Beverly Weiner Galen

Weinstein: We are going to start at the beginning. I’d like you to tell me your name, and start by talking about where you were born.
GALEN: February 27th, in 1927 I was born in New York City.

Weinstein: Your family lived there at the time?
GALEN: My mother and father.

Weinstein: What were their names?
GALEN: Beatrice and George Weiner.

Weinstein: What was your mother’s maiden name?
GALEN: My mother’s maiden name was Herman [spells out].

Weinstein: Where was your mom from?
GALEN: My mom was born in New York. Actually, she was born in Brooklyn. Her parents came over. They were in love in the Ukraine and they came over in 1889, to the golden land. They promised each other that they would never speak another word of Yiddish or Russian. They wanted to be Americans, and all the time I knew them, they never had an accent. Grandpa learned English by reading; I believe it was Sholem Asch. He [grandfather] was a brilliant man; in Russia he had memorized all of Asch’s books and translated them into English. Or maybe he read them in English? Anyhow, he said that he learned English before he came to the United States.

Weinstein: Very unusual. What was their life like? Did they live in a shtetl, or in a city?
GALEN: They lived in Kiev [pronounces “keev”]. It is called Kiev [pronounces “key-ev”], but the newspaper reporters, my grandparents, called it Kiev [“keev”], in the Ukraine.

Weinstein: So that was a city-city?
GALEN: A big city. Yes.

Weinstein: Okay, so they had education?
GALEN: I don’t think so; I don’t know. They had Jewish education.

Weinstein: Yes, okay.
GALEN: Other than that, I don’t know. But grandpa was an educated man; he read all the time.

Weinstein: So, if they came here in 1889 and you were born say, 30 years later…
GALEN: It was old…27.

Weinstein: Yes.
GALEN: There was no Ellis Island when they came. They got off the boat and walked to the first synagogue and got married.

Weinstein: There was no one to greet them? They didn’t have anyone here? They were strong people.
GALEN: No. They brought people here, but they didn’t have anyone.

Weinstein: So when they landed they were alone?
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: Did their families know that they planned to marry when they got here?
GALEN: I’m sure they did; I never even asked them.

Weinstein: Did their families arrive here after them? Their parents?
GALEN: Their parents, I don’t think arrived. I don’t know what happened to them.

Weinstein: You never knew them?
GALEN: I never knew them. My grandma had one brother, and he married Grandpa’s sister.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: Grandpa had two sisters: one was Lena and the other was Golda.

Weinstein: Did they come to America?
GALEN: He brought them over after he got here. 

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: It’s a similar story to many peoples.

Weinstein: Many people. But the coincidence, and the love story between them is very… They were very young when [they emigrated]?
GALEN: Grandma was 17 and grandpa was 18.

Weinstein: So they were a couple of kids.
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: But they were focused and knew what they wanted.
GALEN: Yes. What can I tell you?

Weinstein: Well, tell me more about how they settled into this country.
GALEN: Okay. Well, they got married in New York. They walked across the bridge to Brooklyn. I don’t know if they bought a house or what. But they had a house very soon after they got here. It was in a German neighborhood. Grandpa said that the neighbors liked them so they told their kids, that the Herman kids were of limits, they were never to bother the Herman kids.

Weinstein: Because?
GALEN: Because they liked them…the parents.

Weinstein: Oh you mean never to be not nice to them? I thought you meant never to play with them.
GALEN: No, no, no, no.

Weinstein: Okay. Alright.
GALEN: I guess they [the neighbor kids] were hoodlums. The parents just said, “Don’t go near the Herman kids; don’t bother them.”

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: Because Grandma and Grandpa had eight kids.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: They had two daughters and six sons. The oldest son, Uncle Lou, became one of the first tax attorneys in the United States. He was going to law school and he worked at the post office at night. The post office is where he found out about the new tax laws. 

Weinstein: So, Uncle Lou was your mother’s brother?
GALEN: My mother’s oldest brother. He was 16 years older than she.

Weinstein: So you said there were two daughters. Your mother and?
GALEN: My mother and her sister Eva.

Weinstein: Okay, and six brothers?
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: So you said, they went to Brooklyn. And in 1889, Brooklyn was Uptown.
GALEN: Was it?

Weinstein: Well the Lower East side was more populated– most of the immigrant Jews settled in the Lower East Side.
GALEN: Well, that’s where they got married. They got off the boat in America, got married, and walked across the bridge.

Weinstein: So, if they went to Brooklyn, I’m just wondering if they came here with some assets that they could use, or maybe they didn’t buy a place immediately, maybe they rented?
GALEN: I don’t know.

