Oral history interview with Walter E. Hazlett

Collection

Identifier: SR800

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

This oral history interview with Walter E. Hazlett was conducted by Jim Strassmaier in February 1974. In this interview, Hazlett discusses his early life in Portage and Willmore, Pennsylvania, including his courtship with Naomi Ruth Long (also known as Ruth Hazlett), as well as working in coal mines. He also talks about working in the shipyards in Washington during World War II. He speaks about Ruth Hazlett, including her family background and their marriage. He describes his experience during the 1948 Vanport flood and talks about its aftermath at length. He speaks further about Ruth Hazlett. He speaks more about working in coal mines in Pennsylvania, including participating in labor strikes. He talks about his children, their careers, and his relationship with them. He then gives a timeline of the places he lived; talks about injuries he sustained in the workplace and in a car collision; and revisits the topic of his marriage. He also talks about his and Ruth Hazlett’s family educational background. He closes the interview by revisiting the topic of working in coal mines in Pennsylvania and his experience during the Depression.

Dates

1974 February

Creator

Hazlett, Walter E. (Walter Earl), 1905-1976 (Interviewee, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Joint copyright for this interview is held by the Oregon Historical Society and the estate of Walter E. Hazlett. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-NC/1.0/.

Biographical note

Walter Earl Hazlett was born in Portage, Pennsylvania, in 1905. In 1930, he and Naomi Ruth Long were married; they later had three children. Hazlett worked in coal mines in Pennsylvania, and briefly worked in Detroit, Michigan. During World War II, the couple moved to Bremerton, Washington, where Hazlett worked in the shipyards. After the war, they moved to Vanport, Oregon. After the 1948 flood that destroyed Vaport, they moved around Oregon, living in Mollala, Lebanon, Boring, St. Helens, and Portland. Hazlett died in 1976.

Extent

.1 Cubic Feet (2 audiocassettes (2 hr., 16 sec.))

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Oral history interview with Walter E. Hazlett conducted by Jim Strassmaier in February, 1974. Hazlett discusses his marriage to Naomi Ruth Long and his experience during the 1948 Vanport flood.

Existence and Location of Copies

Audio available online in OHS Digital Collections.

General

Incomplete transcript (8 pages), summary (14 pages), and a poem by Hazlett are available for in-person use at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.