Oral History of the Grande Ronde
The Grande Ronde Valley in Union County,
Oregon - rural, spacious, nestled in the bowl of the Blue Mountains.
The story of its history since its settling, through the two World Wars,
the Great Depression until today is told through the voices of its longtime
residents.
The Union County, Oregon History Project was sponsored by the Meyer
Memorial Trust to collect oral history and related items of 179 citizens
of the Grande Ronde Valley. The director, Dr. Eugene Smith, donated
the collection to Eastern Oregon University in March 2007 for the purpose
of creating an online database to share with those interested in the
rich heritage of rural eastern Oregon. Additional funding and financial
support for the Oral History of the Grande Ronde came from Pierce Library
at Eastern Oregon University, the Eastern Oregon Foundation, and the
Union County Cultural Coalition. Supplementing this database, are 35
more interviews from citizens in the Grande Ronde Valley hailing from
North Powder, Union, Imbler, Summerville, Cove, Elgin, and La Grande.
These latter additions were gathered in 1978 and have been housed in
the Archive at Eastern Oregon University. Welcome to the Grande Ronde
Valley!
Copyright Restrictions: PLEASE NOTE these interviews and related materials are provided for research purposes only. All uses of these interviews and related materials are covered by copyright agreement between the interviewees and the Union County, Oregon History Project and Eastern Oregon University. All the literary rights in these manuscripts, including the right to publish, are reserved to Eastern Oregon University, La Grande, unless otherwise noted. No part of these materials may be quoted or duplicated for publication without the permission of the Library Director at Eastern Oregon University. The narrators are speaking from their personal experience. Please respect their stories.