Weinstein: Well it’s interesting you said your grandfather was a cultured man in Kiev, and so, wanted maybe a better environment for his family than what he would have in the Lower East Side?
GALEN: I wish he were here for me to ask him.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: It’s possible that there was a period of time that they spent before walking across the bridge.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: I mean, I really don’t know.

Weinstein: I’m just wondering, because that was very far-sighted. Anyway, I’m not supposed to be talking.
GALEN: You got to ask questions.

Weinstein: So, you were born in Brooklyn?
GALEN: No, I was…

Weinstein: You were born in New York City?
GALEN: I don’t remember if I was born in the city or in Brooklyn, but I was immediately taken to Richmond Hill, Long Island.

Weinstein: Is that where?
GALEN: My father’s family.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: I was there, in the time that I lived in New York.

Weinstein: So you went to school there?
GALEN: I was in Queens, yes.

Weinstein: So, what was your education like? Tell me about your education period.
GALEN: Okay. Well I went to P.S. 100, which was a few blocks from our house. I walked there. What was it like?

Weinstein: Did you go to high school there?
GALEN: No, I went to high school in Portland. I went to junior high school there. Okay, see all of this is in here [motions to head].

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: I went to PS 100 and then, in the fifth grade they took a couple of us out of that school and put us in a rapid advance class in [Chimer?] junior high school. I don’t know if they still have that kind of a junior high school or what. But we made two years in one. That’s why it’s a little bit confusing. But, that was excellent. I met my first lab person. She became my best friend. All the kids were very bright. They were all going to do something. I just remember the activity, which I hadn’t seen in grade school before. Well, soon after I got there I was chosen to read. We went to Rockefeller Center. A taxi picked me up at home, and took me to Rockefeller Center. There were three other kids from other schools that were also taxied to the same place. On Saturdays we read Blue Beard on the radio. I loved it- it was so exciting.

Weinstein: I can imagine.
GALEN: I did that until they took me away to Portland.

Weinstein: How did you come to Portland? What was the impetus to bring your family to Portland?
GALEN: My other grandpa, my father’s father…

Weinstein: Yes.
GALEN: You know, there was a depression, so life was very different then from the way it is now. My other grandpa, Weiner, was very talented. He was a designer of women’s clothes.

Weinstein: What was his first name?
GALEN: His name was Louis Weiner.

Weinstein: [spells out]
GALEN: In New York, did you ever hear of Molly Parnis?

Weinstein: Yes.
GALEN: Okay. Well he shared a loft with her in New York.

Weinstein: Yes, she’s a classic designer.
GALEN: Anyway, he wanted to get out of New York because my grandma had died. He let the word out that he was available, and he accepted a job in San Francisco on the condition that my father would have a job too.

Weinstein: That was his son?
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: Because I was his first grandchild he was terrible; as far as he was concerned, I was the only grandchild.

Weinstein: He loved you.
GALEN: Well, that’s not always the best thing in the world you know. But he wanted to be sure I was wherever he was. So he made sure that my father had a job where he had a job. Of course, they would do anything to have him so they went to San Francisco, and mom and I followed several months later. Well, I love San Francisco now, but there were fleas in our apartment. I went to Haight-Ashbury school where one of the kids’ fathers had just been hanged in Alaska. I mean the whole atmosphere was…

Weinstein: Different, absolutely.
GALEN: Sure different. I was too protected. Mom didn’t like it either; she would walk me to school and walk home. She was nervous all the time I was in school, and finally she said, “We can’t take it here anymore.” We went back to New York.

Weinstein: The whole family.
GALEN: Just mom and I. Dad had to earn a living. He stayed there. Grandpa let out the word again that he was available, because he wasn’t going to be there without his precious little granddaughter. He was offered a job in Portland, Oregon. We’d never heard of Portland, Oregon you know! That’s a long time ago, that’s in 1938, ’39. So, Dad and Grandpa went to Portland, Oregon, and Mom and I stayed in New York. Dad kept sending pictures of the roses, and the rose gardens, and the mountains, and everything was just beautiful. Finally Mother said, “Well, we’ll try it.” 

Weinstein: She was a strong woman.
GALEN: Oh yes. So Mom decides that we can go to Portland, Oregon. Dad of course, was so excited. It was at that time on the train, three nights and four days or three days and four nights.

Weinstein: Really, that long?
GALEN: Yes, it was three and four, I know that, to get here. But we stopped in Cheyenne, Wyoming to change trains.

Weinstein: This was from the east?
GALEN: Yes. We were coming from New York. I was so excited; I thought we were going to have a horse and buggy! You know, the train was The Pony Express, and I was so excited. We got there and it was just another train, which took us from Cheyenne to Portland. The night before and the early morning when we were arriving in Portland we went through the Columbia River Gorge, the most beautiful sight you’ve ever seen. I remember tears coming down; it was so beautiful.

