Oral history interview with Erskine B. Wood
Scope and Contents
This oral history interview with Erskine B. Wood was conducted by David Jacobson at Wood’s home in Vancouver, Washington, on May 6, 1999. In this interview, Wood briefly discusses his family background and early life in Portland, Oregon, including fishing on the Columbia River, as well as his education at a boarding school in California. He then discusses his experiences at Harvard College and at Harvard Law School. He talks about his interest in admiralty law, as well as the admiralty law career of his grandfather, C.E.S. Wood. He then discusses how World War II affected his law practice, as well as some of the cases he worked on, and some of the judges he argued before. He talks about his children and his service in the Navy during World War II. He closes the interview by discussing the changes in Oregon and his hopes for the state’s future.
Dates
- 1999 May 6
Creator
- Wood, Erskine B. (Erskine Biddle), 1911-2001 (Interviewee, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Joint copyright held by the Oregon Historical Society and the U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
Biographical note
Erskine Biddle Wood was born in 1911. He was the son of Erskine Wood and the grandson of Charles Erskine Scott Wood. He attended Harvard College and Harvard Law School, earning his law degree in 1936. Wood became a lawyer who specialized in maritime law at Wood, Tatum, Sanders & Murphy in Portland, Oregon. During World War II, he served as an administrator in the Navy.
Wood married multiple times. While at Harvard in the 1930s, he and Caroline Elizabeth Hoffman married. They later had three children and divorced in 1956. In 1959, he and Virginia Kuerten Tooze were married. They later had two children and divorced in 1969. Later that same year, Wood and Doreen L. Plympton were married; they divorced in 1974. Sometime later, Wood and Ellen Story Fretz were married. They divorced in 1997. In 2001, Wood and Doris H. Spaulding were married. Wood died in 2001.
Extent
.1 Cubic Feet (3 audiocassettes (2 hr., 7 min., 32 sec.) + transcript (39 pages))
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Oral history interview with Erskine B. Wood conducted by David Jacobson on May 6, 1999, as part of the United States District Court Oral History Project. Wood was an attorney in Portland, Oregon.
Existence and Location of Copies
General
Forms part of the United States District Court Oral History Project.
Creator
- Wood, Erskine B. (Erskine Biddle), 1911-2001 (Interviewee, Person)
- Jacobson, David (Interviewer, Person)
- Title
- Guide to oral history interview with Erskine B. Wood
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah Stroman
- Date
- 2020
- 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
Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240
libreference@ohs.org