Oregon Historical Society Research Library
Grace Olivier Peck photographs collection
Peck, Grace Olivier, 1898-1979
Org. Lot 105
0.9 cubic feet
2 document cases
circa 1890-1977
Photographs of and relating to Grace Olivier Peck (1898-1979), who served in the Oregon House of Representatives for more than 20 years. The collection includes photographs documenting the Olivier family, Peck's life and legislative career, and her friends and associates.
English
Collection is open for research.
Photo Acc. 979D139.
The collection is arranged in three series:
- Series 1: Grace Olivier Peck's personal and family photos, circa 1890-1975
- Subseries 1.1: People, circa 1890-1975
- Subseries 1.2: Locations, circa 1915-1941
- Subseries 1.3: Activities, 1908-circa 1920
- Subseries 1.4: Riverboats and ships, circa 1915-1958
- Subseries 1.5: Grace Olivier Peck photograph album, 1919
- Series 2: Grace Olivier Peck's political career, 1949-1977
- Series 3: Other images and printed material, 1908-circa 1960
Grace Olivier Peck was born in Portland, Oregon, to Jules Olivier and Geneva Young in 1898. After her parents separated, she spent her childhood with her mother and at her grandfather's home in the Goose Hollow area of Portland. Many members of the extended family lived in Michigan. Peck's father was a steamboat pilot, and before his retirement in 1921, he sailed the Tanana and Yukon Rivers out of Fairbanks, Alaska. Her younger brother, Arthur, also lived and worked in Alaska. After graduating from Chapman School, Lincoln High School, and Behnke-Walker Business College, Peck worked as a legal secretary and stenographer for Portland attorneys Latourette and Latourette. She was then employed as a timekeeper in the Vancouver shipyards and served as shop steward for the office employees' union. She also worked in the real estate industry.
Peck married salesman Vernon Maxwell and lived for several years in San Francisco and Oakland, California. They returned to Portland in 1927 and separated in 1930. In 1936, she married Raymond Peck, a family friend. With her father, they moved into the house at 2324 SE Ivon Street, which Jules Olivier had purchased in 1914. Later, it was designated the Grace Peck House. The Pecks separated in 1941, and Grace Peck did not remarry.
Peck was first elected to the Oregon State Legislature in 1948 and served until 1950; she was elected again in 1956 and served through 1976. As a state legislator, Peck focused on improving conditions for disabled, poor, and incarcerated people, and an addition to the Women's Correctional Institute in Salem was named in her honor. She was defeated in the 1976 Democratic primary by W. Rod Monroe, who based his campaign mainly upon her age.
Peck was active in patriotic and Catholic groups, such as the Catholic Daughters of America and Ladies of the Grand Army of the Republic. She suffered an incapacitating stroke in 1977, and she died in 1979.
The collection was purchased by Ron Brentano and Susan Seyl at the sale of the Grace Peck estate.
Grace Olivier Peck photographs collection, Org. Lot 105, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Other materials at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library relating to Grace Olivier Peck include a collection of her papers, designated Mss 2503, and a memorial book, "A Sense of Grace," that was published in 1981.
The photographs in this collection were taken by and or relate to Grace Olivier Peck and the Olivier family from approximately 1890 through 1977. A notable part of the collection documents Grace Peck's service in the Oregon House of Representatives, 1948-1976, but the bulk of the photographs consist of portraits and snapshots of friends and family members, including soldiers and home-front activities during World War I. Locations represented include Portland, Canyonville, Seaside, and Zigzag, Oregon, as well as Alaska, and Washington state. Activities represented include blacksmithing, fishing, logging, photography, swimming, and Elks celebrations, primarily in the 1910s and 1920s. There are many images depicting the interiors and exteriors of steamboats and ships. The collection also includes three photographs of Charles Lindbergh, one of which was taken during a 1927 speech he delivered in Portland, and one 1967 photograph of Grace Peck and Ronald Reagan. In addition to photographic prints, the collection contains a small quantity of printed material and negatives.
Photographers represented in this collection include many from Portland, Oregon, as well as other places. They include, but are not limited to, Bruno Art Studio, David Perry Evans, Gladys Gilbert, Arvid D. Leroy, Patrick J. O'Connell, Roy J. Peterson, and William B. James.
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.
Peck, Grace Olivier, 1898-1979--Photographs
Evans, David Perry
Gilbert, Gladys
James, William B.
Leroy, Arvid D.
Peterson, Roy J.
Oregon. Legislative Assembly--Photographs
Bruno Studios (Portland, Or.)
Olivier family--Photographs
Portland (Or.)--Photographs
Seaside (Or.)--Photographs
Canyonville (Or.)--Photographs
Zigzag (Or.)--Photographs
Women legislators--Oregon--Photographs
Soldiers--United States--Photographs
World War, 1914-1918--Oregon--Photographs
Steamboats--Northwest, Pacific--Photographs
Women
Politics and Politicians
Photographs
Home and Family
Oregon
photographs
photograph albums
Grace Olivier Peck's personal and family photos
Series 1
1890-1975
People
Subseries 1.1
circa 1890-1975
Arranged first by last name, where identified, and then by subject, where unidentified.
