Interview with Edna L. Hopkins [Transcript]

Interview with Edna L. Hopkins [Transcript]

Hopkins, Edna L. (Edna Lee), 1915-1987

5/28/81

Transcript.This oral history interview with Edna L. Hopkins was conducted by Amy Kesselman on May 28, 1981. In this interview, Hopkins discusses her early life in Kentucky and Tennessee, including raising a family and working at an aircraft plant. She then talks about coming to Oregon in 1943 and shares her experiences as a welder in the Kaiser shipyards in Vancouver, Washington. She describes her training, her job duties, and the dangers of the job. She discusses her union membership, as well as balancing work and home life. She speaks about her life after the war, including working at the Jantzen Knitting Mills. She shares her opinion on the women’s movement and feminism, shares her observations of the treatment Black people received in Portland, and talks about her children, their families and their careers.

Shipbuilding industry--Oregon--Portland

World War, 1939-1945--Women--Oregon--Portland

Women--Employment--Oregon--Portland

Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation—Employees

Henry J. Kaiser Company—Employees

Kaiser Company (Portland, Or.)--Employees

Kaiser Company, Inc. (Vancouver, Wash.)--Employees

Commercial Iron Works (Portland, Or.)--Employees

Northwest Digital Heritage

sound

text

https://digitalcollections.ohs.org/sr9079-transcript