Weinstein: Really. Well it still is.
GALEN: It is. We got to Portland, and you remember when they had that engine, at the entrance of the railroad station? With all the roses?

Weinstein: Yes.
GALEN: We saw that, and my father had a new car. He said, “We have an apartment on Park Avenue.” Wow! What more could you want?

Weinstein: Yes!
GALEN: Well we loved Portland from the minute we got here. There were no fleas, and people were friendly.

Weinstein: Yes, still are.
GALEN: My mom learned to cook, which she’d never done before.

Weinstein: She hadn’t?
GALEN: No, we lived with my aunt and uncle and my cousins, and my aunt did the cooking.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: So Mom learned to cook, and to bake, and she learned very well. And she learned how to play cards, which she’d never done before. So she was happy; and I was happy. 

Weinstein: And people were friendly so they formed a big circle of friends?
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: Tell me, who were some of their friends; do you remember some of their names?
GALEN: Oh yes. They were very friendly with the entire Blank family.

Weinstein: You mean Miss Elaine?
GALEN: Yes, the mother.

Weinstein: Oh, Tinkleman?
GALEN: Tinkleman, yes Mrs. Tinkleman. She was a good friend of my grandfather when he came to visit. They used to sit for hours and talk. But my mom’s friends were Edith Kaplan and Adrian’s mother.

Weinstein: Claire.
GALEN: Claire Gross.

Weinstein: Who was a Tinkleman.
GALEN: Right. Missy was younger. That whole group: Zelma Blank, …Ethel Gilbert…

Weinstein: Yes. Those were Adrian’s…
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: …Relatives. We’re speaking of Adrian Gross, who is now Adrian Geffen. Yes. Just for the record, just to get that in there. Now were your parents socially friendly? I mean, it wasn’t just the ladies playing cards; it was the men and the women?
GALEN: No, it was the men and the women. My father played poker.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: The women played mahjong and pan [panguingue].

Weinstein: Yes. So, when they got together… do you remember when your folks had company? Because I have vivid memories of that part of my childhood- how did they socialize? Did they come to each other’s homes? Did they eat early or late? Did they drink alcohol?
GALEN: I don’t think they drank alcohol.

Weinstein: But did they bring their children?
GALEN: No, they would get together; mom had people in the basement. In New York she’d have parties [in the basement]…

Weinstein: Yes.
GALEN: They all had party rooms.

Weinstein: Yes. Now, where in Portland was this?
GALEN: We lived in Eastmoreland.

Weinstein: Eastmoreland, so you grew up in Eastmoreland?
GALEN: No, that was later.

Weinstein: Oh. Because you said your dad had a place…
GALEN: I grew up…right down town, on Park.

Weinstein: So in the Portland State Area? Where Portland State is now?
GALEN: Yes. We used to walk to the Jewish Community Center.

Weinstein: Yes.
GALEN: We walked to everything.

Weinstein: You walked downtown too?
GALEN: Yes. Sure. When we walked downtown, we high school kids, our parents knew exactly where we were because the storekeepers knew. I mean we were a small town.

Weinstein: Yes, that’s right. 
GALEN: We didn’t go very far.

Weinstein: So they would know…if your mother wanted to know where you were she could check with someone?
GALEN: “Did she go by there?” You know, “Have you seen my daughter?”

Weinstein: Well, it’s a bygone era, too bad.
GALEN: Yes, it was nice.

Weinstein: So, what about religious observance in your family?
GALEN: We didn’t belong to a synagogue. I don’t know why; my mother would have loved it. I guess it was my dad.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: I really got excited about being Jewish because during the High Holidays, the girls would walk from one synagogue to another, and you would see everybody; it was fun!

Weinstein: The Jewish Community Center was a social hub too.
GALEN: The Center, yes. Well Mom went with me to the Center; we always went to the Center- swimming.

Weinstein: Did you observe Jewish rituals at home, like Shabbat?
GALEN: No, my mom didn’t. I started it when Bill and I got married. But my mother tired so hard. When she had yahrzeit she had a candle and she said the prayer every night.

Weinstein: So it was part of her upbringing too.
GALEN: Yes. I don’t know why it wasn’t; my father…

Weinstein: Was your father, the name Weiner, was he connected to the Portland Weiner family?
GALEN: No, not at all. My father’s name came from [Wittenberg?]

Weinstein: Oh, so they were German?
GALEN: Well, wasn’t everybody at one time? Well, the family… What I remember was the oldest brother of my grandfather [Banish?], Benjamin, he was the first one to come to this country. He came with the name Wittenberg. But when his brothers all came, and there were seven of them, they couldn’t speak English, they just gave them the name Weiner, when they got off the boat.

