Oral history interview with Cecil L. Edwards
Scope and Contents
This oral history interview with Cecil L. Edwards was conducted by Linda S. Dodds at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon, on May 14, 1982. At the time of the interview, Dodds’ name was Linda S. Brody.
In this interview, Edwards discusses his duties regarding the selection of horses as a civilian agent for the Remount Service during World War II. He talks about the history of the American Remount Service and how the horses were used during both war and peacetime. He also discusses his duties selecting dogs for military use. He then talks about serving on the Oregon Racing Commission under Governor Douglas O. McKay after the war. He briefly describes lobbying for the Oregon State Cattlemen’s Association and working as chief clerk of the Oregon House of Representatives. He then speaks at length about his experiences as secretary of the Senate. He talks about the changes in the Legislature during the 20th century, including salaries, staff sizes, and session length. He tells the story of discovering that the federal government owed a debt to Oregon dating back to the Civil War. Edwards talks about the fire that destroyed the Capitol building in 1935, the places where the Legislature convened afterwards, and the construction of the new Capitol. He closes the interview by talking a little about some of the governors he served under.
Dates
- 1982 May 14
Creator
- Edwards, Cecil L. (Interviewee, Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following license: Creative Commons, BY-NC-SA: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Biographical note
Cecil Leroy Edwards was born in Salem, Oregon, in 1906. He began working as a secretary for the Oregon Legislature in 1933, serving as chief clerk of Oregon House of Representatives in 1963, secretary of the Senate from 1965 to 1975, and legislative historian from 1975 to 1993. He died in 1995.
Extent
.1 Cubic Feet (2 audiocassettes (1 hr., 2 min., 33 sec.) + transcript (28 pages))
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Oral history interview with Cecil L. Edwards conducted by Linda S. Dodds on May 14, 1982. Edwards was chief clerk of the Oregon House of Representatives, secretary of the state Senate, and legislative historian.
Existence and Location of Copies
- Edwards, Cecil L.
- Horses -- Training
- Oral Histories
- Oregon
- Oregon -- Capital and capitol
- Oregon -- Officials and employees
- Oregon -- Politics and government -- 20th century
- Oregon State Capitol (Salem, Or. : 1876-1935)
- Oregon. Legislative Assembly -- Officials and employees
- United States. Army -- Remount service
- interviews
Creator
- Edwards, Cecil L. (Interviewee, Person)
- Dodds, Linda S. (Interviewer, Person)
- Title
- Guide to oral history interview with Cecil L. Edwards
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Sarah Stroman
- Date
- 2020
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- Undetermined
- Script of description
- Code for undetermined script
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is written in English.
- Sponsor
- This project is supported in whole or part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the State Library of Oregon. 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