Oral history interview with John F. Gange

Collection

Identifier: SR 9440

Staff Only

Oral history interview with John F. Gange

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Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with John F. Gange was conducted by Roberta Watts in Eugene, Oregon, on January 27, 1978, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s oral history program.

In this interview, Gange discusses his family background, including his grandfather’s experiences in the Union Army during the Civil War, and his early life on an orange farm in Lindsay, California. He talks about his reasons for attending Stanford University instead of West Point. He discusses a trip he took to the Dominican Republic during World War II, and describes the country’s politics during the war. He speaks about his involvement in the writing of the United Nations charter during the 1945 San Francisco conference. He then gives a brief overview of his career in international relations, particularly his work in Southeast Asia.

Dates

Creation: 1978 January 27

Creator

Gange, John F. (John Frederic), 1910-1991 (Interviewee, Person)
Watts, Roberta (Interviewer, 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 the estate of John F. Gange. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/

Biographical note

John Frederic Gange was born in Lindsay, California, in 1910. In the early 1930s, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University. In 1937, he and Martha Eugenia Arnold were married. Between 1948 and 1956, he was head of the foreign affairs department at the University of Virginia. He then served as research director and Hong Kong representative of the Asia Foundation. In 1960, he became the director of the Institute of International Studies and a professor of political science at the University of Oregon. He authored and contributed to several publications about U.S. foreign relations. He died in 1991.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Gange in his interview; “Fellowship Awarded,” Oregon Journal, June 7, 1972, page 29; “John Gange new Institute director,” Oregon Daily Emerald, December 9, 1960, page 12.