Weinstein: Okay. That’s not an unusual story.
GALEN: Yes. But the name was Wittenberg. Bill and I went to Wittenberg, in Eastern Germany; it’s very close to the Ukraine. What happened was, Martin Luther started Lutheranism (he was from Wittenberg) and when he started ranting, I guess the Jews all left. That was in 1510. So we could trace our family back to that. They must’ve been there until 1510, and then they went to the Ukraine. We’re a bunch of gypsies, we Jews.

Weinstein: By force, not by inclination necessarily.
GALEN: No, no.

Weinstein: Again, getting back to your parents and their social life, and their involvement: was your dad active in business? What did he do?
GALEN: He worked in the same place that my grandpa did.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: Here in Portland he worked for Hymie Kirshner. He was, oh what do you call it? The person that sees that things are done, that the garments are put together, that someone’s doing their job.

Weinstein: Huge, huge position, that’s the ultimate responsibility.
GALEN: The manager…production manager.

Weinstein: If he were in the movie business he’d be a movie producer.
GALEN: Yes, so he produced coats.

Weinstein: Yes. And your dad worked with him?
GALEN: Yes. Well grandpa designed…he designed and saw to it that they were done right. He was a designer. But Dad saw that they were produced properly.

Weinstein: Well that was a good team because they were looking out for each other.
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: Because those were tough times, so… Now that is Corky’s family, isn’t it?
GALEN: Yes, that’s right.

Weinstein: Corky Zelinka, Corky Kauffman Zelinka?
GALEN: Yes, but her name was…

Weinstein: Corrinne
GALEN: Yes, but what was her original name?

Weinstein: Wasn’t it Kirshner? [transcriber note: it was Helman]
GALEN: No. I can’t think of what her name was. But I know that her father wanted my grandfather to work for him. But he was with Hymie Kirshner. 

Weinstein: Okay, well, let’s go back to your school period. So you went to Lincoln High School? 
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: And, who were some of your friends there?
GALEN: Selma Nepom, Selma Brown…

Weinstein: Yes.
GALEN: Betty Axe; she doesn’t live here anymore; she lives in California. Charlotte Rosenstein; she became Charlotte Amiton.  Shirley Geller. But they’re gone now.

Weinstein: Were you involved in the general high school population, or did you mainly hang out with?
GALEN: Oh no, I was always involved.

Weinstein: What kinds of things did you take part in?
GALEN: I was on the rally squad… the class play, of course… I was very active.

Weinstein: And, were your friends mostly Jewish?
GALEN: No, they were mixed.

Weinstein: That leads me to ask you about attitudes towards Jews; did you experience overt antisemitism?
GALEN: Here, or in New York?

Weinstein: Well let’s talk about Portland.
GALEN: Okay. Certain things have happened in the years. You know I can ignore things that are not pleasant… I can just, you know.

Weinstein: You mean you’re able to?
GALEN: Yes. I remember…trying to think, I was just thinking of it the other day… When we moved to Eastmoreland. This was when we were married. There was a florist and I went in to buy some stuff, and, “Oh you’re new in the neighborhood.” She was all excited, the proprietor, and, “Oh we have to get you into the garden club.” And, she was so excited, and, then I never heard from her.

Weinstein: Okay, so that was more subtle. When you were in high school, do you remember antisemitism or feeling separate?
GALEN: [long pause] I don’t think so. It may have been something like that, you know where, “Oh, so they don’t want me.” So…

Weinstein: So how’d you deal with that?
GALEN: Ignore it. I mean, what are you going to do? I didn’t go home and cry. I was never upset over something like that. I just said, “This is the way it is.” Did you have experiences in Seattle?

Weinstein: I did. And, interestingly, I still remember some of them because they were so hurtful. But I came from a more observant family than you did, not Orthodox by any means, but more observant, and I’m not supposed to be the one that’s talking, anyway, so…
GALEN: But I’m interested.

Weinstein: Thank you. So, I know that you were very young when you got married, did you go to college?
GALEN: I have a master’s. 

Weinstein: Okay, tell me about that.
GALEN: I went to school constantly, whatever way I could. I went to the University of Oregon, before we got married. I was only there for a year and then we were married. Then after that, wherever we went… I went to Johns Hopkins when we were in Baltimore. I took courses all the time. I also took courses in art… and it was when I took a sculpture course at the art museum school, which is now PNCA [Pacific Northwest College of Art]… I fell in love with sculpture. That’s what I wanted, so I decided to continue. My kids were older by then and I could go back to school, not just piece meal. So I registered at Portland State, and as an art major, art history. And, I just went to school until I graduated, even after I graduated. I got my art history degree and then I continued graduate work. I was teaching already. I was teaching sculpture whenever Fred Littman was ill.

