Oral history interview with Margaret L. Furrow

Collection

Identifier: SR1071

Staff Only

Oral history interview with Margaret L. Furrow

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Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Margaret L. Furrow was conducted by Bill Koen at Furrow’s home near Odell, Oregon, from August 22 to September 26, 1985. The interview was conducted in two sessions.

In the first interview session, conducted on August 22, 1985, Furrow discusses her family background, particularly regarding her grandfather, Peter Mohr, who owned the first commercial orchard in Hood River, Oregon. She describes daily life on the family orchard and dairy farm in Hood River. She talks about working as a fruit packer for Nakamura Orchards.

In the second interview session, conducted on September 26, 1985, Furrow shares her observations of the treatment of the Japanese community in Hood River during World War II, and describes racial discrimination in Hood River. She revisits the topic of daily life on her family's orchard and dairy farm in Hood River, and talks about the gendered division of labor. She describes her work picking and packing fruit for Nakamura Orchards. She talks about the ranch she ran with her husband, William Henry Furrow, and discusses selling their fruit through Diamond Fruit Growers Inc. She discusses the future of small farms in Oregon. She closes the interview by talking about her involvement in the Hood River County Historical Society.

Dates

Creation: 1985 August 22-September 26

Creator

Furrow, Margaret L. (Margaret Lucille), 1913-2001 (Interviewee, Person)
Koen, William (Interviewer, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright for this interview is held by the estate of Margaret L. Furrow. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Biographical note

Margaret Lucille Furrow, nee Mohr, was born in Hood River, Oregon, in 1913. Her grandfather, Peter Mohr, had the first commercial orchard in the area. In the 1930s, she and William Harry Furrow were married; they later had nine children. She worked as a fruit picker and fruit packer for Nakamura Orchards, Inc., in Hood River. She died in 2001.

Extent

.1 Cubic Feet (5 audiocassettes (4 hr., 18 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Margaret L. Furrow conducted by Bill Koen from August 22 to September 26, 1985. Furrow worked as a fruit picker and fruit packer for Nakamura Orchards, Inc. in Hood River, Oregon.