Washington State University Libraries, Manuscripts, Archives and Special Collections
Cage 756
Whitman County Historical Society
Whitman County Historical Society Oral Histories Collection
1977-1984
7 Linear feet of shelf space
14 Boxes
The collection consists of 118 interviews created
between 1977 and 1984 with Whitman County, Washington elders.
Collection materials are inEnglish
Between November, 1977 and October, 1978, Margot Knight and Kay Kenedy Turner
conducted oral history interviews with early settlers of Whitman County for the
Whitman County Historical Society (then headed by Dr. Roy Chatters). The project was
supported by the Comprehensive Education and Training Act (CETA) Title VI. The
materials were subsequently used to create a KWSU radio series (Palouse in the Past
Tense) which had 75-80 episodes, four articles in the Bunchgrass Historian, and a
Readers Theatre playlet, Palouse Past. A few additional interviews were conducted by
others and subsequently added to this collection.
The collection consists of 118 interviews created between 1977 and 1984 with Whitman
County elders. Each interview can include some or all of the following: print
summaries of the interviews with transcripts, reel-to-reel tapes, and cassette
tapes. The cassette tapes are the original interviews, while the reel-to-reels were
created from those circa the early 1980s for preservation purposes. The physical
materials are primarily photocopies of originals held at WCHS.
Box 1 contains all printed materials, with three folders of administrative materials
followed by one folder for each interviewee. The administrative materials do include
a copy of Guide to the Whitman County, Washington oral history collection edited by
Margot H. Knight, and Palouse Past, adapted by Gail Miller and Margot H. Knight.
Each folder contains a permissions form, an interview summary, and may also contain
a transcript as well as other related materials.
Boxes 2-10 contain the reel-to-reel tapes. Many reel-to-reels contain multiple
interviews, preventing proper alphabetization in some cases. Further, in many cases
two half reel-to-reels are on separate reels, so what is listed as 1 full reel may
actually be two sides of consecutive reels.
Boxes 11-14 contain the cassette tapes.
It is strongly suggested that for subject access to these interviews you do keyword
searches within the electronic copy of Margot Knight's Guide
to the Whitman County, Washington oral history collection and then use
the container list below to determine the items' locations.
The materials in this collection are organized by item type and then alphabetically within each.
In 2015, MASC and WCHS digitized the non-restricted materials held here (effectively,
all the interviews save Yakima Canutt and Mina Haun), and those can be found online
in the Whitman
County Historical Society Oral Histories Digital Collection.
This collection is open and available for research use.
Copyright restrictions may apply. Reproduction of some items may be limited due to
conditions imposed by the interviewees at the time the tapes were created.
When this collection was donated to WSU in 1980, a number of restrictions were placed
upon its use by the Whitman County Historic Society, notably that use of each
interview must be tracked by paperwork, that permission must be granted by the WCHS
for any reproduction or use in publication, and that WCHS must be credited in any
use of the collection. Upon transfer to MASC in 2010, Ed Garretson of WCHS was
consulted, and with the approval of the WCHS Board it was agreed that given MASC's
greater security and its registration of users, all the WCHS-placed restrictions
upon access and reproduction could be lifted, save that WCHS should still be
credited in any sort of publication (use of the collection name, Whitman County
Historical Society Oral History Collection, in citations should prove sufficient).
In May, 2015, the board agreed to MASC hosting a digital collection of these. As
noted above, individual restrictions placed by interviewees still apply.
[Item Description]
Whitman County Historical Society Oral History Collection, 1977-1984 (Cage 756)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections,
Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
In 1980, the Whitman County Historical Society (WCHS) donated these materials to
Washington State University's Instructional Media Services (IMS) under a joint
agreement restricting access to and use of the materials in this collection.
In September of 2010, the materials (UA 2010-10) were moved from IMS (by then renamed
as Media, Materials, and Reserves, or MMR) to WSU's Manuscripts, Archives, and
Special Collections, and the access and use restrictions were removed.
This collection was processed from October to December, 2010, by University Archivist
Mark O'English with aid from graduate student Timothy Mace. In fall of 2014, a full
comparison to holdings at WCHS was conducted by Luke Sprague, with some supplemental
materials added and some corrections made.
A printed guide to the collection was published in 1980 by the Whitman County
Historical Society: Guide to the Whitman County, Washington oral history collection
/ edited by Margot H. Knight. Copies of this can be found in the WSU Libraries
stacks (F897.W6 G85x), in box 1 of this collection, and online.
The WSU campus performance of a 1980 play adapted from these, Palouse Past, was
videotaped, and can be found on a U-Matic tape in the Eastern Washington Historical
Media Collection, 1928-1987 (SC 13),
item 6. (The script is in in Folder 1.5 of this collection.)
