This collection consists of an audio recording of an oral history interview with Julia E. Johnson, and a small quantity of accompanying materials. The interview was conducted by Deborah M. Olson in Milwaukie, Oregon, in five sessions, from July 20 to November 11, 1987. The recording does not include the audio from Tape 4, Side 1, which is now blank, but originally included part of the third interview session. The content of that portion of the interview is included in an incomplete transcript. The transcript also includes remarks from Johnson’s friends at her 85th birthday party on October 20, 1987, which are not part of the audio recording.

In the oral history interview, Johnson discusses her family background and early life in Jacksonville, Oregon. She describes the town in the early 20th century, and speaks extensively about the operations of the Opp mine, which was owned and operated by her father, John Wesley Opp. She talks about her experience studying French at Reed College in Portland, about teaching at Grant High School in Portland from 1926 to 1944, and about a trip she took to Europe and North Africa in 1929. She speaks about her involvement with the Girl Scouts of America, and with the Republican Party of Oregon, particularly her work on political campaigns for Mark O. Hatfield.

In addition to the audio recording of the interview, the collection includes four color photographs of Johnson and two other people, who are identified as Marjorie Edens and Sam Wegner, around 1988; one black and white photograph of the Opp family at their home, circa 1900; and a map of the Opp Mine.