Oral history interview with Riki P. Sheehan
Scope and Contents
This oral history interview with Riki P. Sheehan was conducted by Michael O’Rourke from June 2-11, 1988, as part of the Senator Mark O. Hatfield Oral History Series. The interview was conducted in three sessions; collection includes a transcript.
In this interview, Sheehan discusses her work on the staff of U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield from 1974 to the time of the interview. She talks about issues on which she disagreed with Hatfield, including on U.S.-Israeli relations and abortion; describes her duties as a legislative assistant; and discusses Hatfield’s personality and spirituality. She talks about cases she worked on when she first joined Hatfield’s staff, speaks at length about Hatfield’s chairmanship of the Senate Appropriations Committee and her work on that committee’s staff, and discusses a real estate scandal that affected Hatfield in 1984.
Dates
- 1988 June 2-11
Creator
- Sheehan, Riki P. (Fredrica Poster), 1951- (Interviewee, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and Willamette University. Use is allowed according to the following license: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Biographical note
Fredrica "Riki" Poster Sheehan was born in New York in 1951. She earned a bachelor of science degree from Cornell University in 1973. She then moved to Washington, D.C., in order to get a job in government. She began working on U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield's staff as a caseworker in 1974. In 1977, she became one of Hatfield’s legislative assistants. In 1980, when Hatfield became chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, she was appointed to its staff.
Extent
0.1 Cubic Feet (4 audiocassettes (3 hr., 21 min., 57 sec.) + transcript (79 pages))
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Oral history interview with Riki P. Sheehan conducted by Michael O'Rourke from June 2-11, 1988, as part of the Senator Mark O. Hatfield Oral History Project. Sheehan was a caseworker and legislative assistant on Hatfield's staff.
Existence and Location of Copies
General
Forms part of the Senator Mark O. Hatfield Oral History Project.
- AIDS (Disease) -- Government policy -- United States
- Hatfield, Mark O., 1922-2011
- Legislation -- United States
- Oral Histories
- Oregon
- Oregon Health Sciences University
- Sheehan, Riki P. (Fredrica Poster), 1951-
- United States -- Politics and government -- 20th century
- United States. Congress. Senate
- interviews
- oral histories (literary genre)
Creator
- Sheehan, Riki P. (Fredrica Poster), 1951- (Interviewee, Person)
- O'Rourke, Michael (Filmmaker) (Interviewer, Person)
- Title
- Guide to oral history interview with Riki P. Sheehan
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah Stroman
- Date
- 2020; revised 2022
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- 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.
Revision Statements
- 2022: Updated to include session-by-session description.
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