Rating
Title	Betty Russell Interview
Date	2003-11-20
Interviewee	Russell, Betty.
Description	Interview by James Hillegas as part of the Bellingham Centennial Oral History Project. Betty (b. 1924) discusses her childhood in Bellingham living in both Park Street and Smith Road houses. She focuses mainly on traditions particular to her immediate family such as Christmas, religion, and weekend activities. One of her occasional getaways was going with the family to a beach on the Lummi Indian Reservation. She mentions her relationship and experiences with her father who was a logger and later a longshoreman. In addressing the Longshore Labor Strike in the 1930’s, she illustrates the reaction of the community and its direct effect on her family. Betty reminisces about first being an independent seamstress at 14 years old, volunteering as a receptionist at Graham Airport, and attending the old Sehome School to learn to be a sheet metal mechanic. During World War II she worked at Boeing in Seattle becoming one of the first women workers on the floor of the Boeing plant as a mechanic mostly building B-17’s. She also recounts both her family’s and the community’s reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor and further discusses serving in the hydrographic office of the Navy in Washington D. C. Here, she remarks about differences between the east coast and west coast . Interview length: Two 60 minute cassette tapes.
Listen to Audio	No audio online.
Transcript	Transcript available: http://west.wwu.edu/cpnws/findingaids/cpnws/Transcripts/BCOHP/RussellB20031120transcript.pdf
Contributors	Hillegas, James
Collection Name	Bellingham Centennial Oral History Project records
Repository	Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Washington University.
Additional Information	For more information about this resource, contact the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Washington University, Bellingham WA 98225-9123. Tel: 360 650 7747. Please cite the identifier name/number.
Document Type	oral histories (document genres)
Language	Materials entirely in English.
Digital Collection	Washington Women's History Consortium - Oral Histories.
Digital Format	PDF file.
Date of Digital Object	2007-06-28
Identifier	RussellB20031120
Grant Project	Funding to digitize this resource made available by a grant from the Washington State Legislature to the Washington Women's History Consortium.
Publisher	Published by the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Washington University
Rights	For permission to publish or display this resource, contact the Center for Pacific Northwest Studies, Western Washington University, Bellingham, WA 98225-9123.
Subject	Women--Washington (State)--History--Sources .

Find results with:

Searching collections:

Home Betty Russell Interview

Betty Russell Interview

Description

Tags

Comments