This oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey was conducted by Jim Strassmaier from January 19 to April 1, 1998, as part of the Oregon Historical Society's oral history program. The interview was conducted in seven sessions. The transcript includes additional information provided by Gilkey.
In the first interview session, conducted on January 19, 1998, Gilkey discusses his family background and early life in Albany, Oregon, including his education, his early interest in art, and working on the family ranch. He talks about teaching art classes at Albany College, about spending a summer as a fire lookout in the Santiam National Forest, and about his marriage to Vivian E. Malone. He discusses studying art at the University of Oregon, and also talks about his work on the official book for the 1939 New York World's Fair.
In the second interview session, conducted on January 28, 1998, Gilkey shares his experiences in New York City from 1936 to 1939, and speaks further about his work on the official book for the 1939 New York World's Fair. He discusses the development of his taste in art while in New York, shares anecdotes about Salvador Dali, and talks about the type of art he worked on. He shares his experience as an art professor at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri, and talks about some of his students. He then talks about his service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, including his training in Texas, and writing to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to suggest forming a unit to protect art in the European theater.
In the third interview session, conducted on February 4, 1998, Gilkey continues to discuss his service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He speaks at length about commanding a unit of soldiers tasked with recovering artworks stolen by the Nazis, as well as collecting Nazi propaganda art and the politics involved in returning recovered art. He talks about the people he met while in Europe.
In the fourth interview session, conducted on February 11, 1998, Gilkey continues to speak at length about recovering artworks stolen by the Nazis. He talks about his living situation and social life while in Europe, about the many German artists he met, and about meeting displaced European people. He discusses his return to Oregon in 1947 and chairing the art department at Oregon State College, which is now Oregon State University. He speaks about his work as dean to develop the college of humanities into the college of liberal arts, and about developing an international exchange program.
In the fifth interview session, conducted on February 18, 1998, Gilkey revisits the topic of German artists that he met while recovering stolen art in Europe. He also describes witnessing the Nuremburg trials and learning details about the Holocaust. He talks about how his art style changed after his war experiences, about post-war hostilities with Russia, and about displaced people in Europe. He then talks about some of his artworks and his printmaking process. He speaks further about his work as dean at OSU to develop the college of liberal arts, and about developing an international exchange program. He also talks about his relationship with OSU President Robert W. MacVicar, and about student protests in 1969 and 1970.
In the sixth interview session, conducted on February 25, 1998, Gilkey discusses his retirement from OSU in 1977. He talks about his work as a curator for the Portland Art Museum and as a part time professor at the Museum Art School, which is now the Pacific Northwest College of Art. He talks about the construction of the Vivian and Gordon Gilkey Center at the art museum, about his art collection, and about other Portland art collectors. He speaks about some of his OSU students, about some of his colleagues at the Portland Art Museum, and about his personal philosophy.
In the seventh and final interview session, conducted on April 1, 1998, Gilkey revisits the topic of student protests at OSU in 1969 and 1970. He speaks further about his work at the Portland Art Museum and about his colleagues, and talks about the museum's administration. He discusses his work developing the Oregon Arts Commission, the reasons the Museum Art School left PAM and became the Pacific Northwest College of Art, and about the construction of the Gilkey Center. He describes curating the International Print Show at PAM in 1997 and talks about the future of PAM. He closes the interview by discussing the careers of his students at PNCA, OSU, Stephens College, and Albany College.