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 Missing Oregon Portraits

I recently read the article in the Statesman Journal from Claire Withycombe (a descendant of Governor Withycombe) about the Oregon State Capitol Foundation trying to track down the whereabouts and general information about the missing portraits of Oregon's governors. I thought I would do a little sleuthing. I was hoping, perhaps there would be an old blurry photograph of one of the missing paintings hidden in the Wayback archives of our local Oregon newspapers. Sadly, no blurry images yet, but lots of interesting bits of information. 

I guess prior to 1896 there was no subject or explanation of who these painted men were until the office of the SOS issued cards with short bio statements about each painting. The Medford Mail Tribune mentions that biographical data will be made on cards. These two images of the article give us exactly what was written on the cards.

 

Who was Manley J Wilson?

Oregon collectors and Oregon history buffs I know are telling themselves 'I think he was an Oregon candidate' or 'wasn't he in the legislature?' You would be correct on both of those fronts, but few people know anything more about Wilson than that. We hope this article will shed some much-needed light on his background for APIC members and the public.

Manley J Wilson represented Columbia and Clatsop County in the Oregon House of Representatives (HD 23) for four terms prior to being elected to the Oregon Senate in 1950. In the 1940s. Timber, Fishing and Farming were the mainstays of daily life in Columbia County. This is the community Wilson represented. They were union families and they were Democrats. Wilson himself was Editor of the Woodworker, the official publication of the International Woodworkers of America.

Verne Duncan Sale & Items

This weekend I was able to attend the estate sale of Verne and Donna Duncan. They have recently downsized and moved out of their long time residence. I was able to add a few Duncan items I never had the chance to get over the years. Duncan was the longstanding Superntendent of Public Education in Oregon. He was elected in 1974 and served until 1989.

Mitch Greenlick: Capitol Letters & Buttons

One of the great joys of also collecting political buttons and working in politics is meeting the candidates behind the button. Over the years I have had the chance to get to know Oregon State Representative Mitch Greenlick. He has represented Washington County and Multnomah County in the legislature since 2002. He first ran in 2000 and was defeated and ran again in 2002 and has won every re-election since (2004,2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, and 2016). He is currently up for re-election in 2018.

There are some buttons that his campaign produced in the early years. All that I have picked up are badge-a-mint produced by supporter Wayne Anderson. For a long time, all I had known about was a 2.25" version. Just this last week I was able to find a 3" version as well!

Paul Hanneman Remembered

In 2017 Oregon lost Paul Hanneman. He spent 26 years in the Oregon legislature representing citizens of the central Oregon coast. His home was Pacific City and he was involved in two of the landmark environmental  accomplishments of the late 1960s and early 1970s here in Oregon. The Oregon Bottle Bill when first introduced in 1969 was met with stiff opposition, including opposition from future supporter Governor Tom McCall. Eventually Paul Hanneman and Richard Chambers were eventually able to get McCall on board in 1971 and HB 1036 was passed with a lot of opposition from grocery stores and the beverage industry. Hanneman was the sponsor of the legislation.

Hardy Myers Remembered

Shortly after Thanksgiving in 2016 Oregon lost one of its most humble public servants. Hardy Myers passed away at the age of 77. Born in Electric Mills, Mississippi. Like many, he found his way to Oregon when his family moved here for the logging. His father worked in the Bend area before settling the family in Prineville. That's where he met his future wife Mary Ann. He would go back to the East for college and then return again for to Oregon for law school.

Hardy Myers enjoyed public service. It seemed to be in his blood. As a volunteer in his local Parrish he got the attention of others in the community. He soon found himself volunteering to serve on public boards and commissions in Portland. That would then get friends to urge him to run for the Oregon Legislature. You can read about many of his accomplishments in elected office here.

Mark Hatfield Postcard

Here's a great Mark Hatfield for State Representative postcard from his 1952 campaign that showed up on ebay recently. Pretty neat early career item from Senator Hatfield. The last Hatfield post we put up was about items concerning one of the highest points of his career; when he was considered to be a Vice President in 1968.

Keep on looking. Great stuff is out there to find.

Carl H. Francis Matchbook

This fall I had the great luck of visiting a sale at an estate and purchased the only political item I could find. It was a Carl H. Francis matchbook. It is one of the few items I have for Oregon legislative candidates prior to 1960. Francis was first elected in 1942, and this matchbook could be from any election between 1942 and 1954. In 1956 Francis was elected to the State Senate and served at least 1960. He represented Dayton and surrounding areas of Yamhill County while in the legislature.