This oral history interview with Kathryn Hall Bogle was conducted by Rick Harmon in 15 sessions from June 26, 1985, to March 28, 1986, at Bogle’s home in Portland, Oregon, as part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s oral history program.

In sessions 1 through 6, Bogle discusses her early life in Portland, Oregon. She talks about her family's experiences in Portland and in other cities where she grew up, including experiences with housing discrimination. She discusses her family’s involvement with Black churches in the various cities where they lived, and about her involvement with the Bethel AME Church in Portland. She speaks about her early education, and shares her experience of discrimination at Washington High School in Portland. She discusses her activities after high school, and describes being denied entry to college or jobs other than domestic labor in the 1920s because of her race. She discusses her involvement with the Portland Chapter of the NAACP beginning in the 1930s. She speaks extensively about her article “An American Negro Speaks of Color," published in the Portland Oregonian on February 14, 1937. She talks about her work developing youth programs for the St. Philip The Deacon Episcopal Church, as a caseworker at Good Samaritan Hospital, and with the Red Cross.

In sessions 7 through 15, Bogle discusses her work as a social worker for the Boys and Girls Aid Society; she talks about people she worked with, particularly the director, Stuart R. Stimmel, and describes the adoption process through the society. She talks about her advocacy for the passage of a public accommodation law. She speaks extensively about the childhood and career of her son, Dick Bogle, who later became the first Black television broadcaster in Oregon, and served on the Portland City Council. She talks about working as a caseworker at Good Samaritan Hospital, and about the death of her husband, Richard Bogle, in 1979. She discusses her work at the Portland Observer, and her experiences writing about the Black community for the Oregonian. She talks about the civil rights movement, about the progression of mainstream language used to describe Black Americans, and her feelings of frustration when experiencing discrimination. She discusses Dick Bogle’s campaign for and service on the Portland City Council. She also speaks about Black leadership in Portland. She closes the interview by discussing her involvement with the Links, an organization dedicated to quality of life for Black Americans.