Abernatha, Liona
circa 1934
1
1
Abernatha, Minnie
circa 1922
1
2
Clark, Verne
circa 1920-1955
1
3
Equi, Dr. Marie
undated
1
4
The Grimes Family
1915
1
5
Harris, John
circa 1925
1
6
Lindbergh, Charles
1924
1927
1
7
Olivier, Albert
circa 1895-1915
1
8
Olivier, Arthur
circa 1907-circa 1960
1
9
Olivier, Bruneo
circa 1940
1
10
Olivier, Jules
circa 1900-1933
1
11
Peck, Grace and Olivier, Arthur
1904-circa 1914
1
12
Peck, Grace
1905-1909
1
13
Peck, Grace
1914-1919
1
14
Peck, Grace
1925-1928
1
15
Peck, Grace
1930-1939
1
16
Peck, Grace
circa 1945
1
17
Peck, Grace
circa 1950-1959
1
18
Peck, Grace
circa 1960-circa 1969
1
19
Peck, Grace
circa 1975
1
20
Philbin, Evangeline
1962
1
21
Simons, M.M.
1919
1
22
Simonsen, Arthur
1928
1
23
Weaver, Buck
circa 1930
1
24
Williams, Vernon
circa 1921
circa 1927
1
25
Young, Geneva
circa 1895-circa 1919
1
26
People identified by first names only
circa 1910-circa 1936
1
27
Soldiers
circa 1917-circa 1927
1
28
Unidentified people--Children
circa 1900
1
29
Unidentified people--Children
1910-1920
1
30
Unidentified people--Children
1933-1937
1
31
Unidentified people--Children
1943-1949
1
32
Unidentified people--Children
1957
1
33
Unidentified people--Couples
circa 1900
1
34
Unidentified people--Couples
circa 1915
1
35
Unidentified people--Couples
circa 1921
1
36
Unidentified people--Couples
1933-1939
1
37
Unidentified people--Groups
circa 1910-circa 1940
1
38
Unidentified people--Groups
1959-1973
1
39
Unidentified people--Men
circa 1890
1
40
Unidentified people--Men
circa 1915
1
41
Unidentified people--Men
circa 1920-1926
1
42
Unidentified people--Men
circa 1932-1937
1
43
Unidentified people--Men
circa 1940-1948
1
44
Unidentified people--Men
circa 1950-1955
1
45
Unidentified people--Women
circa 1900-1905
1
46
Unidentified people--Women
circa 1910-1919
1
47
Unidentified people--Women
circa 1920-1928
1
48
Unidentified people--Women
circa 1930-1939
1
49
Unidentified people--Women
circa 1940-1946
1
50
Unidentified people--Women
circa 1955
1
51
Locations
Subseries 1.2
circa 1915-1941
Alaska
1924-1941
2
1
Oregon--Canyonville
circa 1915
2
2
Oregon--Portland
1916
circa 1937
2
3
Oregon--Portland--Grace Peck House
circa 1920
2
4
Oregon--Seaside
1911-1919
2
5
Oregon--Zigzag
circa 1915
2
6
Oregon--Unidentified locations--Buildings
circa 1915
2
7
Washington--Schools
1934
2
8
Activities
Subseries 1.3
1908-circa 1920
Blacksmithing
undated
2
9
Elks Lodge
circa 1920
2
10
Fishing
undated
2
11
Horses
1908
2
12
Logging
undated
2
13
Photography
undated
2
14
Riverboats and ships
Subseries 1.4
circa 1915-1958
General
circa 1935
2
15
Bailey Gatzert
undated
2
16
Clair
circa 1958
2
17
Harvest Queen
undated
2
18
Hassalo
undated
2
19
T.J. Potter
undated
2
20
Swimming
circa 1915
2
21
Grace Olivier Peck photograph album
Subseries 1.5
1919
2
31
Contains photographs of Grace Olivier Peck, as well as various family members and friends, soldiers, and ships.
Grace Olivier Peck's political career
Series 2
1949-1977
Campaign photos
1965
circa 1975
2
22
Grace Peck with Oregon governors
circa 1958-1977
2
23
Includes photographs of Mark Hatfield, Robert Holmes, Tom McCall, and Bob Straub, as well as Vera Katz.
Grace Peck with Ronald Reagan
1967
2
24
Grace Peck with Eleanor Roosevelt
1959
2
25
Grace Peck with Mildred Schwabe
circa 1975
2
26
Grace Peck with Senator Marie Wilcox
circa 1949
2
27
Grace Peck--Oregon Legislature
1957-1967
2
28
Includes photographs of Representative Roy Fitzwater, Representative Katherine Musa, and Senator Corbett.
Grace Peck--Oregon Legislature
circa 1970-1975
2
29
Grace Peck--Oregon Legislature, color
circa 1972
2
30
Other images and printed material
Series 3
1908-circa 1960
Unidentified images
undated
2
32
Postcards
1908
2
33
Miscellaneous notes
undated
2
34
Miscellaneous reproductions
undated
2
35
Metal plate -- Grace Peck
circa 1960
2
36
Negatives for selected images
1914-1935
undated
2
37