Jesse Wayne “Bud” Forrester, Jr., was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1914. Shortly afterward, his family moved to Chitma, Alaska; they returned to Oregon in 1920, and lived in Cascade Locks. Forrester studied electrical engineering at Oregon State University, then left school during his third year to work as a reporter for the Oregonian newspaper in Portland. In 1935, he moved to Pendleton to work for the East Oregonian. In 1936, he married Eleanor Aldrich, daughter of the East Oregonian's owner and editor. Together, Bud and Eleanor Forrester operated the North Bend News from 1945 to 1950. After the death of Eleanor Forrester's father, the couple took over the East Oregonian, which they ran with Eleanor Forrester's sister. From 1951 to 1973, Bud Forrester served as editor of the paper, and Eleanor Forrester as business office manager. In 1973, the couple moved to Astoria to run The Daily Astorian, where Bud Forrester became editor, while their son Mike took over as editor of the East Oregonian. Eleanor Forrester retired from the Daily Astorian in 1983 and Bud Forrester in 1988; he was succeeded as editor by their son Steve. In retirement, the couple lived in Portland, where Bud Forrester died in 2000, and Eleanor Forrester died in 2007.

Sources: Vital records on Ancestry.com; information provided by Forrester in his interview; “Longtime journalist J.W. ‘Bud ‘ Forrester Jr. Dies,” by Foster Church, Oregonian, February 29, 2000, Page A2; obituary for Eleanor Forrester, Oregonian, January 30, 2007 (accessed January 2026), https://obits.oregonlive.com/us/obituaries/oregon/name/eleanor-forrester-obituary?id=19317732; "Eleanor Aldrich Forrester '37: 2001 Hall of Achievement Inductee," University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication website (undated, accessed January 2026), https://journalism.uoregon.edu/hall-achievement/eleanor-aldrich-forrester

In 1990, the Washington State Historical Society, Portland State University, and Washington State University Vancouver formed the Center for Columbia River History (CCRH) to promote research, education, and public programs about the Columbia River Basin. The center operated for more than 20 years. Among its work was the Columbia River Basin Project (CRBP), an umbrella project supported by a 1997 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. The CRBP included online exhibits, oral histories, and high school curricula about the history of the region's land, wildlife, and people.

As part of the project, CCRH partnered with the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s oral history program, headed by Jim Strassmaier, to gather interviews. Oral Historian Michael O’Rourke spearheaded the Northwest Power Planning Council Oral History Series, while Oral Historian Clark Hansen oversaw the Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series, with aid from two Portland State University research assistants, Dannette Rowe and Tania Hyatt. In addition, CCRH conducted oral history interviews for a third project, Columbia Communities, and later donated the interview recordings and transcripts to the OHS Research Library, where they are designated SRC 1.

The Columbia River Dissenters Oral History Series culminated in 59 interviews (approximately 184 recorded hours) conducted between 1998 and 2001. Interviewees included Native people, activists, farmers, conservationists, fishers, and others who contributed to the shaping of policies that have had, and continue to have, significant impacts on the Columbia River Basin in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and British Columbia. The interviewees opposed policies by agencies such as the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Bonneville Power Administration, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and advocated for alternative visions of management and use of the Columbia River.

Sources: “Voices of the Columbia,” by Bryan White, PSU Magazine, Fall 1998, Page 17; Center for Columbia River History brochure, undated (circa 2000); Center for Columbia River History website (accessed July 10, 2025), https://columbiariverhistory.org/; email correspondence with Donna Sinclair, 2025; email correspondence with Tania Hyatt, 2025; Oregon Historical Society Research Library internal documentation.