Copies of all recordings are also available at the Whitman County Historical Society.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online
catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or
places should search the catalog using these headings.
Whitman County (Wash.) -- Biography
Whitman County (Wash.) -- History
Frontier and pioneer life -- Washington (State) -- Whitman County
Pioneers -- Washington (State) -- Whitman County
Washington (State)
Oral Histories
B. (Blair), Ruth
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
2
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Barron, Joe
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
2 cassette tapes.
5
0.5 reel-to-reel tape (with
'Heilsburg').
Bendixen, Hans
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
2
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Bennett, Elva
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
3 cassette tapes.
2
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Blair, Ruth
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
6
0.5 reel-to-reel tape (with
'Lange').
Blickenderfer, Charles
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
2 cassette tapes.
2
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Brandon, Minnie
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
4 cassette tapes.
2
2 reel-to-reel tapes.
Brosa, John
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
2
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Brown, Birdie
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
3 cassette tapes.
2
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Burgess, Eva
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
2
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Busch, Peter
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
2
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Butts, Barbara
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
2
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Camp, Cleaon (sp)
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
2
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Canutt, Yakima
Use Restrictions: No publication allowed. Restriction (copyright)
expires 5-25-2056.
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
Cassette tapes: missing (Oct.
2010).
2
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Chryst, Naomi
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
11
4 cassette tapes.
2
2 reel-to-reel tapes.
Cloaninger, Florence
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
2
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Codd, J Bernard
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
2 cassette tapes.
2-3
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Colyar, Lula (joint interview with Swift,
Alvin)
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary (filed with Swift, Alvin), no transcript.
14
Cassette tapes: see Swift,
Alvin.
9
Reel-to-reel tapes: see Swift,
Alvin.
Cram, Perry
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
11
3 cassette tapes.
3
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Crawford, Milton
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
2 cassette tapes.
3
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Curtis, Neita
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
3
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Dailey, Harry
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
4 cassette tapes.
3
2 reel-to-reel tapes.
Daily, Gertrude
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
3
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Darling, Bess
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
2 cassette tapes.
3
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Davis, Roy
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
6 cassette tapes.
3
4 reel-to-reel tapes.
Davison, Chink
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
2 cassette tapes.
3
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Delegans, Sophia
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
2 cassette tapes.
3
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Deutsch, Lenna
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
11
2 cassette tapes.
3
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Elkins, Grace
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
11
2 cassette tapes.
4
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Estes, Mildred
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
1 cassette tape.
4
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Farr, Roby
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11
2 cassette tapes.
4
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Fish, Frank (joint interview with McClung,
Agnes)
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
11-12
4 cassette tapes.
4
2 reel-to-reel tapes.
Gingrich, Edna
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
12
2 cassette tapes.
4
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Gladish, Oscar
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
1 cassette tape.
4
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Gosney, Ethel
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
2 cassette tapes.
4
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Gross, Engla
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
1 cassette tape.
4
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Gumm, Harry
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
5 cassette tapes.
4
2.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Guske, Henry (joint interview with Guske,
Joseph)
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
3 cassette tapes.
4
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Guske, Joseph (joint interview with Guske,
Henry)
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary (filed with Guske, Henry), no transcript.
12
Cassette tapes: see Guske,
Henry.
4
Reel-to-reel tapes: see Guske,
Henry.
Hagler, Pearl
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
12
1 cassette tape.
4
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Hanford, Anastasia
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
2 cassette tapes.
4-5
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Hardy, John Jr.
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
1 cassette tape.
5
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Harris, Seth
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
12
6 cassette tapes.
5
3 reel-to-reel tapes.
Haun, Mina
Use Restrictions: No publication without family permission. Restriction
expires 70 years after Mrs. Haun's death, or Nov. 2, 2064.
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
2 cassette tapes.
5
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Heilsburg, Harold
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
1 cassette tape.
5
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Henley, Helen
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
2 cassette tapes.
5
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Henley, John
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
Cassette tapes: missing (Oct.
2010).
5
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Hergert, Henry
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
3 cassette tapes.
5
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Hevel, Pauline
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
4 cassette tapes.
5
2 reel-to-reel tapes.
Hill, Carl (Bud)
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
1 cassette tape.
5
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Hinrichs, Max
1
Printed Materials.
Partial summary, no transcript.
12
3 cassette tapes.
Reel-to-reel tapes: missing (Oct.
2010).
Hodge, Grogan
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
3 cassette tapes.
5
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Horton, Worley
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
2 cassette tapes.
5
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Howard, Corrine
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
1 cassette tape.
