Salem in 1959

World Events 

• The Tibetan government is abolished by China's Zhou Enlai. A puppet ruler replaces the Dalai Lama who granted asylum in India.
•  Fidel Castro's new, revolutionary Communist government in Cuba is recognized by the US and the Soviet Union.
• Alaska and Hawaii  become states this year.
• NASA selects seven military pilots as the first US  astronauts. Two monkeys are first living beings to successfully return to earth from space flight. Explorer 6 sends back first pictures of earth from orbit.
• The St. Lawrence Seaway, linking the Great Lakes to the Atlantic,  is opened by President Eisenhower and Queen Elizabeth II.
• Buddy Holly, the musician considered a creator of  rock-and-roll and who influenced many other pop artists, died in the crash of a chartered plane. 
• Frank Lloyd Wright's eye-catching, cylindrical building, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, opens to the public in NYC.
• Mattel's Barbie doll and the Xerox copier are both introduced.
• "The Twilight Zone" premieres on TV. Academy Awards: "Ben Hur" (US), "Black Orpheus" (France). Prize-winning Books: The Magic Barrel, Bernard Malamud and The Travels of Jaimie McPheeters, Robert Lewis Taylor.

In Salem
Mark Hatfield has been elected as governor, but his High Street residence, purchased the year before, has to be renovated before he can move in. [Meanwhile he and family are living at the Royal Court Apartments on Chemeketa Street.] In the photograph above, the view of his property is from Kearney Street looking toward High Street with Bush's Pasture Park in the background.
It is a sign of the times that extensive electronic networks and a bomb shelter must be added in the basement. J. Warren Carkin designed a large kitchen and servants' wing that was added at the rear. The Oregon Centennial of 1959 was celebrated with many social engagements at this house and during the Legislative sessions of the Governor Hatfield's two terms, the governor's wife, Antoinette, held weekly open houses. Thousands of residents and visitors attended these events. Both Governor Hatfield and his wife posed for photographs inside the house. All four of the Hatfield children were born here.

When you visit
This house was built c. 1880 for Virgil Pringle (1804-1887) and was occupied by him until his death in 1887 and by his widow, Pherne, until her death in until 1891. His obituary recalls, "Mr. and Mrs. Pringle lived to a ripe old age and died at their home near Salem where shortly before they had celebrated their sixtieth wedding anniversary, surrounded by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. This was a happy reunion". The nearby Pringle Creek was named for this Salem pioneer of 1848. Note: Mission Street was the southern border of Salem city limits at the time of his death.
Even after the Mark Hatfield sold the house in 1968, it remained as a private residence. This SCAN neighborhood residence is in the Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park Historical District. It is featured on the SHINE Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park Walking Tour.

Other events

• Russell F. Bonesteele is elected mayor. The house associated with Russell and Valerie Bonesteele is at 396 18th Street in the NEN neighborhood. Mr. Bonestelle's family was in the automobile business. He served on the hospital board and the Salem City Council before his election as mayor.
• The Thomas Kay Woolen Mill announces it will close. The advent of synthetic fabrics and advances in manufacturing technology left the traditional methods of the Kay Wooden Mill unable to compete. The property has served as a non-profit entity since then. Originally known as Mission Mill Museum, it is now Willamette Heritage Center. Four pioneer structures have been moved onto the property and the institution is preserving the city's history as well as providing tours of the former mill.

Vice President Nixon and Oregon dignitaries at Centennial Celebration in Salem

• In February, the Vice President of the United States, Richard Nixon, attends the Oregon Centennial Celebration at the Capitol. From a second floor balcony, the dignitaries listen as the Portland Symphony concert opens the ceremonies. The governor was still living at the Royal Court Apartments that February and the Vice President visited the Hatfields there. In this year, less security is required for our Vice President: the tenants, aware that Mr. Nixon would be visiting, lined the railings of the lobby balcony and applauded when he entered.
• On June 9, the Capital Journal publishes a 116-page issue, entitled Oregon Centennial. Four special sections feature the 100-year history of the Willamette Valley. It is edited by William Mainwaring, son of the late publisher, Bernard Mainwaring, and is his first "major assignment" since returning from military service.
• The much-debated use of a bequest by Carroll Moores, is finally resolved with a 12-foot statuary group entitled "Guidance of Youth". An earlier suggestion that a Renoir nude be purchased with the $34,000 had been met with indignant local protest. Avard Fairbanks of Salt Lake City created a more suitable statue that was accepted by Salem public vote. It presents a pioneer father with a hoe, a pioneer mother properly attired with skirt sweeping the ground and a pioneer youth. This group statue is sited in Bush Park’s southeast corner overlooking a playing field to the east.

