California pioneer Henry Laurens Davis. Moving back to Portland with his wife in 1919, Lueddemann began his career in business as a dock clerk with the McCormick Steamship Company in 1920. He rose quickly in the firm, which was eventually absorbed by Pope & Talbot, and operated the company's sawmills at St. Helens, Oregon, and Port Gamble, Washington. He built the company's mill at Oakridge, Oregon, served as vice-president and general manager of the Puget Sound Mill division, and later became manager of the steamship division and president of company's subsidiary, the Columbia River Stevedoring Company. Finally he was appointed general manager of all Pacific northwest operations in 1945. During these years Lueddemann was also involved in a wide variety of trade associations, including the Inland Waterways Association, the West Coast Lumberman's Assocation, and the Portland Steamship Operators Association. Later in his career he sat on the boards of directors of Pope and Talbot, Portland General Electric Company, Consolidated Freightways, Oregon Mutual Savings Bank, the Delta Park Recreation Commission, the Oregon Portland Cement Company, and Lewis & Clark College.

After the death of his wife Gertrude in 1949, Lueddemann married Dorothy Patterson in 1951. She was the widow of Phillip W. Patterson, son of Oregon Governor Isaac L. Patterson, and the mother of Barbara Patterson Jacobsen and Phillip Patterson.

Hillmann Lueddemann retired from Pope and Talbot in 1960, but in 1963 Governor Mark Hatfield appointed him to head the newly created Oregon Department of Commerce. The Department, which combined the fucntions of numerous agencies, oversaw a host of activities, including auctioneers, banking, collection agencies, corporations, economic development, engineering examiners, pilot commissioners, real estate, and watch and clock makers. Lueddemann served as head of the agency until 1975 and was credited with strong leadership and innovative management.

Around 1968, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs appointed Lueddemann to serve on the seven person management board of Navajo Forest Products Industries, headquartered at Navajo, New Mexico. His work with the board included involvement in the establishment of a plant for manufacturing particle board.

Lueddemann's civic involvement was monumental. He was Chairman of the Portland Port Development Commission, President of the Portland Chamber of Commerce, President of the Portland Rose Festival Association (for two terms, 1934-1935), Chairman of the Oregon Territorial Centennial Commission, board member of the Riverview Cemetery Association, President of the Portland Rotary Club, and Finance Chairman for the Mark Hatfield campaign for governor in 1962. In the mid 1970s he was appointed to the Retired Executives Advisory Committee of the Oregon Public Utilities Commission and was involved in the Commission's study of commercial aviation in the state. In 1948 Lueddemann was honored as "Portland's First Citizen" by the Portland Board of Realtors.

Hillman and Gertrude Lueddemann had two children, Jane (Mrs. Spencer Ehrman, Sr.), and Hillman Lueddemann, Jr. His second wife Dorothy, died in 1978.

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Content Description

Hillman Lueddemann's papers primarily document his activities in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, with a small number of items from earlier periods. Although there are some personal and family materials, the bulk of the collection is related to business and civic concerns.

Documenting Lueddemann's early years are materials relating to his service in World War I, inlcuding phtographs, service records, and a diary. There are also a few photographs of Lueddemann in his youth, many with family members in San Jose. For the period of the 1920s and 1930s there is very little documentation, aside from a photograph album dating from the mid-1930s and related to the activities of the McCormick Steamship Company. This includes a number of photographs of the 1934 dock strike in Portland. Also from the 1930s are several scrapbooks, one of which covers Lueddemann's work with the Portland Rose Festival.

The series "Correspondence" contains mostly personal letters, many of which are congratulatory in nature. There are substantial files of correspondence with Senator Mark Hatfield and Governor Tom McCall. Correspondence with Harrison Spangler relates to the possibility of Lueddeman's candidacy for the U.S. Senate in 1961. Of note within the subseries "Family Correspondence" are letters Lueddemann sent to his father in the 1960s and 1970s. Correspondence with Lee Ebersole regarding the financing of Mark Hatfield's 1962 campaign for governor of Oregon can be found in the series "General Files" under "Hatfield for Governor campaign."

The largest series concerns Lueddemann's service as head of the Oregon Department of Commerce. Although these are not the actual records of the Department (which are held by the Oregon State Archives), they include a number of files labeled "Personal Correspondence," which contain many letters related to the workings of the Commerce Department and business enterprises within the state.

Several series within the collection document Lueddemann's service on the boards of various companies and organizations. The records relating to Pope & Talbot mostly date from the late 1960s through the 1980s and cover the period when Lueddemann sat on the firm's board of directors, after his retirement from the company, including information on Port Gamble, Washington. However, there are several files from the 1950s concerning the case of Frank Chapman, which involved extortion and organized crime in relation to a land transaction in Washington State. The files for Navajo Forest Products Industries include details of the company's project for building a particle board factory. The series for Portland General Electric Company includes records from a board committee that studied the firm's retirement plans, and documents regarding the licensing of the Trojan nuclear plant. Files on Consolidated Freightways include records of the board's Compensation Committee. A scrapbook on the Delta Park Commission, 1963, documents the effort to bring the Olympic Games to Portland.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any use of reproductions. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use of reproductions may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright holders.

Preferred Citation

Hillman Lueddemann papers, Coll 14, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series:

  • Series A: Biographical materials, 1917-1990
  • Series B: Correspondence, 1917-1990
  • Series C: Commerce Department files, 1954-1975
  • Series D: Consolidated Freightways files, 1960-1973
  • Series E: Navajo Forest Products Industries files, 1958-1982
  • Series F: Pope & Talbot files, 1917-1987
  • Series G: Portland General Electric files, 1960-1977
  • Series H: Public Utilities Commission, Retired Executives Advisory Committee, 1972-1978
  • Series "I": General files, 1903-1995
  • Series J: Photographs, 1916-1985
  • Series K: Financial records, 1973-1986

Acquisition Information

Acquired 2008, Library Accession 26439.

Separated Materials

World War I artifacts received with the collection were transferred to the Artifact Collections of the Oregon Historical Society. These were: 2 combat helmets (1 U.S., 1 German); 2 U.S. flags; uniform; medal; and various pieces of equipment.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Collection processed and finding aid prepared by Geoffrey B. Wexler
2008

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