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NOTICES
OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY RESEARCH LIBRARY
recently acquired and processed collections
Hillman Lueddemann papers open for research
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| Most people involved in Oregon's public life in the mid twentieth century knew Hillman Lueddemann (1895–1990), a well-regarded leader in Portland's business and civic enterprises. Known affectionately as "Lueddie," he came to Portland from California in the 1910s with little more than ambition, perseverance, and a sense of civic virtue. After serving with distinction in World War I, he began his career as a lowly clerk for the McCormick Steamship Company and rose quickly through the ranks, becoming a company officer in the mid 1930s. When the California firm of Pope & Talbot absorbed McCormick, Lueddemann stayed on and continued to hold key positions. By the late 1940s, he headed all the company's operations in the Pacific northwest, including shipping, logging, and sawmill enterprises. Along the way, he involved himself in a vast array of civic and professional organizations, such as the Oregon Inland Waterways Association, the Portland Rose Festival Association (twice chairman), Portland Port Development Commission (chairman), and the Oregon Territorial Centennial Commission (also chairman). He sat on the boards of Pope & Talbot, Portland General Electric Company, Oregon Portland Cement Company, Consolidate Freightways, and Navajo Forest Products Industries, among other companies. In 1948, the Portland Board of Realtors named Lueddemann "Portland's First Citizen," a tremendous honor at the time. |
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Lueddemann remained active after his retirement from Pope & Talbot in 1960. In 1963, Governor Mark Hatfield appointed him to be the first head of Oregon's newly created Department of Commerce. Overseeing activities as diverse as banking, real estate, and watch making, Lueddemann successfully organized the department's operations and gained the confidence of the state's business community. And even after his retirement from the Commerce Department in 1975, he continued to serve on numerous public panels and committees. Before he died in 1990, he was the oldest living member of Portland's Arlington Club. |
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Thanks to the generosity of Lueddemann's children, Jane Ehrman and Hillman Lueddemann, Jr., the Oregon Historical Society now holds an extensive collection documenting their father's life and work. Included is correspondence with many prominent figures, including Governors Mark Hatfiled and Tom McCall; photographs of McCormick Steamship Company activities in the mid-1930s (including the 1934 dock strike); files relating to the Oregon Department of Commerce, Pope & Talbot, Portland General Electric, Navajo Forest Products Industries, and many other enterprises; family letters; and Lueddemann's diary from World War I. The entire collection provides a rich source of documentation for anyone interested in Oregon's business and civic life in the mid twentieth century. |
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| Geoff Wexler, Senior Archivist
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| OHS Research Library |
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