Chambers Collection

DONOR:

Chambers, Othniel (Niel) and Ardith

SIZE:

Ten cubic feet

SCOPE & CONTENT:

Papers: WWI correspondence, 1917-1919, from Niel Chambers’ father to Niel’s future mother. Correspondence: to Niel and Ardith; from Ardith to her mother (Gwen) and brother (Truman); journals and correspondence written by Niel's mother, Gladys, from 1963-1977; company records of Ardith's father, Floyd, while he was an electrical engineer. The company records include ordering specifications for the powerhouses at Detroit and Big Cliff Dams on the Santiam River in Oregon.

Photos: Niel and Ardith Chambers family photos (children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, parents, siblings, friends and extended family). Fifth-wheel-trailering - U.S. travels, 1989-1991

A/V: Reel-to-reel recordings of voice "letters" from Niel and Ardith and their children to their cousins and paternal grandmother, Gladys (Dawson) Chambers of KOAC radio programs. Also from Gladys to Niel, Ardith and the children (Kathryn, Kalyani, Kerry and Karlin).

BIOGRAPHY:

Niel was born in 1927, the younger of two children, and was raised in Corvallis, Oregon. He served in the US Army in Vienna at the end of WWII, and later in Korea. Niel holds Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Sociology (1955) and a Master of Education (1963). He served as a counselor, administrator, and Executive Assistant to the Superintendent of Corrections for the State of Oregon. Niel married Ardith Jamie Jones in 1955. They have four children.

Ardith was born in 1934 in Longview, Washington, the older of two children. She was raised in Franke, Durango, Mexico (now part of Lerdo), Longview, WA, Vancouver, WA, Lakewood, CA, and Mill City, OR. She met Niel in Eugene, Oregon at the University of Oregon.