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Oral history interview with Connie McCready

 Collection
Identifier: SR1148

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Connie McCready was conducted by Clark Hansen at McCready’s home in Portland, Oregon, from March 21 to July 5, 1994. In this interview, McCready discusses her family background and early life in Portland. She also discusses her early career in journalism working for the Coos Bay Times and the Oregonian; and starting a family with her husband, Oregonian reporter Albert L. McCready. She discusses her involvement with the Republican Party, campaigning, her liberal politics, and her experience as a woman in the Oregon Legislature during the 1967 and 1969 sessions. McCready also discusses legislation she worked on, including taxes, fair employment, public transportation and TriMet, and her work on behalf of sternwheelers. McCready talks about some of the legislators she worked with, including Tom Mahoney, Bob Packwood, Stafford Hansell, and Jason Boe. She then discusses her time in the Portland City Council from 1970 to 1979, including the Mount Hood Freeway vote; the bureaus she ran, including fire, cable, and public works; her support for gay rights; and receiving death threats. She discusses the city commissioners and mayors she worked with, including Frank Ivancie, Neil Goldschmidt, Terry Schrunk, and Mildred Schwab. She also discusses her campaign against John Lorenz in 1976, and Portland's sister-city relationship with Sapporo, Japan.

Dates

  • 1994 March 21-July 5

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright held by the Oregon Historical Society. Licensed under Creative Commons, BY-NC-SA: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

Biographical note

Constance "Connie" McCready, nee Averill, was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1921. She studied journalism at the University of Oregon and was a reporter for the Coos Bay Times and the Oregonian newspaper in Portland before going into politics. She married Albert L. McCready on New Year's Eve, 1945. She was the first woman elected to the Oregon House of Representatives from the East Portland district. She represented Multnomah County in the Oregon House from 1967 to 1970, served on the Portland City Council from 1970 to 1979, and was mayor of Portland from 1979 to 1980. She died in 2000.

Extent

.1 Cubic Feet (25 audiocassettes (24 hr., 21 min., 10 sec.) + index (96 pages) + 1 photograph (color, 4 x 6 in.))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Connie McCready conducted by Clark Hansen from March 21-July 5, 1994, as part of the Oregon Legislature Oral History Series. McCready served as an Oregon state representative and as mayor of Portland.

Existence and Location of Copies

Audio, index, and photograph available online in OHS Digital Collections.

General

Forms part of the Oregon Legislature Oral History Series.

Subjects

Related Names

Creator

Finding Aid & Administrative Information

Title
Guide to oral history interview with Connie McCready
Status
Completed
Author
Sarah Stroman
Date
2019
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Undetermined
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid is written in English.
Sponsor
This project is supported in whole or part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the State Library of Oregon.

Repository Details

Repository Details

Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository

https://www.ohs.org/research-and-library/
Contact:
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240

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