Oral history interview with Vera Prasilova Scott, 1990 April 7
Table of Contents
Overview of the Collection
- Interviewee
- Scott, Vera Prasilova, 1899-1996
- Title
- Oral history interview with Vera Prasilova Scott
- Dates
- 1990 April 71990-04-071990-04-07
- Quantity
- .1 cubic feet, (2 audiocassettes (2 hr., 4 min., 28 sec.) + transcript (48 pages) + 5 photographs (color, black and white))
- Collection Number
- SR 1450
- Summary
- Oral history interview with Vera Prasilova Scott conducted by Shirley Tanzer on April 7, 1990. Scott was an artist and photographer, and some of her work is held by the Portland Art Museum.
- 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
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
- Sponsor
- Digitization funded by the James F. Miller Endowment.
Biographical Note
Vera Prasilova Scott, nee Věra Prášilová, was born in Chrudim, now Vyoske Myto, Czech Republic, in 1899, in the era of the Hapsburg Empire. She studied photography with Frantisek Dritkol in Prague, then attended the Graphic Arts School of Munich in Germany. After earning her master's degree in photography, she returned to Prague and worked as a photographer. In 1924, she moved to New York City and studied at Columbia University. In 1925, she and Arthur F. Scott were married; they later had three children. The next year, the couple moved to Houston, Texas, and Vera Prasilova Scott opened a photography studio. In 1937, they moved to Portland, Oregon. She later studied art at the Corcoran Museum School in Washington, D.C., and at Portland State University. Some of her artworks are housed at the Portland Museum of Art, the Rice University Woodson Research Center, and the Museum of Czech Literature. She died in 1996.
Content Description
This oral history interview with Vera Prasilova Scott was conducted by Shirley Tanzer at Scott's home in Portland, Oregon, on April 7, 1990. In this interview, Scott discusses her family background and early life in Churdim, now known as Vyoske Myto, Czech Republic, and speaks at length about her education. She then talks about studying photography with Frantisek Dritkol in Prague and at the Graphic Arts School of Munich in Germany just after the end of World War I. She also talks about meeting Arthur F. Scott in Munich, describes inflation in Germany in 1922 and 1923, and talks about her experiences in New York City the next year, including meeting Arthur F. Scott again. She speaks about her marriage to Scott. She talks about living in Houston, Texas, about running a photography studio, and about her friendship with the family of Robert Autrey. She discusses studying drawing and sculpture at Portland State University and closes the interview by talking about her parents' deaths and the arrival of her sister, Nadja Munk, in the United States just before the outbreak of World War II.
Use of the Collection
Alternative Forms Available
Audio and transcript available online in OHS Digital Collections.
Preferred Citation
Oral history interview with Vera Prasilova Scott, by Shirley Tanzer, SR 1450, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Restrictions on Use
Copyright for this interview is held by the estate of Vera Prasilova Scott. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Administrative Information
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Artists--Oregon
- Czech Americans--Oregon
- Women photographers
Personal Names
- Scott, Arthur F.
- Scott, Vera Prasilova, 1899-1996
Geographical Names
- Germany--Economic conditions--1918-1945
Form or Genre Terms
- interviews
- oral histories (literary works)
Other Creators
-
Personal Names
- Tanzer, Shirley Blum (interviewer)
