An audio recording of an oral history of Floyd Parsons, his wife Becky Parsons, and their daughter Becky Parsons. Floyd was born in Kentucky, and Sally and Floyd met in Ohio as young teenagers on the farm about 73 years before the time of the recording. Floyd got involved with music at six years old when he taught himself to play the guitar. He could never read sheet music, but played by ear. Becky can read music, but Sally doesn’t play music at all. They moved to Hillsboro, Oregon in 1962, and then one town over in Forest Grove in 1963. In 1964, they bought a music store in Hillsboro after Floyd had been a manager there for a year. They sold all kinds of instruments, sheet music, and music supplies, as well as records and record players. It was just a family business and they never had any outside employees. Their store was the central place for the locals to get their records for a time. They stopped selling records after an eighty-eight cent store moved into town and started selling popular records. Floyd had a band for a while and they played in prisons and at small venues. At the store, Floyd also gave music lessons to students. They talked about the local businesses in Hillsboro and Forest Grove, particularly old record shops including “What’s Up Music?” and “Forest Groove”. The local businesses worked together well and even held social nights for the community, including a pajama night. They looked at pictures of the family and Floyd even plays the guitar a bit at about 37 minutes into the recording.
An audio recording of a talk by Margaret Gilbert on Forest Grove history in honor of National Historic Preservation Week. The recording is undated but was likely created in the late 1970s or early 1980s at a meeting of the Tualatin Plains Historical Society.
An audio recording of an oral history interview of Winifred McNair Hopkins (1887-1984) about her life in Oregon. Born in Riddle Point, Oregon, in 1887, Hopkins moved to the Forest Grove area in 1920 as a teacher. She grew up in a country neighborhood two miles from town in a large family of nine people. She went to a school in a one-room schoolhouse and to Riddle Point Presbyterian Church. The schoolhouse was located two miles away from their house and the children walked barefoot to school each day. Hopkins talks about two holidays, the Fourth of July and Christmas, and the traditional activities like picnics and dinners with neighbors. After getting involved with music at age 17, she went to school to study music, traveled around the country playing, and later taught it to others. She mentions reading the “Youth Companion” magazine along with the one newspaper that was produced. Hopkins even remembers attending the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, known as the “fair,” in Portland, Oregon, in 1905. Other topics include shopping in little stores, games that were played at church parties, the Depression, and prohibition. Changes that Hopkins has enjoyed seeing in her life include a freedom in thought and things to do. There is a lot of white noise in the recording so it can be difficult to understand parts of the answers that Hopkins gives.
An audio recording of a talk on Gales Creek at a Tualatin Plains Historical Society meeting. The recording was probably made around 1980 in Forest Grove, Oregon. It appears to have covered only the last part of a longer talk, and is mostly made up of questions and comments from the audience. One of the commenters notes his own family's history near Soda Springs, close to Gales Creek.
An audio recording of a talk by George Williams about the descendants of Alanson Hinman and the early history of Forest Grove, Oregon. George was the great-great-grandson of Alanson Hinman. Includes information about the Hinman House, an historic house located at 1651 Hawthorn Street in Forest Grove, Oregon.
An audio recording of a talk by Nellie Walker on early Forest Grove, possibly given at a meeting of the Tualatin Plains Historical Society in the late 1970s or early 1980s. Nellie Walker was a descendant of Elkanah and Mary Richardson Walker, who emigrated to the Oregon Territory as missionaries in 1838. Nellie recalls memories of Forest Grove in the late 1800s passed down from Mary Richardson Walker, and her own memories of Forest Grove from the early 1900s. Topics include the Forest Grove Indian School, changing land use patterns, the arrival of electricity, telephones and automobiles, picnics at Naylor Grove and juvenile delinquency, including the burning of the local Chinese laundry. The recording begins approximately halfway through the talk; the first half is missing. This recording is accompanied by a transcript.
An audio recording of an oral history of Jim Reeher. The interview took place at the Reeher homestead next to the Tillamook Forestry Center. Part 2 of 2.
An audio recording of an oral history of Jim Reeher. The interview took place at the Reeher homestead next to the Tillamook Forestry Center. Part 1 of 2.