Weinstein: Oh.
GALEN: And that’s when I decided I didn’t want to teach. So I didn’t need a thesis.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: I had all my hours for my master’s, but I never wrote the thesis. I had more hours than I needed. [pause] I was asked by my biology teacher to change from arts to science.

Weinstein: You mean you showed an interest or a talent for science? 
GALEN: I was not interested, but I had the highest grade she’d ever seen in her lab.

Weinstein: Really?
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: So you’d never given it a thought?
GALEN: No! It was easy, I mean…I didn’t want to.

Weinstein: Do you feel that you regret that you didn’t do?
GALEN: No, I didn’t want to.

Weinstein: You were very happy with pursuing art?
GALEN: Yes. Art, literature, that’s me.

Weinstein: Humanities.
GALEN: Yes. I can do the other, but I wouldn’t be happy.

Weinstein: Okay, reason enough not to. I’d like to go back to before you really settled in in Portland, and you mentioned when you lived in Baltimore… Tell me about…
GALEN: You mean Bill and I? 

Weinstein: Yes; you and Bill. After you were married but before you had, you know, your family and everything.
GALEN: Yes. Well we had our family right away here.

Weinstein: Well first of all, tell me your children, their names…
GALEN: Yes. Well Lindsay was born in 1947, January 1947, in Portland. 

Weinstein: And, the other children just go through…
GALEN: Edward was born in December of ’48, and it’s Edward Allen Galen.

Weinstein: In Portland?
GALEN: In Portland. No, wait a minute…backtrack… No, only Lindsay and Davey were born in Portland. Edward was born in Baltimore.

Weinstein: Oh okay. So, when you moved to Baltimore…
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: You already had two?
GALEN: We had Lindsay.

Weinstein: Lindsay and?
GALEN: No, Edward was born in Baltimore.

Weinstein: Okay so you had, okay. But while you lived there you had two children?
GALEN: Yes. Christy was born in Baltimore. She was delivered by Allen Guttmacher.

Weinstein: Oh, that’s from the Guttmacher Institute.
GALEN: Planned Parenthood. He was one great guy.

Weinstein: Well he sounds like, I mean the little I’ve read about him… to have that kind of…
GALEN: He was great.

Weinstein: …drive to start something like that.
GALEN: Yes, he was great. He had to quit his private practice because he wasn’t making any money. He was treating all doctor’s wives, and at that time, you didn’t charge. Nowadays they do. But he couldn’t afford to practice.

Weinstein: So, what was life like in Baltimore?
GALEN: Baltimore was completely different from the northwest. It was very formal. We were told… who told us to look somebody up? I’ve got to think for a minute, it’s on the tip of my tongue. We were told to look up somebody’s relative. That’s right, I forgot, it’s the furniture business. We were going there and we had no furniture, we had to buy furniture there and part of Bill’s family, you know they’re all in the furniture business?

Weinstein: I didn’t know.
GALEN: I think it was Frank, who dragged her.

Weinstein: Oh, in Portland?
GALEN: Yes, who said, “You’re going to Baltimore, you’ve got to look up these people, because, and I will write to them, they’ll give you everything wholesale.” Because he said, “We’ve done a lot of business with them.” So we get there, and of course you know, we’re used to everybody being friendly. We go up to this guy’s office, and he did what he had to do. He had to give us furniture wholesale. He did that, and I saw pictures of his family on his desk, and I said, “Oh it looks like you have a child the same age as mine!” You know, just being friendly, and he said, “I guess so.” Or whatever. And… not a word, not a word. We ended up belonging to the same temple that they belonged to and in all the years that we were there, not a word. As we’re leaving Baltimore, I get a call from her, she said, “Oh I’ve been dying to meet you!” Phony as hell. “I’ve been dying to meet you. I’ve heard so much about you wonderful people.” And, “Could we make a date?” I said, “Well I’m afraid you’re about four years too late.” “Because we’re leaving shortly, and, we only have time for the people who have been so kind to us in the time we’ve been here.”

Weinstein: Bev, that’s just done perfectly.
GALEN: But you know, you remember certain things like that.

Weinstein: Absolutely, it was a hurt! 
GALEN: Yes, and this was a Jewish guy. Anyway, we did, we did make a lot of friends in Baltimore. But they were, formal. Just different.

Weinstein: That southern influence, I think.
GALEN: No, when we lived in Birmingham, they were all embracing.

Weinstein: Really?
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: I wonder what it was about…
GALEN: Well, Baltimore, that’s just the way they are.

