An audio recording of an oral history of Patrick Green on his experiences working at Tektronix and Planar in Washington County's 'Silicon Forest.' Topics include: how his interest in science developed; calculators and computers at work in the 1970s; the earliest personal computers in the late 1970s and early 1980s; being hired at Tektronix in 1979; working in research & development (R&D); designing screen display technologies; working as an engineer and a project manager; the spinoff of Planar as a company; creating display technologies at Planar; cultures of the two companies; international business; filing patents and publishing research; development of the 'Silicon Forest' in Washington County, Oregon; women and people of diverse backgrounds in the technology sector; and other topics. This recording is accompanied by a transcript.
An audio recording of an oral history of Tony Schmidt on the Silicon Forest and Rodgers Instruments, a digital music organ company. Topics include: his education as an accountant; the culture at Rodgers; working his way up from Accounting Manager to Chief Financial Officer beginning in 1989; the relationship between Rodgers and Roland Corporation; the origins of the Rodgers company in 1958; technological advancements in electronic organ design; environmental compliance issues; the market for organs centered on churches; changes to traffic and the landscape of Washington County between the 1980s-2000s as technology companies grew; and other topics. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part 2 of an audio recording of an oral history of Bill Roesch. on the semiconductor industry in Washington County, particularly at the companies Tektronix and TriQuint. This section includes: his early interest and education in technology; being recruited to work at Tektronix in the early 1980s; semiconductor technology at Tektronix in the 1980s; daily work in the testing unit at Tektronix; lack of women in the semiconductor industry; demise of mainframe computer terminal manufacturing at Tektronix; creation of spin-off companies; experimental products at Tektronix; origins of TriQuint's gallium arsenide semiconductor business; being recruited to join TriQuint; technological advancements using gallium arsenide components; revenue sources; and other topics. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part 1 of an audio recording of an oral history of Bill Roesch. on the semiconductor industry in Washington County, particularly at the companies Tektronix and TriQuint. This section includes: how TriQuint's gallium arsenide semiconductor wafers differ from silicon wafers; manufacturing processes at TriQuint; an audio tour of the fabrication section and test section of TriQuint company headquarters; shift schedules and daily work in the fabrication unit; and processes in manufacturing and testing semiconductor products. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part 2 of an audio recording of an oral history of Bill Walker on the Silicon Forest and Tektronix. Topics in this section include: Tektronix's international business and the International Electrotechnical Committee (IEC); the effect of the early 1980s Recession on Tektronix; profit sharing with employees; the development of the 'Silicon Forest' in Washington County; the founding of Electro Scientific Industries (ESI); annual shareholder meetings; his children's careers; stories about how Tektronix was founded; other key people in Tektronix's history; and other topics. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part 1 of an audio recording of an oral history of Bill Walker on Tektronix and the 'Silicon Forest' in Washington County, Oregon. Topics in this section include: his education; military service during the Korean War; using Tektronix products in the military; going to work as an engineer for Tektronix in the 1950s; creating the 'Phase System' of development; starting an integrated circuit working group; working his way up to be Chief Operating Officer of Tektronix; starting the Tek Development Company to incubate spinoff companies; training opportunities; author Jean Auel working at Tektronix; office culture; international business with Europe and Japan; and other topics. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part 2 of an audio recording of an oral history of Lee Mason on the Silicon Forest and Tektronix. Topics in this section include: resigning from the Southern Pacific Railroad; returning to Oregon in 1956 and applying for work at Tektronix; being hired to work on the production line; doing shift work with sheet metal and injection molding; manufacturing processes; working in the plastic pre-production unit; plastics plant in the early 1980s; creating his own small plastics company; retirement around 1984; other spinoff plastics companies; how production rates were set; racial and ethnic diversity of the production staff; and other topics. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part 1 of an audio recording of an oral history of Lee Mason on the Silicon Forest and Tektronix. Topics in this section include: arriving in Portland during World War II to work in the shipyards; working as a telegraph operator for the Southern Pacific Railroad in Woodburn and Clackamas in the 1940s; celebrating Victory in Japan (VJ) Day in Portland; and other topics. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part 1 of an audio recording of an oral history of Dr. Toshio Inahara, speaking about his experience as a Japanese American in Washington County during World War II. This is a brief introductory interview that was conducted in order to prepare for the longer interview in Part 2. Topics in this section include: moving to a strawberry farm Hillside, Oregon, near Gales Creek and Forest Grove in the 1930s; driving at age 10; going to school in Hillside, Forest Grove High School and Hillsboro High School; moving to other farms near Hillsboro and Helvetia; obtaining a special permit in 1942 to allow the family to continue farming and not go to an internment camp; picking hops and doing other labor to make ends meet; hearing about Pearl Harbor; and white neighbors who leased one of their properties during the war. There is a transcript of this interview.