Lancaster Area of Salem

State Street as "Four Corners"

• An aerial photograph of the Four Corners area of Salem (State and Lancaster intersection) taken this year shows a residential suburb of homes on generous lots surrounding this business corner. The street level view shows the small businesses on the unpaved State Street in this unincorporated section of Salem.

Capitol Funeral of Douglas McKay

• The funeral of former governor Douglas McKay, later US Secretary of the Interior, is held in the Capitol. It had been the intention of the family to hold the funeral in his church, First Presbyterian, but that structure was in the middle of Winter Street, still on its journey to its new location. Governor Hatfield led the procession out of the Capitol.

Salem in 1956

World Events

• Gamal Abdul Nassar nationalizes the British and French controlled Suez Canal, hoping to use tolls to pay for dam on the Nile. Israel invaded Egypt, but due to international pressure the Israeli forces left in March, 1957. The Canal reopened under Egyptian control.
• The Hungarians revolt against the Warsaw Pact. Soviet forces agreed to negotiate, but then moved to crush the rebellion resulting in mass executions and arrests. 200,000 refugees fled the country.
• Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon re-elected as President and Vice President for second terms.
• Negroes in Montgomery with Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a leader, begin boycott after Rosa Parks is arrested for sitting in the front section of a city bus.
• The Andrea Doria sinks off Nantucket Island.
• Interstate Highways approved as important to national defense.
• "Rock and Roll" takes over popular music with Elvis Presley becoming a star attraction.
• "Around the World in Eighty Days" was this year's film that won the Academy Award (1957). National Book Award (Fiction): Ten North Frederick, John O'Hara.

In Salem

Paul Wallace leaves 24 acres of prime riverfront land in a bequest to the citizens of Salem. Subsequent purchases and gifts have increased the size of Wallace Marine Park to 68 acres. Although it quickly became a popular place for riverfront recreation during the basic development of the park, it was not designed or constructed to resist the high waters of the Willamette River: the Christmas flood of 1964 swept away the two boat launching ramps, roadways and picnic facilities that had been developed. New facilities were constructed in 1967.

When you visit
Many recreational opportunities are available in our largest park with softball tournaments especially popular and well attended. There is a boat launching dock, places for individuals who like to fish, picnic benches and walking trails. In 2009, the Union Street Railroad Bridge and Trestle was renovated as a pedestrian and bicycle path, connecting our two parks, Waterfront Park on the east side of the Willamette River and Wallace Marine Park on the west side. New sidewalks, including one leading to a river-viewing platform, have been constructed by the city in 2012. New paved walk/biking trails are completed around the sports fields and between the Union Street Trestle and Glen Creek Road are completed in 2014.
In 1969, a Parks and Recreation Advisory Board was established. Anyone interested in the development of Salem public parks and playgrounds is invited to apply. All residents are invited to become volunteers: The Salem Parks Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose purpose is to promote, develop, facilitate, and sustain stewardship dedicated to the enhancement of the parks of our city. It is also affiliated with the Oregon Cultural Trust. Their public meetings are 1st Thursdays, 6 p.m., Parks Operation Building #14, on 22nd. Street.

Other events

• His political supporters convinced Douglas McKay to leave his appointment as US Secretary of the Interior to run against Wayne Morse for the United States Senate. This was the first election McKay lost. He then served President Eisenhower on the International Waterways Commission.
• A five year effort by the YMCA is completed. In 1951, the Nelson property on Court Street, adjoining the Y had been purchased, and a Capital Fund drive organized. By 1954, funds were raised and the new Youth Wing was completed in 1956.
• St. Timothy's Episcopal Church is established with temporary locations. It would be twelve years before their sanctuary on Ladd Avenue would be completed.
• Business events include the opening of the American Can Company and the closing of Hunt Brothers cannery with their location acquired by the Keith Brown Lumber Company.