Weinstein: Okay.
GALEN: We did, the friends we made were great. We had enduring friendships with them. But you didn’t make a lot of friends, and we actually met them all, they had a temple that had a wonderful program for young people. It was called “Supper at Six”. And once a month the young marrieds met and had supper in the temple, and that was great.

Weinstein: So you really have lived… remained connected to your religion? And Bill came from a religious background?
GALEN: He came from an Orthodox background, yes.

Weinstein: But, it’s interesting how, it carries on through…
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: Because you’d been involved at Temple
GALEN: Well we were very involved there. At, Har Sinai. And, then in Baltimore, in Birmingham, first thing we did was go over to Tempe Emanuel. We met, well they fell all over us.

Weinstein: Really?
GALEN: Because we were new in town. It just, they welcomed us, they found us a place to live, they… We were entertained for the two years, I think it was just two years we lived there, but we were entertained constantly. They were wonderful.

Weinstein: And that was in Birmingham?
GALEN: In Birmingham. And then, when we were getting ready to leave, this one man, Mr. Sokol, I’ll never forget him, Nathan Sokol. He said, “I want to have lunch with you.” He had an accent. So he took me to lunch (he was old enough to be my grandpa) and he said, “You’re such good kids. I’ve been watching you. You do things in the community, you do this…[etc].” He said, “And, you’re going home, you need a start. Can I help you? I’d like to help you out to get you started.” I started crying.

Weinstein:  Of course, bless him!
GALEN: I said, “Don’t worry Mr. Sokol, we’ll be okay.”

Weinstein: But what a wonderful man.
GALEN: Yes. That’s the kind of people I met in Alabama.

Weinstein: Okay, they really were connected. 
GALEN: Oh, they were wonderful.

Weinstein: So when you came back to Portland and started your life here, you had a family. What kinds of things did you spend your time on, other than the family, of course?
GALEN: Well the first thing I did because I had just, you know, Israel had just become a state.

Weinstein: Yes.
GALEN: And in Birmingham, I became the state chairman for the sale of Israel bonds.

Weinstein: Oh my goodness, yes, I remember when all that started.
GALEN: And then when we came here, I became the Oregon state chairman. So I had my work cut out for me.

Weinstein: So how did people receive that in Portland?
GALEN: Oh very well. I remember Nicholas Ungar, when I went up to him, to his office at Ungar’s. People were very receptive because we’d never had a state before.

Weinstein: Well, and you have the smarts and the approach, and the background to make a good presentation.
GALEN: It was wonderful. That’s the first thing I did. And then June Megel got me involved in the Portland Chamber Orchestra. 

Weinstein: Oh my gosh. Were your children performers with an instrument?
GALEN: Not then, Christy became. Christy, was in the Youth Philharmonic. But, we’ve always been involved in music even though I’ve never played anything.

Weinstein: Yes. And the social activities? You’ve hung with people from the entire community?
GALEN: Yes, within the medical community. I was very active in Good Samaritan Auxiliary, the wives of Good Samaritan, and Multnomah County Medical Auxiliary; I was president of both. That was in medicine. And then, the American Cancer Society.

Weinstein: Yes. Sure, that was your husband’s field.
GALEN: Yes, and I did the, remember the door-to-door solicitations?

Weinstein: For who?
GALEN: For the American Cancer Society.

Weinstein: I don’t remember that.
GALEN: Maybe it was too far back.

Weinstein: No.
GALEN: But I’d share that, and we were so successful here in Portland that they asked me to be on a national committee.

Weinstein: Really?
GALEN: We called a national think tank, so there were about four of us, who they sent all over the country to talk.

Weinstein: See, I see that as an outgrowth of your creative side. Fundraising, you have to be creative.
GALEN: I guess, yes.

Weinstein: And comfortable in your own skin, having lived in many different places. So, all of that kind of came together in a lot of your activities.
GALEN: That’s a good point.

Weinstein: You were involved in at the museum as well?
GALEN: At the museum I was President of the Asian Art Council, and the Contemporary Art Council, and I served many years on the Board of Directors.

Weinstein: Well, so that all ties in, it ties together a lot of your own personal passions.
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: And your husbands career.
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: And just your social sense. I mean that’s…
GALEN: It’s been a good ride.

Weinstein: I would think that. You know, you’ve had an interesting… And, and then, I’d like to talk about your son Davey because that has to have had some influence on your family and your activities, so on and so forth. If you could give us a little bit of background?
GALEN: Well, Davey was, he was a very hyperactive baby. I would find him, you know how the crib has that bar that you let down?

Weinstein: Yes.
GALEN: I would find him, straddling the bar, so he could look out and see what was going on outside his room. But this is before we knew he was deaf.

