This is an oral history interview with Larry Smith at Jacksonville, Oregon, given on February 10th, 1989. We are going to go through some questions. The first one we’ll start with is…
Where did you grow up and what is your educational background?
I grew up in Phoenix, Oregon, which is real close to Jacksonville. I went all twelve years of school there and then went to Southern Oregon College. After two years there, then I went down to Texas for three years in engineering school. During that whole time, I was working for the Park Service. When I say, we, I was referring to m twin brother because we did everything together. If he turned right, I turned right, and so forth. Everything was owned in common except our shoes, I think. Then I came back to Southern Oregon College and completed another two degrees there in education.
Both in education?
Yes, the first degree was down in Texas at Letourneau College in engineering and then I came back to Southern Oregon College and picked up a B.S in education and an M.S. So I have never strayed very far from home as far as living goes. I hate to admit it, but I was born in California. But, luckily, my dad saw the benefit of moving to Oregon when my brother and I were about six.
So you lived in Oregon continuously since then?
Yeah, except for three seasons down at Texas. It was kind of interesting being in Texas during the civil rights restlessness. I can remember the “colored” signs in the restrooms. We were right there in ’63, just as Kennedy had been elected and Robert Kennedy was starting to create a stir. You could just see a rumble throughout the whole black community. Things were changing real fast. It was kind of fun to be there watching some of this happen. Talking about interesting history, sometimes I saw it actually being made. It was great.
My grandfather and grandmother came out from Montana in ’46, excuse me ’47, to visit. So people always went to Crater Lake. That was just something you did. We moved here in ’46 and my dad was building a house. So by’47, it was pretty well done. We went up to Crater Lake. That’s my first experience of seeing the lake, never realizing it would shape my whole life. And it really did. It’s had a fantastic effect on both my brother and myself.
