Oral history interview with John H. Steelquist

Collection

Identifier: SR 9507

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with John H. Steelquist was conducted by Deborah M. Frosaker at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, on December 8, 1977, as part of the oral history program at the society’s research library.

In this interview, Steelquist discusses the medical work of his maternal great-grandmother, Catherine Davis, and the pharmaceutical career of his maternal grandfather, Melancthon Marshall Davis, in 19th- and 20th-century Oregon. He talks about his early interest in engineering, about his college experience at Stanford University, and about his reasons for pursuing a career in medicine. He closes the interview by discussing his research on Captain James Cook.

Dates

1977 December 8

Creator

Frosaker, Deborah M., 1953- (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 H. Steelquist. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted, https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/

Biographical note

John Harold Steelquist was born in Eugene, Oregon, in 1912. In 1930, he moved with his family to Brazil, then returned to the United States in 1932 to study engineering at Stanford University. He soon switched majors and earned a medical degree from Stanford several years later. He worked as a doctor in California. He married three times and had three children. He died in 1986.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (1 audiocassette (1 hr., 3 min., 47 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with John H. Steelquist conducted by Deborah M. Frosaker on December 8, 1977. Steelquist discusses the medical work of his maternal great-grandmother, Catherine Davis, and the pharmaceutical career of his maternal grandfather, Melancthon Marshall Davis, in 19th- and 20th-century Oregon.