This oral history interview with Howard C. Stearns was conducted by Leon Speroff from January 21-23, 1980. The interview was conducted in two sessions.

In the first interview session, conducted on January 21, 1980, Stearns discusses his career as a member of the University of Oregon Medical School faculty, including other members of the faculty, running his own medical practice on the side, and his promotion to department chair in 1945. He also talks about his reasons for leaving the university in 1957. He then discusses his family background and early life in Portland, Oregon; his service in the Merchant Marines during World War I; and his experience studying entomology at Oregon State University, and medicine at the University of Oregon Medical School. He talks about practicing obstetrics and gynecology and describes some of the common procedures he conducted, including some graphic descriptions of childbirth.

In the second interview session, conducted on January 23, 1980, Stearns continues to discuss practicing obstetrics and gynecology. He talks about his service as chair of the of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Oregon Medical School. He then discusses his children, their careers, and their families. He closes the interview by talking about his involvement with Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland and teaching obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Oregon Medical School.