![Oral history interview with Erskine Wood [Sound Recording 01]](/images/generic-icons/audio.png){kind=icon}
Identity elements
Reference code
Name and location of repository
Level of description
Collection
Title
Oral history interview with Erskine Wood
Date(s)
- 1965-02-22 (Creation)
Extent
0.1 cubic feet; 1 audiotape reel (1 hr., 52 min., 19 sec.)
Name of creator
Biographical history
Erskine B. Wood was born in the Vancouver Barracks in Vancouver, Washington, in 1879. He was the son of Portland, Oregon, lawyer Charles Erskine Scott Wood, whose biography he authored. In 1901, he earned a law degree from Harvard University. In 1903, he and Rebecca Baird Biddle were married; they later had four children. He joined his father's law firm in Portland and specialized in admiralty law. He also served as admiralty counsel to the United States Shipping Board in 1920. Rebecca Baird Biddle died in 1951. In 1953, Wood and Louise Pippel Cunningham were married. He retired from his law practice in 1982, and died in 1983 at the age of 104.
Content and structure elements
Scope and content
This oral history interview with Erskine Wood was conducted by Robert E. Jones and Charles S. Crookham on February 22, 1965.
In this interview, Wood discusses the naval career of his father, C. E. S. Wood, as well as his father's friendship with Chief Joseph of the Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) people in the Wallowa Valley, Oregon. He describes spending summers with Chief Joseph in 1892 and 1893. He then talks about C. E. S. Wood's law practice in Portland, Oregon, including some of the cases he worked on and lawyers he worked with. He discusses studying the law, joining his father's law firm, and specializing in admiralty law. He talks about cases he worked on, and about judges he argued before. He also discusses the history of the Skidmore Fountain.
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use elements
Conditions governing access
Copyright for this interview is held by the estate of Erskine Wood. Use is allowed according to the following statement: In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Physical access
Technical access
Conditions governing reproduction
Languages of the material
- English
Scripts of the material
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Finding aids
Acquisition and appraisal elements
Custodial history
Immediate source of acquisition
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Related materials elements
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related archival materials
The Erskine Wood papers, Mss 2445, and additional oral history interviews with Erskine Wood, SR 441 and SR 1096, are also held at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Related descriptions
Notes element
General note
Preferred citation: Oral history interview with Erskine Wood, by Robert E. Jones and Charles S. Crookham, SR 9512, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
General note
An incomplete transcript (48 pages) is available for in-person use at the 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
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Jones, Robert E. (Robert Edward), 1927- (Contributor)
- Crookham, Charles S. (Contributor)
- Wood, Charles Erskine Scott, 1852-1944 (Subject)
- Joseph (Nez Percé Chief), 1840-1904 (Subject)