• The Chamber of Commerce moves into new headquarters on Cottage Street. This Colonial style residence had been the home of George Rodgers, a former mayor and president of the Salem Paper Company. The property, on the northeast corner of Cottage and Court Streets, had originally been the location of the property of Joseph Holman, outstanding pioneer merchant at the founding of the city. The Chamber occupied this building until 1995 when it moved and the YMCA bought the property. The building burned in 1997.
• The 1952 Turner Reservoir is in full operation this year when J. L. Fransen retires as our first City Manager. The reservoir is named for him. Kent Mathewson receives an enhanced salary of $14,000 a year, compared to Fransen's $11,500.
• A photograph taken at the entrance of Lipman, Wolfe and Company store in downtown Salem shows mature ladies in dresses, most also in hats. Another catches a younger woman in full "poodle" skirt. Trousers on females would have been very unusual. The men appear to be dressed informally much as they are today.
• During the winter of 1956, the Capitol and the Elsinore operate only at night, except for Saturday and Sunday afternoon matinees. The Hollywood remains open as usual. A general lack of patronage, due to the popularity of TV home entertainment is the reason for closure.
• The L. H. McMahon home at 891 Front Street is still a charming cottage in 1956. Built by David McCully in 1864, it will continue to survive into the present (2010), although in a new location at 1365 John Street. The residence was purchased by Judge Leonard H. McMahan and his wife (the former Bertha Byrd) in 1919. After his death, she continued to live there until the house was severely damaged by a falling tree during the windstorm of 1962. The house was moved and became the residence of David Duniway. Mr. Duniway, Oregon State Archivist, was prominent in the promotion of Salem historic properties.

Salem in 1952

World Events

• King George VI dies. Daughter Elizabeth, on safari in Africa with Prince Phillip, prepares to come home and become Queen Elizabeth II. 
• Republicans Dwight Eisenhower and Richard Nixon win the US presidential election. The U.S. National Security Agency is established. Puerto Rico becomes a self-governing commonwealth of the US. On Eniwetok Atoll in the Pacific, the U.S. tests the first hydrogen bomb.
• West Germany has 8 million refugees. East German government announces the formation of National People's army.
• The United Nations meets for the first time in the New York headquarters.
• Eva Peron dies in Argentina and the legend of "Evita" begins.
• Successful Medical Firsts: In Denmark, Christine Jorgensen is recipient of a sexual reassignment procedure. In Ohio, Siamese twins recover from surgical separation. A mechanical heart is used in a human patient.
• "I Love Lucy" is the favorite TV entertainment for 10 million viewers. Academy Awards: "The Greatest Show on Earth" (US) "Forbidden Games" (France). Prize-winning books: From Here to Eternity, James Jones and The Caine Mutiny, Herman Wouk.

In Salem
Family life moves out of the dining room as the TV dinner is introduced by Swanson and little folding tables are set up in front of the TV to watch the "The Jackie Gleason Show" and Edward R. Morrow's "See It Now". National news is made local as General Eisenhower and his wife Mamie make a fifteen-minute stop at our railroad station during his campaign as Republican candidate for president. In the series of photographs taken that day, our Governor McKay is shown prominently as an enthusiastic supporter. After Eisenhower wins the election in November, he appoints the Oregon governor as Secretary of the Interior and Douglas McKay resigns to take up his new duties in Washington, D.C.

When you visit
Our Southern Pacific train station has been the scene of many happy celebrations and tearful goodbyes over the years since the first was built in 1871. It was the place of departure for troops leaving for the Spanish American War in 1898 and for battle veterans' return the next year. It was used for military transport in the both World Wars as well as the mustering station for Americans of Japanese descent who were sent to internment camps in 1942. Tourists and business travelers along the west coast of the United States, and those making connections across the country, have relied on our railroad station. This history has been recognized by the designation of the station building and the freight depot on the National Register of Historic Places. It is included in the self-guided walking tour Salem in Oregon History featured on the SHINE website. This station is on the AMTRAK west coast route.

Other Events

• Salem's city water system is improved by a 54-inch water line and state-of-the-art slow sand filters provided North Santiam River water. The system finally produced high quality drinking water demanded by residents and local industries. Of equal importance was the building of the city's first sewage treatment plant on North Front Street. In 2009 the facility was rebuilt and expanded.

