Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey

Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Transcript] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 01, Recording 01] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 01, Recording 02] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 01, Recording 03] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 01, Recording 04] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 02, Recording 01] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 02, Recording 02] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 02, Recording 03] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 02, Recording 04] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 03, Recording 01] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 03, Recording 02] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 03, Recording 03] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 03, Recording 04] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 03, Recording 05] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 04, Recording 01] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 04, Recording 02] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 04, Recording 03] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 04, Recording 04] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 04, Recording 05] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 05, Recording 01] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 05, Recording 02] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 05, Recording 03] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 05, Recording 04] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 05, Recording 05] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 06, Recording 01] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 06, Recording 02] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 06, Recording 03] Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey [Session 07, Recording 01]
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Identity elements

Reference code

SR 3149

Name and location of repository

Level of description

Collection

Title

Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey

Date(s)

  • 1998-01-19 - 1998-04-01 (Creation)

Extent

.1 cubic feet; 17 audiocassettes (14 hr., 12 min., 32 sec.) + transcript (350 pages)

Name of creator

Biographical history

Gordon Waverly Gilkey was born in Linn County, Oregon, in 1912, and he grew up in Albany. He taught art classes at Albany College, now known as Lewis & Clark College, while still in high school. In 1933, he earned a bachelor's degree at Albany College, and in 1936, he earned a master's degree in fine arts from the University of Oregon. In 1939, he and Vivian E. Malone were married; they later had two children. That same year, he became a professor of art at Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. During World War II, he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and after the war, he commanded a unit tasked with recovering artworks stolen by the Nazis. He returned to Oregon in 1947, and became chair of the art department at Oregon State College, now known as Oregon State University. He later became dean of the college of humanities and social sciences, and developed it into the college of liberal arts. In 1964, he was appointed by Governor Mark Hatfield to chair the planning council that created the Oregon Arts Commission. After he retired from OSU in 1977, he was a curator at the Portland Art Museum and taught part-time at the Museum Art School, which is now the Pacific Northwest College of Art. He died in 2000.

Content and structure elements

Scope and content

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.

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

Sections of this interview have been redacted by the interviewee, and access to original audiocassettes is restricted. Digitized versions of the audio recordings and the interview transcript reflect the redactions and are open for research. Redacted sections are on Tape 2, Tape 4, Tape 5, Tapes 7 through 13, Tape 15, and Tape 17.

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

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling information

Accruals

Related materials elements

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related archival materials

An additional interview with Gordon W. Gilkey, conducted in 1980, is held by Oregon State University, and can be accessed online at http://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu/omeka/items/show/34451

Related descriptions

Notes element

General note

Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Gordon W. Gilkey, by Jim Strassmaier, SR 3149, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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

Place access points

Name access points

Accession area