Oral history interview with Helen L. Thompson and Mary C. Baker
Scope and Contents
This oral history interview with sisters Helen L. Thompson and Mary C. Baker was conducted by Charles Digregorio at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, on October 27, 1976, as part of the oral history program at the society’s research library.
In this interview, Thompson and Baker discuss their family background, including the Huntington, Holman, and Malarkey families, who arrived in Portland in the mid-19th century. They talk about family businesses, including the Holman Transfer Company; and share stories about their grandparents’ life in early Portland. They discuss their early lives in the Portland Heights neighborhood. They talk about people who lived in the neighborhood, about their education at Ainsworth School and at Lincoln High School, and about their childhood activities. They close the interview by discussing how the role of women in society has changed over the 20th century.
Dates
- 1976 October 27
Creator
- Thompson, Helen L. (Helen Louise), 1913-1989 (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 estates of Helen L. Thompson and Mary C. Baker. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted, https://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/
Biographical note
Helen Louise Thompson, nee Malarkey, was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1913. In 1934, she and Stephen Eberly Thompson were married; they later had four children. She served on several committees and boards, including for the Portland Art Museum, the High Desert Museum in Bend, Oregon, and the Oregon Humane Society. She died in 1989.
Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information by Thompson in her interview.
Biographical note
Mary Catherine Baker, nee Malarkey, was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1910. She married twice; her first marriage was in 1932, to Howard Milton Wall, with whom she later had four children. He died in 1968, and she remarried in 1972, to Howard Joseph Baker. Mary Baker died in 1985.
Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Baker in her interview.
Extent
0.1 Cubic Feet (1 audiocassette (1 hr., 1 min., 35 sec.))
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Oral history interview with sisters Helen L. Thompson and Mary C. Baker conducted by Charles Digregorio on October 27, 1976. Thompson and Baker discuss their family background and early life in the Portland Heights neighborhood of Portland, Oregon.
Existence and Location of Copies
General
An incomplete transcript (22 pages) is available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
- Baker, Mary C. (Mary Catherine), 1910-1985 -- Childhood and youth
- Families -- Oregon -- Portland
- Holman family
- Home and Family
- Huntington family
- Malarkey family
- Neighborhoods -- Oregon -- Portland
- Oral Histories
- Portland
- Portland Heights (Portland, Or.) -- Social life and customs -- 20th century
- Thompson, Helen L. (Helen Louise), 1913-1989 -- Childhood and youth
- interviews
- oral histories (literary genre)
Creator
- Thompson, Helen L. (Helen Louise), 1913-1989 (Interviewee, Person)
- Baker, Mary C. (Mary Catherine), 1910-1985 (Interviewee, Person)
- Digregorio, Charles (Interviewer, Person)
- Title
- Guide to the oral history interview with Helen L. Thompson and Mary C. Baker
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah Stroman
- Date
- 2023
- 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
- Digitization funded by the James F. Miller Endowment.
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