Weinstein: Yes.
GALEN: But he would do all these things that were unusual. And, one day it just, we were going to my mother’s and I wanted him to get out of the car and he was facing the other way. I said, “Davey, we’re ready to go.” And he didn’t turn around. When Bill got home that night, I said, “Do you think maybe Davey doesn’t hear?” You know because he, he was hyperactive.

Weinstein: How old was he at that time?
GALEN: Maybe a year at the most, at the very most. Yeah, it was probably a little younger than that. And Bill said, “My God, you may have nailed it.” So we started having him examined all over the place, and sure enough he was totally deaf. So, the first thing we looked into was what do we do now? How do we, communicate with him? And how do we educate him? So we did some research and, you know Spencer Tracey had the John Tracey Clinic? So we learned about that and we enrolled for the summer. So Davey and I went down for the whole summer to Los Angeles. UCLA, in west Los Angeles. Not a very good place to be. I had an apartment there with Davey. And I spent my weekends at my cousin’s out in Encino.

But, during the week we were in class all day. He and I were both learning. They didn’t approve of sign language. Which was a big mistake, I learned afterwards. Because Davey is you know, so visual, he’s so visual he could’ve learned much faster. So, anyway, he learned to lip read, and I learned how to teach him how to lip read. They had a correspondence course, which I took for two years.

Weinstein: After you came home to Portland?
GALEN: I did part of it before we got there and then after we got back. Teaching how to teach to lip read. And, anyway. We spent those six weeks there, and it was an interesting experience. This one woman was outstanding, the psychologist they had on staff, [Alfina?] Smith. She was brilliant and I really loved her. Is it doing anything?

Weinstein: No, no, we’re fine.
GALEN: Anyway, we spent that time there. And then after that I continued with the correspondence course, and we got him enrolled in the Tucker Maxon School here in Portland. And they, too, only believed in lip reading. I mean, now that I know so much more, it was all a mistake. We could’ve had a tutor with him constantly, and sent him to Oregon Episcopal School. They do that.

Weinstein: I didn’t know.
GALEN: Well, I didn’t know then.

Weinstein: You mean they had a curriculum for?
GALEN: No. But if he had a tutor with him, interpreting for him, they take students at OES [Oregon Episcopal School]. Which, I didn’t know [at the time]. I learned later. He would’ve had a better education.

Weinstein: Was signing relatively new?
GALEN: No. What’s her name, Spencer Tracey’s wife did not approve of it.

Weinstein: Okay. All right, so that was the standard then?
GALEN: That’s right. And she was, she was such an, “I am so perfect lady” you know? I felt sorry for the poor kid, for John Tracey, to have a mother like that you know.

Weinstein: Yes. How did Davey react to all of this? Was he excited about the learning process? Did he have a hard time with it?
GALEN: No, he caught on very fast to everything. He’s probably my smartest kid.

Weinstein: Really.
GALEN: He knows things that I don’t know how he learned them. When it comes to automobiles, he’s an encyclopedia. Yes. He can tell you the model, the engine, of any car.

Weinstein: What about, is he, does he speak?
GALEN: Oh yes. You can understand him. Yes, somebody called Bill one day and said, “There’s a guy with an accent who wants to see you.” He was at the door I guess. No, you can understand him.

Weinstein: That’s fabulous. I mean, think about, what he just said. Because he can’t hear the man speak, but he can interpret by reading his lips. That’s a very interesting point.
GALEN Well now, now he has two… oh what do you call them? Besides his hearing aides, it’s the latest thing, back there on his head, and he hears much better.

Weinstein: What’s his life like? Does he have a family?
GALEN: He has two daughters.

Weinstein: They live here in Portland?
GALEN: They live in, well, the wife lives in La Pine right now.

Weinstein: Okay, Central Oregon. 
GALEN: He’ll be moving there when he retires.

Weinstein: What kind of work does he do?
GALEN: He works for Boeing, he runs the computer that makes the wings.

Weinstein: So he’s creative too?
GALEN: Yes. They wanted to give him a managerial job. He said, “I don’t want to be anybody’s boss!”

Weinstein: He sounds like a wonderful fellow.
GALEN: Oh he is. Yes, he’s special. Did I leave anything out?

Weinstein: What kind of, what have we missed here? Is there more that you’d like to share?
GALEN: About my kids?

Weinstein: Tell me about your children, what they do? What their life is like?
GALEN: Well, Lindsay’s the oldest, and she was married to a very evil man, who happened to be a doctor. It took us years to get her out of that environment and into a normal life. She has two daughters who are just lovely.

