Collection is open for research.
Gift of the estate of Patrick Rogers, April 2006 (Lib. Acc. 25958).
Phillip M. Gayeski was born in 1905 in Baltimore, Maryland, and was living in Portland, Oregon, by 1940. He worked as a merchant marine from the 1920s to the 1940s, and then was a longshore worker in Portland for 25 years. He was a member of International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) Local 8.
Gayeski was married three times: First to Ethel E. Wilson, whom he married in 1938 and divorced in 1941; then to Dorothy M. Hollenkamp, whom he married in 1950 and divorced in 1953; and finally to Lela L. Jones (1913-1993), whom he married in 1954. Gayeski died in 1979.
Sources: Vital and census records on Ancestry.com; obituaries in the Oregonian and Oregon Journal, March 8, 1979.
Negatives are not available for direct access. Contact library staff for assistance.
Coll 942, Phillip M. Gayeski papers, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
The collection consists of the papers of Phillip M. Gayeski, who worked as a merchant marine and later was a longshore worker in Portland, Oregon. A significant portion of the collection reflects his involvement with labor unions, including three picket cards and a meal card from the Sailors' Union of the Pacific; a picket card and two membership books from International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union (ILWU) Local 8; a picket card from the Committee for Maritime Unity; and a membership book from the International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers, Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America. Other materials in the collection are a 1949 indictment against multiple people, including Gayeski, for their involvement in a violent demonstration in The Dalles, Oregon; two newspaper clippings, one of which concerns Gayeski's first divorce; a postcard from Gayeski's mother; and photographs, both prints and negatives. Photographs include images of Gayeski, either alone or with others; and images of ships, docks, and piers.
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.