Part 2 of an audio recording of an oral history of Dr. Toshio Inahara, speaking about his experience as a Japanese American in Washington County, Oregon. Topics in this section include: birth in 1921 in Tacoma, WA; moving to Hillside near Forest Grove, OR in 1931; his father learning to farm and raising strawberries; education in a one-room schoolhouse; playing baseball; going to the Japanese School in Banks on Sundays; driving a truck beginning at age 10; moving to other farm properties near Hillsboro and Helvetia; building a house near Hillsboro in 1941; hearing about Pearl Harbor and facing discrimination and restrictions; getting a special permit for his family to spend the war farming in Eastern Oregon, avoiding detention at Minidoka internment camp; moving to Vale, Oregon; renting a former chicken hatchery as a house; losing most of their land in Washington County; leasing their house to a white family during the war; going to college to become a doctor; the postwar Japanese community; and other topics. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of a group oral history interview on the Japanese Community in Washington County at a Nikkei event at the Washington County Museum. There is a transcript of this interview.
Sister Ina Marie Nosack was born in 1926 in Gervais, Oregon. She spent her senior year of high school at Saint Mary of the Valley (now Valley Catholic) and after high school entered the convent at Sisters of Saint Mary. While working as a teacher, Sister Ina earned a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree in education. She spent several months in Mexico learning Spanish, then worked in the Amazon region of Peru as the principal of a school from 1966 – 1973. After returning from Peru, Sister Ina resumed work as an educator, but after some years made a conscious decision to work with the Hispanic community and became the director of religious education at the Saint Alexander parish in Cornelius. St. Alexander was the first church in the area to offer mass in both Spanish and English.
Sister Ina Marie details the ways she sought to assist families and individuals in and beyond her formal duties at Saint Alexander parish. Sister Ina recounts the pain of seeing migrant families struggle to survive or support loved ones, but also the joy of seeing migrant workers and their children build successful lives for themselves in Oregon. She recounts tension between different groups, but also how individuals from different backgrounds came together to provide aid and form bonds with newer arrivals. There is a transcript of this interview.
An audio recording of an oral history of Salvador Rodriguez Marquez, who was a Bracero in California and Texas. He is primarily interviewed over the phone by his son, Jaime Rodriguez. The interview begins with Salvador recounting when he first heard of the Bracero program and other reactions he observed in Mexico. He details the process of being contracted, the emotions he felt being in a new and unknown country, and the journey that he and other Bracero had to go through to get to the contract sites. He talks about arriving to Los Angeles and his experiences with language barriers when purchasing food, and remembers the treatment they received from their bosses at the time. He gives more details of what the contracts would entail in minute 18:00 and recounts how braceros were processed in Calexico before coming to the US, which included being checked for lice and being hosed down with dust. At minute 22:50 he remembers what people would do for the weekends and at minute 25:00, Ilene O'Malley asks him some questions about the 'barajas' where he and and other braceros prepared food. He mentions an immigration checkpoint in San Clemente and remembers the environment of the small Mexican-American towns that their bosses would take them to. At minute 30:00 he compares his working experience between Texas and Los Angeles and at minute 31:15, Beth Dehn inquires about Salvador's reasoning at the time for not applying for permanent legal status in the US. In minute 38:00, he recounts a story where he was robbed and nearly murdered by some 'Chicanos,' how he managed to escape, and the brief aftermath of that incident. At about minute 45:45 he starts talking fatal car accidents that he witnessed in the US, and recounts the time he went to a morgue that mainly served Mexicans and saw their bodies being hung en masse from the heel like pigs. From 49:00-51:15 the interviewers and Salvador are