View XML QR Code

Eugene E. Snyder papers, 1862-2011

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Snyder, Eugene E. (Eugene Edmund)
Title
Eugene E. Snyder papers
Dates
1862-2011 (inclusive)
Quantity
3 cubic feet, (6 document cases and 3 card file boxes)
Collection Number
Mss 2936
Summary
Papers of a writer and historian of Portland, Oregon, including research materials, drafts, and manuscripts of his books on Portland and Oregon history.
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
Return to Top

Biographical Note

Historian Eugene Edmund Snyder was born in Portland on August 3, 1918, the only child of Aurora Colony descendant Edmund I. Snyder and artist Amanda (Tester) Snyder. He published more than a dozen nonfiction titles on Oregon history, world travels, and art. He is perhaps best known in research circles for his books on Portland history, including Portland Names and Neighborhoods: Their Historic Origins, Early Portland: Stump-Town Triumphant, We Claimed this Land: Portland’s Pioneers Settlers, and Skidmore’s Portland: His Fountain and its Sculptor. Additionally, he published three fiction novels.

Snyder edited his school newspaper before he graduated from Portland’s Washington High School in 1937. He copy wrote for The Oregonian for a short time before matriculating at Reed College. He served as a naval communications officer during World War II, then studied French at Laval University in Quebec. Later, he was employed for one year by Business Week as a writer, before attending the University of California Berkeley, earning a master’s degree in economics. After traveling for a year, he became an economist for a congressional committee before attending Oxford University for two years, graduating with another master’s degree in 1952.

Following his studies, Snyder taught economics at the University of British Columbia, Linfield College and Portland State University. During summers, he often returned to his “first love,” newspaper writing, as copy editor or reporter. He died July 15, 2010 and is buried in Aurora Community Cemetery.

Snyder’s mother, Amanda Snyder, was a prominent Oregon artist for more than 40 years. Mostly self-taught, she is known for her paintings of birds, clowns, still life, dolls and barns, plus her abstract works. She published A Bookful of Birds, a collection of her drawings, in 1972. Her works can be found in the Oregon Historical Society, Portland Art Museum, Seattle Art Museum, Reed College, Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, Hallie Ford Museum of Art, and various private and corporate collections. She died in 1980 at the age of 85. Eugene Snyder also was a collector and promoter of his mother’s work and in 1998 succeeded in publishing Amanda’s Friends: Prints and Drawings by Amanda Snyder, American Artist, 1894-1980. Amanda Snyder's brother, Jefferson Tester (1899-1972), was also a well known Oregon artist.

Return to Top

Content Description

The bulk of the collection consists of research notes and publisher information (contracts, invoices, correspondence. etc.) for Eugene Snyder's various books. Four file folders hold story ideas for fiction and nonfiction books. A small portion consists of the promotional materials and marketing efforts for his mother Amanda Snyder’s art exhibitions and her book, Bookful of Birds. The next largest portion of the collection is his notes on various personal interests: genealogy (with a focus on Germany), religion/Christianity and UFOs. Included here is an abstract of title to a property on NE 40th Avenue between Thomson and Brazee in the Rossmere subdivision of Portland, with an original plat map. The “General Reference” section contains Snyder's notes, and occasional letters to/from literary people on books he had read or intended to read on a broad range of subjects. The collection also contains a small group of personal photographs and postcards, and an index file of personal and professional contacts.

Return to Top

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

Eugene E. Snyder papers, Mss 2936, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series:

  • Series A: Publication files
  • Series B: Reference and source files
  • Series C: Amanda Snyder materials
  • Series D: Story ideas
  • Series E: Genealogy files
  • Series F: General reference and miscellany

Acquisition Information

Acquired from the estate of Eugene E. Snyder, November 2010, Library Accession 27199

Separated Materials

A panorama of Portland, circa 1904, was transferred to the photograph collections, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Return to Top

Detailed Description of the Collection

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

Finding aid prepared by Brina Bolanz and Geoffrey B. Wexler
2011

CC0

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West