Weinstein: What are their names?
GALEN: The older one is Perry; she graduated in psychology and she’s a top sales person for, what is she selling now? Well it doesn’t matter. And the other younger one is Dara, and she graduated in English comp. and she does write beautifully. The older one is married to a very nice man, his name is John Masterman. The younger one is married to an interventional radiologist; it’s a very unusual field of radiology. He is a lovely man.

Weinstein: Do they both live here in Portland?
GALEN: Yes, they all live in Portland. They have, two children: Anna B. who’s named after my mother and she’s six years old, and Jacks, Jonathan is his name but they call him Jacks, and he’s four years old. He’s a kick in the pants.

Weinstein: Now if I remember correctly, Perry is the horsewoman?
GALEN: They all are, Lizzy, and her daughters.

Weinstein: I remember meeting Perry.
GALEN: Yes, Perry has six horses.

Weinstein: Yes, I remember.
GALEN: She has a zoo. She has six horses, nine or ten pygmy goats, and I don’t know how many chickens.

Weinstein: Well don’t tell me she lives in an apartment. 
GALEN: [both laugh] No they’re on 17 acres out in Hillsborough. But they have no children, which has always bothered me. But I guess it’s not my business.

Weinstein: It’s not your choice, or whatever.
GALEN: Dara has the two darling ones who adore their Auntie Perry.

Weinstein: What about Edward?
GALEN: Ed has three kids: Marcus is a schoolteacher, Ashley, who is a large animal veterinarian.

Weinstein: Oh really, like farm animals?
GALEN: Yes, I can just imagine her taking care of a cow. But that’s what she does, she loves it. Then there’s Michael, their baby. He is a drummer, but more than that he’s an acrobat, a performer, and he lives at home.

Weinstein: Good, good, whatever. So you’ve got a large family, and fortunately you all live close to each other, which is really a gift in today’s world.
GALEN: It is.

Weinstein: You and Bill were wise enough to encourage your kids to live the lives that they want to live. And everyone does their thing.
GALEN: That’s right.

Weinstein: That’s a good way, and I’m also not supposed to intervene my own feelings but there are a lot of young people in this world that wish they were quote, ‘given permission’ to follow their own dream.
GALEN: Well, you know, we’re here such a short time. So you can make mistakes, but you can do something different.

Weinstein: So, like you said, it’s been a good ride so far.
GALEN: So far!

Weinstein: Well, you’re a forward positive thinking person. In recent years has your life changed much? What kind of things do you enjoy that you maybe didn’t do before?
GALEN: I think it’s really the opposite with me. There are things that I always enjoyed that I can’t do.

Weinstein: Yes. Like?
GALEN: Well, like tennis and golf. I’m afraid of falling.

Weinstein: Yes. But living here in the Elliot Building, I know that you’ve made lots and lots of friends and you have almost a life of itself in this building. What kinds of things do you do with your neighbors?
GALEN: Well, we have each other over for dinner; with one couple we play bridge, just do things together.

Weinstein: Isn’t there a group that you formed here that you all have the same number on each floor?
GALEN: Yes, we don’t have anybody that we’re close to on seventeen right now, but we have 1604. So 1604 and 1804.

Weinstein: So you have your own little social circle?
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: That too, is creative and fun. You guys have always had fun.
GALEN: I hope so, yes.

Weinstein: We didn’t even talk about your travelling. Do you want to take the time?
GALEN: Sure.

Weinstein: Tell me about the travels that you’ve done.
GALEN: Which? 

Weinstein: What region of the world have you visited the most?
GALEN: Probably Europe.

Weinstein: You’ve spent time in Asia and the Middle East Too.
GALEN: Yes. 

Weinstein: What about the cultures that you’ve encountered?
GALEN: You know, people are the same all over the world.

Weinstein: Interesting.
GALEN: I think most people are good.

Weinstein: Wonderful. Your home reflects different cultures, probably an influence of your travels and your studying.
GALEN: Yes, I’ve enjoyed it. One of our grandchildren was born in France so I was there a few times just for that alone.

Weinstein: Yes. Bill is involved with the wine society?
GALEN: Yes, we’re going to Santa Rosa next week for the international, can you imagine? They’re coming from all over the world to Santa Rosa.

Weinstein: The international what?
GALEN: The international Wine Brotherhood. So Bill will wear his robes and medals and I’ll be the paparazzi with my camera.

Weinstein: Have you made friends from all over?
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: Isn’t that wonderful.
GALEN: Interesting.

Weinstein: You’ve followed through on so many interests that you have and developed [them]. Any one of those things could create a full life.
GALEN: Yes.

Weinstein: You’re eclectic.
GALEN: We’ve been lucky.

Weinstein: Lucky and smart. Good, I want to thank you.
GALEN: Thank you.