wrapping up and saying their goodbyes. After the phone call is over, the interviewers touch base amongst themselves and clarify a view of the stories they heard, including the car accidents/treatment of the deceased Mexican bodies. Jaime also recounts further details of this topic that he father hadn't mentioned in the phone call. They also clarify the story of when he father was almost killed, how he escaped, and the aftermath. At minute 59:30 the interview detract from the topic and the interviewers say their goodbyes, mentioning they would like to speak with Jaime's father again in the future. //// Una grabación de audio la historia oral de Salvador Rodríguez Márquez, que fue un Bracero en California y Texas. Es entrevistado principalmente por su hijo, Jaime Rodríguez via telefono. La entrevista comienza con Salvador relatando cuando escuchó por primera vez sobre el programa Bracero y la reacciones de otros que observó en México. Detalla el proceso de ser contratado, las emociones que sentía en un país nuevo y desconocido, y el viaje que él y otro Bracero tuvieron que pasar para llegar a los sitios de contratación. Habla de llegar a Los Ángeles y de sus experiencias con su barreras de lenguaje al comprar comida, y recuerda el tratamiento que recibieron de sus jefes durante ese tiempo. Da más detalles de lo que los contratos en minuto 18:00 y relata cómo los braceros fueron procesados en Calexico antes de venir a los EEUU, que incluyó ser comprobado para los piojos y ser bañados con mangeras llenas de polvo. Al minuto 22:50, recuerda lo que la gente hacia durante los fines de semana ya las 25:00, O'Malley le hace algunas preguntas sobre las 'barajas' donde él y otros braceros preparaban comida. Menciona un puesto de redada de inmigración en San Clemente y recuerda el ambiente de los pequeños pueblos mexicano-americanos a donde sus jefes les llevaban. Al minuto 30:00 compara su experiencia de trabajo entre Texas y Los Ángeles y al minuto 31:15, Beth Dehn pregunta sobre la razones de Salvador por no solicitar un estatus legal permanente en los Estados Unidos durante ese tiempo. En el minuto 38:00, él relata una historia en la que fue robado y casi asesinado por unos 'Chicanos', cómo logró escapar, y lo que ocurrio despues del incidente. Alrededor del minuto 45:45 comienza a hablar de accidentes mortales de automóvil que miro en los Estados Unidos, y cuenta de un tiempo en que fue a una morgue que servía principalmente a mexicanos y miro sus cuerpos colgando en masa del talón como cerdos. A partir de las 49:00 - 51:15 los entrevistadores y Salvador se despiden. Después de concluir la llamada telefonica, los entrevistadores hablan entre sí y aclaran alguans de las historias que oyeron, incluyendo los accidentes de tráfico / el tratamiento de los cuerpos mexicanos fallecidos. Jaime también cuenta otros detalles sobre este tema que su padre no había mencionado en la llamada telefónica. También aclaran la historia de cuando Salvador casi fue asesinado, cómo se escapo, y lo que paso despues. A las 59:30 la entrevista desvirtúa el tema y los entrevistadores se despiden, mencionando que les gustaría volver a hablar con el padre de Jaime en el futuro.
An audio recording of an oral history of Jose Jaime regarding Latino migrant laborers and the Bracero program in the 1940s-1960s. Topics include: his oldest brother's work as a bracero in California beginning in the late 1940s; another brother's work as a bracero in Arizona; hearing about work in America while living in Mexico; reasons for leaving Mexico; meaning of the word 'bracero'; Jose's arrival in Washington County, Oregon in 1965; migrant laborers being hired by Tektronix; several churches subsidizing 12 families so that they could settle permanently in the county; abuses of migrant laborers; how the Hispanic community enriches the county. This recording is accompanied by a transcript.
An audio recording of an oral history with Theresa Clark regarding Latino migrant laborers and the Bracero program in California and Oregon. Topics include: working as a payroll clerk for braceros in California beginning in 1956; her family's Mexican background; pay and conditions in migrant camps in California; laborers sending most of their pay back to their families; racist incidents later in life while working for Kaiser in Oregon; hard work done by the braceros; what clothes they wore; moving to Oregon in 1966; racist attitudes in Washington County, Oregon; and other topics. There is a transcript of this interview.