6
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Hughes, Dave
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
2 cassette tapes.
6
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Hulett, Henry
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
1 cassette tape.
6
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Jacquot, Harley
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
12
2 cassette tapes.
6
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Johnson, Dorothy
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
Cassette tapes: missing (Oct.
2010).
6
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Johnston, Maude
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
12
1 cassette tape.
6
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Kenedy, Chauncey
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
12
3 cassette tapes.
6
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Kilpatrick, Una
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
12-13
2 cassette tapes.
6
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Kimball, Mildred
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
13
1 cassette tape.
6
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
King, Anna
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
1 cassette tape.
6
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Kinman, Ira
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
6
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Klemgard, Edwin
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
Cassette tapes: missing (Oct.
2010).
6
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Kriebel, Arthur
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
6
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Kriebel, Grace
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
7
1 reel-to-reel tape (with
'Martin').
Kunz, Eva
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
13
1 cassette tape.
8
0.5 reel-to-reel tape (with
'Schmick').
Lange, Derwin & Lelah
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
1 cassette tape.
6
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Lueck, Fred
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
6
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Magnetti, Chester
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
6
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Martin, Helen
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
7
1 reel-to-reel tape.
McClellan, Ethel
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
3 cassette tapes.
7
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
McClung, Agnes (joint interview with Fish,
Frank)
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary (filed with Fish, Frank), no transcript.
11-12
Cassette tapes: see Fish,
Frank.
4
Reel-to-reel tapes: see Fish,
Frank.
McEwen, Robert
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
13
3 cassette tapes.
7
2 reel-to-reel tapes.
McGreevy, Helen
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
13
5 cassette tapes.
7
2.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
McKinney, Roy
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
13
1 cassette tape.
7
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Meinhardt, Margarete
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
7
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Merry, Anna
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
1 cassette tape.
7
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Meyer, Leo
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
7
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Miller, Thelma
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
13
1 cassette tape.
7
0.5 reel-to-reel tape (with
'Nervig').
Mitchell, Dell
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
3 cassette tapes.
7
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Needham, Lola (joint interview with Needham,
Orville)
1
Printed Materials.
Partial summary (filed with Needham, Orville), no transcript.
13
Cassette tapes: see Needham,
Orville.
7
Reel-to-reel tapes: see Needham,
Orville.
Needham, Orville (joint interview with
Needham, Lola)
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
3 cassette tapes.
7
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Nervig, Harry
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
13
1 cassette tape.
7
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Olson, Fred
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
3 cassette tapes.
8
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Parker, James
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
13
3 cassette tapes.
8
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Reisenauer, Carl
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
8
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Richardson, Clara
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
8
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Richardson, Ruby
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
1 cassette tape.
8
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Rodeen, Henry
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
2 cassette tapes.
8
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Saboe, Jeanette
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
13
3 cassette tapes.
8
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Saylor, Julia
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
13-14
2 cassette tapes.
8
0.75 reel-to-reel tapes.
Schmick, Conrad
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
8
0.75 reel-to-reel tapes.
Schoeff, Jennie
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
1 cassette tape.
8
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Skeen, Ernest
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
8
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Smith, Henry
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
8
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Smith, William
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
8
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Stairet, Gladys
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
9
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Stapleton, Grace
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
Cassette tapes: missing (Oct.
2010).
9
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Stemm, Clarence
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
4 cassette tapes.
9
2 reel-to-reel tapes.
Stevick, Charles
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
9
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Stilson, Ethel
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
1 cassette tape.
9
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
St. John, Mary
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
3 cassette tapes.
8
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Swift, Alvin (joint interview with Colyar,
Lulu)
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
3 cassette tapes.
9
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Taylor, Naomi
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
1 cassette tape.
9
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Torgeson, Lenora
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
9
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Torrance, Max
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
9
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Van Tine, Thelma
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, partial transcript.
14
3 cassette tapes.
9
1.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Wahl, Tom
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
9
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Walters, Edward
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, full transcript.
14
6 cassette tapes.
9
3 reel-to-reel tapes.
Webb, Arthur
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
10
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Weitz, Anna
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
1 cassette tape.
10
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
West, J.B.
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
2 cassette tapes.
5 & 8
1 reel-to-reel tape (with 'Hill' and
'Schmick').
Wieber, Joseph
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
1 cassette tape.
10
1 reel-to-reel tape.
Wieber, Walter
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
5 cassette tapes.
10
2.5 reel-to-reel tapes.
Williamson, Frank
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
1 cassette tape.
10
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.
Yackley, Nora
1
Printed Materials.
Full summary, no transcript.
14
1 cassette tape.
10
0.5 reel-to-reel tape.