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Radio interview with Don L. Hunter

 Collection
Identifier: SR 11413

Scope and Contents

Audio recording of an episode of Nancie Fadeley's radio program "An Oregon Evening With." The episode, recorded at Hunter Studios in Eugene, Oregon, featured guest Don L. Hunter, and aired on the KWAX radio station, 91.1 FM, on October 17, 1983. Fadeley’s co-host is identified only as Janine.

In this radio program, Fadeley describes Hunter’s sound recording collection. Hunter then shares some of his ambient sound recordings, talks about them, and discusses his recording methods for some of them.

He plays recordings of nature and urban sounds, and sound from various events, including: crickets; frogs; thunder; the wind during the 1962 Columbus Day Storm; the Lane County Courthouse clock striking midnight; police sirens and car horns during a parade in Eugene; the 25th anniversary party for the Eugene radio station KORE in 1952; the 1950 dedication of a plaque commemorating a lost 1853 wagon train; performances from the 1951 Eugene pageant; a test of an air raid siren in 1961; and a Noise Pollution parade in Eugene. He also plays recordings of industrial, mechanical, and transportation-related sounds, including: a wood saw; a boat whistle and fog horn blaring in harmony; a streetcar in Portland; a Southern Pacific cab-forward mallet train; a steam engine whistle in Cottage Grove; a Union Pacific passenger locomotive with whistles from both a diesel and steam engine; a Milwaukee Road electric locomotive whistle; an electricity converter; a vacuum exhaust system; water dripping into a pan, edited into music; and music edited from sawmill sounds, a train whistle, and an electric keyboard. He also plays spooky electronic Halloween music.

Dates

  • Creation: 1983 October 17

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Biographical note

Donald Lawrence Hunter was born in Eugene, Oregon, in 1914. As a teenager, he began collecting sound, making his first recording in 1932. In 1937, he became a serious photographer. Later, Hunter became the official recordist for Eugene's first radio station, KORE. He earned a degree in electrical engineering from University of Nebraska. In 1939, he and Delores May Van Cleve were married. He served in the Signal Corps during World War II. In 1947, he started working at the University of Oregon and established the school's audiovisual department. He also worked for the physics department, teaching photography and physics laboratory courses, as well as for a maker of neon signs in Eugene. He was active in lobbying the federal government to preserve the Three Sisters Wilderness Area. He died in 2016.

Extent

0.1 Cubic Feet (1 audiocassette (1 hr., 24 min., 28 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Audio recording of an episode of Nancie Fadeley's radio program "An Oregon Evening With." The episode, recorded at Hunter Studios in Eugene, Oregon, featured guest Don L. Hunter, and aired on the KWAX radio station, 91.1 FM, on October 17, 1983. Hunter shares some of his ambient sound recordings, talks about them, and discusses his recording methods.

Existence and Location of Copies

Related Materials

An additional interview with Don L. Hunter, SR 2001, is also held by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Title
Radio interview with Don L. Hunter
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

Contact:
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240