Thomas Kerr, Jr. family papers

Collection

Identifier: Coll 973

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection consists of papers of Portland, Oregon businessman Thomas Kerr, Jr. and his family, particularly correspondence, records, and photographs relating to Kerr's career in the grain trade. Business correspondence and records include issues involving a property at Camp Ono in California, dealings with the firm Andrew Weir & Co., and materials relating to the Helix Milling Company. Photographs relating to business include images of business meetings and gatherings, grain facilities, the construction and demolition of grain elevators, and grain fires. Other business-related materials in the collection include grain price tables, and records and memorabilia of the firm Kerr Gifford & Co. Inc., including a payroll ledger and cipher codes.

Family papers in the collection include photographs; correspondence of, clippings about, and obituaries for Kerr's mother, Mabel Macleay Kerr; Peter Kerr's account ledger; and ephemera. Other materials consist of railroad timetables; materials relating to Charles E. Dant; and blueprints for the Eric Hoffman residence, designed by architect Van Evera Bailey.

Dates

circa 1900-2001

Creator

Kerr, Thomas, Jr., 1910-1982 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Biographical Note

Thomas Kerr, Jr. was born in 1910 in Portland, Oregon. His father, Thomas Kerr, Sr., and uncle, Peter Kerr, were prominent in the local grain trade. He studied at the Thatcher School in Ojai, California, and at Yale University. He worked for his family's business, Kerr Gifford & Co. Inc. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army and rose to the rank of major. After the war, he rejoined Kerr Gifford & Co. Inc. as vice president, and in 1950 became president and general manager, a post he held until Cargill Inc. purchased the firm in 1953. Kerr founded the Kerr Grain Corporation in 1955. He was also president of the Kerr Pacific Corporation, Helix Milling Company, Hawaiian Flour Mills Inc., Kerr Pacific Milling Co., and Kerr Land and Livestock Co.

Kerr married Barbara Poole Labbe (later Barbara Pooley Wilson, 1915-1990) in 1948. The couple had two children, Josephine and Tim. They divorced in 1970. Kerr died in 1982.

Sources: Articles in the Oregonian, 1970-1990; vital records on Ancestry.com.

Extent

1.4 Cubic Feet (2 legal document cases; 1 flat box (13x16); 1 oversize folder (20x30))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Papers relating to the business career and family of Thomas Kerr, Jr. (1910-1982). Kerr lived in Portland, Oregon, and was an executive of several grain trading firms, including Kerr Gifford & Co. Inc., Kerr Pacific Corporation, and Helix Milling Company.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Josephine Kerr Lowe, March 2023 (RL2023-015).

Related Materials

Other collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library relating to the Kerr family include: the Kerr family collection, Coll 74; the Peter and Thomas Kerr family photographs collection, Org. Lot 443; the Peter Kerr correspondence and records, Microfilm 68; and a vertical file, Biography - Kerr, Peter.