Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Series
Title
Oral history interview with Jill Eiland
Date(s)
- 1988-01-21 (Creation)
Extent
.1 cubic feet; 1 audiocassette (1 hr., 23 sec.) + transcript (26 pages)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Jill Wissler Eiland, nee Jill A. Wissler, was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1951. In 1973, she earned a bachelor's degree in business from Oregon State University. She pursued a career in politics and worked on the staff of Senator Bob Packwood in Washington, D.C. In 1981, she earned a master's degree in business administration from George Washington University. In 1982, she joined Portland General Electric as director of federal affairs, and continued to work in Washington, D.C., lobbying Congress for PGE. She returned to Oregon in 1985, and in 1990, she became director of public affairs for PGE. From 1994 to 1997, she served as vice president and managing partner for The Rockey Company. From 1997 to 2006, she was senior director of government relations for Kindercare Learning Centers. In 2004, she joined the Knowledge Learning Corporation as vice president of corporate communications. In 2006, she became public affairs director for the Intel Corporation in the Northwest Region. In 2017, she joined Gallatin Public Affairs as a managing partner and became senior counsel in 2020.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
This oral history interview with Jill Eiland was conducted by Judy Hartman on January 21, 1988. The interview was conducted as part of the Portland General Electric Centennial Oral History Series, which marked PGE's 100th anniversary and was used in the writing of the book "Electrifying Eden."
In this interview, Eiland discusses her work as director of federal affairs at Portland General Electric. She describes her job duties, including lobbying the U.S. Congress; talks about the people who had previously held her position; and discusses how the job has changed. She talks about some of the legislation PGE lobbied for and against. She also discusses PGE's relationship with Native American communities. She then talks about her decision to leave Washington, D.C., in 1985 to return to Oregon, and discusses how her job duties changed. She closes the interview by talking about philanthropic work and volunteering in the Portland community by PGE employees; about public opinion of PGE; and about how the Trojan Nuclear Power Plant sets PGE apart from other electric utilities.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Copyright for this interview 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/.
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
Language and script notes
Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
Gift of Craig Wollner, 1989 (Lib. Acc. 28418).
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information
Accruals
Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
The Oregon Historical Society Research Library also holds photographs and documents relating to PGE in Coll 415, the Portland General Electric collection, and Org. Lot 151, the Portland General Electric photographs.
Related descriptions
Publication notes
This oral history interview was used in the writing of Electrifying Eden: Portland General Electric, 1889-1965, written by Craig Wollner and published in 1990 by the Oregon Historical Society Press.
Notes element
General note
Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Jill Eiland, by Judy Hartman, SR 2817, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
General note
Forms part of the Portland General Electric Centennial Oral History Series.
Specialized notes
Alternative identifier(s)
Description control element
Rules or conventions
Finding aid based on DACS (Describing Archives: A Content Standard), 2nd Edition.
Sources used
Archivist's note
Sarah Stroman
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Hartman, Judy (Contributor)
- Portland General Electric Company (Subject)