Oral history interview with Helen Platt

Collection

Identifier: SR 9572

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Helen Platt was conducted by Charles Digregorio at Platt’s home in Portland, Oregon, on September 20, 1976, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s oral history program. An unidentified person was also present.

In this interview, Platt speaks at length about her Durham and Platt family background. She discusses the life and career of her grandfather, George Hannibal Durham, and of her father, Harrison Gray Platt. She also shares stories about her ancestors’ interactions with Native people. She closes the interview by discussing her early life in the Mount Tabor neighborhood of Portland.

Dates

1976 September 20

Creator

Platt, Helen, 1894-1986 (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 Helen Platt. 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 Platt was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1894. She attended Allen Preparatory School in Portland and Dana Hall School in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and studied in Paris, France. She then returned to Portland and taught French at schools in the area, including Catlin School. She wrote and produced "Reading is Fun," a children’s radio program, for the Multnomah County Library. In 1952, she became the public service director for KGW-TV. She wrote and produced all of the public service programs for the station. Platt died in 1986.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; obituary published in The Oregonian on June 11, 1986.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (1 audiocassette (1 hr., 3 min., 40 sec.) + transcript (26 pages))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Helen Platt conducted by Charles Digregorio on September 20, 1976. Platt discusses her Durham and Platt family background.