Oral history interviews with Bertha Holt [Sound Recording 01]

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SR1060_T01S1

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Oral history interviews with Bertha Holt [Sound Recording 01]

Date(s)

  • 1992-11-04 (Creation)

Extent

Audiocassette; 00:30:32

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(1904-2000)

Biographical history

Bertha Marian Holt was born in Des Moines, Iowa, in 1904. She attended the University of Iowa and earned a nursing degree around 1925. In 1927, she and Harry Spencer Holt, her cousin, were married. Growing up in a large family, she had always planned to have a large family of her own. The couple had four children and adopted eight from South Korea. The couple lived in Firesteel, South Dakota, until 1937, when they settled in Lane County, Oregon. Together, she and Harry Holt founded the adoption organization Holt International Children's Services in the wake of the Korean War. They successfully lobbied to change the laws surrounding international adoption. Bertha Holt tells her family's story in the book "The Seed from the East." She died in 2000.

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Tape 1, Side 1. In the first session, conducted on November 4, 2017, Holt discusses her family background and early life on a farm in Iowa, particularly describing growing up in a large family, being brought up in the Plymouth Brethren branch of Christianity, and her education. She talks about studying nursing at the University of Iowa, including working in a hospital at the same time. She also discusses her social life and the diversity of the international student body. She then speaks more about her childhood, including games, household chores, and family trips. She talks about meeting Harry Holt and about their courtship and marriage, as well as his family background. She describes living on a farm in Firesteel, South Dakota, after their marriage, acting as the town’s nurse, and her experience during the Dust Bowl drought.

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Copyright for interview and photographs is held by the Oregon Historical Society. Use is allowed according to the following statement: Creative Commons - BY-NC-SA: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

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  • English

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