Richard Neuberger Book & Items

 

This Fall, OSU Press published Stephen Forrester's long-awaited biography of Oregon Senator Richard Neuberger. You can learn more about Neuberger from the Oregon Encyclopedia or Wikipedia. Better yet, go buy Stephen's book! He was a founder of Willamette Week, served as a Washington correspondent, and spent thirty-three years as the editor and publisher of The Daily Astorian. Stephen has spent many years researching and writing this work. I had pre-ordered my copy as soon as OSU Press made the link active and was thrilled when it finally arrived.



Over the years, I had met people who knew or worked for Neuberger, and it was fascinating to learn the full story of his life and how he navigated politics to find himself in a race for office that would determine the balance of power in the United States Senate.



The book includes a few pictures of some Richard Neuberger campaign items, and it made me think it has been a while since I had seen a Neuberger campaign item show up online. I decided it was time to showcase known items. The following items are from my collection and that of longtime Oregon APIC members John Silvertooth and John Gearhart.

 

The Neuberger Record

We've posted about Maurine Neuberger before. I recently picked up a record album from 1960. I had seen it on ebay for a few months, but listed for more than I thought it should go for until it recently came down in price. I grabbed it. What it contains is a cache of old campaign ads made for radio. There are 9 ads in total and I can't wait to hear them.

What makes this record so interesting is that it is possibly full of ads that were never used in the May 1960 campaign. Earlier that year, Oregon's junior Senator had passed away. He was only 47.  This record may be full of campaign advertisements from his 1960 re-election effort. Then again, they could be ads from the joint Special and Regular May Primary for Maurine Neuberger. I will find out when get the old record machine up and running. I can't wait to listen.

What's In A Name? & Update

This article originally appeared in the American Locals Political Item Collectors Newsletter in the Summer 1991 issue. It was written by APIC member David Shanton. We have added more photos to supplement the original article and provided a short update on Neubergers life from 1991-2000.

As crass it may sound, for most of our nation's history, the single most direct route to the United States Senate for a woman was through the cemetery. With the exception of Margaret Chase Smith, the ten women who served in the Senate prior to the 1978 election of Nancy Kassenbaum arrived there by virtue of the death of their husbands.


Oregon's Maurine Neuberger was no different. Her husband, Richard L. Neuberger was the first Democrat elected to the Senate from Oregon in 40 years when he took the seat in 1954. His sudden death in March 1960, just days before he planned to file for re-election, left Oregon Democrats in a quandary. Most realized that Maurine Neuberger would be a formidable, perhaps unbeatable candidate, but would she run?

1960 Bumper Sticker