Oral history interview with Homer T. Shaver

Collection

Identifier: SR 9501

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Homer T. Shaver was conducted by Charles Digregorio at the Shaver Transportation Company in Portland, Oregon, on September 8, 1976, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s oral history program.

In this interview, Shaver speaks at length about his family background and describes the founding of the Shaver Transportation Company. He talks about changes he made to the company when he became assistant manager in 1921. He discusses the company’s competitors and talks about how the Depression affected the business. He also describes his experiences working on the construction of a water pipeline in Alaska during the summer of 1909. He closes the interview by talking about his accomplishments.

Dates

1976 September 8

Creator

Shaver, Homer T., 1891- (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 the estate of Homer T. Shaver. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/

Biographical note

Homer Tipton Shaver was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1891. He attended Pacific University, then earned a law degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C. He returned to Portland, and passed the Oregon bar examination in 1916. In 1921, he joined his family business, the Shaver Company. He helped organize a towboat firm, Shaver Forward Company, to haul grain to Portland from the Upper Columbia River. In 1967, he became president of Shaver Transportation.

Shaver was married twice. He and Florence Catherine Jacobsen married in 1918 and later had two children. She died in 1939, and Shaver married Aileen B. Dunbar the next year. Shaver died in 1978.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Shaver in his interviews.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (1 audiocassette (57 min., 1 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Homer T. Shaver conducted by Charles Digregorio on September 8, 1976. Shaver discusses his family's business, the Shaver Transportation Company, of which he became president in 1967.