• This year residents of Salem saw the demolition of Marion County Courthouse. The 1873 structure was designed by Wilbur F. Boothby who is also credited with the original Kirkbride Building of the Oregon State Hospital and the Asahel Bush house. In French Renaissance style, popular in the Victorian era to symbolize pride in public buildings, the building rose 136 feet with 33-inch walls. It was topped with a 51-foot cupola containing a clock of four faces and, above that, a wooden statue of Thelma, the Greek god of wisdom. In 1904, this statue was covered with 900 pounds of copper. She was known around the Courthouse by her catalog number, "4762". With the demolition of the courthouse, the clock went to Mt. Angel and the statue to Willamette University where is stands in the lobby of the School of Law. Finally, only the 1924 World War I Doughboy statue is left standing before a pile of rubble. The ornate Courthouse was replaced with a severe structure of Vermont marble and in 2000,when that structure became too small, an annex, Courthouse Square, was completed across Court Street to the north.
• Salem's Municipal Judge, Peery Buren, resigns due to ill health and Douglas Hay is appointed. He will continue in the elective office until 1966.
• The new Marion Street Bridge opens. At that time, this bridge was the longest of its type west of the Mississippi River. The Oregon Pulp and Paper Mill dominates the shoreline and continues to pollute the downtown air.
• The new Statesman Journal building is erected at Chemeketa and Church Streets. The traditional downtown residential neighborhoods are disappearing.
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• 

  Area outlined in blue is described below.

• The third section of Piety Hill has been demolished. Houses were either demolished or moved for the new the State Transportation Building. One of these is the Cora Moores house on Chemeketa Street (She was the daughter of Salem pioneers Obed and Charlotte Dickinson.) Purchased by Ridgely and Wanda Miller, it was transported by Augie Koenig across Bush's Pasture Park to Leffelle Street where it is today. The Frederick Thompson house, a few doors away on Summer Street, was purchased by the Stephens family and was also moved to Leffelle Street by Mr. Koenig and placed next door. (The Thompson house was also the home of Judge James Brand, who served in Nuremburg Trials.) Kathy Miller Reed and her husband, Wallace E. Reed, now live in Thompson/Brand house. The only other house saved in this third section of North Capitol Mall construction was the David Eyre house on Summer Street. You can now see this beautiful home on the northeast corner of High and Mission streets. These three residences are in the Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park Historic District in the SCAN neighborhood.
• Blue Lake Beans received considerable publicity from association with Lou Costello when he and Abbott made a movie entitled "Jack in the Beanstalk" this year. Both the movie and Blue Lake's beans were promoted at grocery stores and restaurants and Costello had over forty cases of the beans sent to his journalist and radio commentator friends.

Salem in 1948

World Events

• After serving the remainder of the late FDR's term, Harry Truman is elected in a political upset. He signs the Marshall Plan to aid 16 war-torn nations. U.S. conducts an airlift, saving Berlin from Russian control. The World Health Organization is established by the U.N.
• Israel is established. 
• Mahatma Gandhi is assassinated. ("Gandhi" film, 1982)
• A Columbia River dyke breaks, obliterating Vanport, Oregon in 15 minutes: an unknown number die, thousands homeless.
• The first Olympics games since 1936 are held in London and St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Tournament of Roses and Rose Bowl game are televised by Warner Brothers as newsreel in color. ABC begins television services.
• Albert, the first monkey astronaut is launched into space, but parachute recovery was unsuccessful. 
• This year's film, "Hamlet", will prove the Academy Award winner. Prize-winning book: Tales of the South Pacific, by James A. Mitchener.

In Salem
In the 1930s, a small Temple Beth Sholom congregation began meeting in private homes. Gatherings moved to rooms in an old downtown building at Chemeketa and Commercial Street. Services were held three flights up, around a wood fireplace with twenty or thirty participants. As the congregation grew, they considered building a home of their own. The first building committee was established in 1934, but was interrupted by World War II. In 1947, a building fund campaign sponsored by 36 donors raised $18,000. The first meeting in the congregation's new synagogue, Temple Beth Sholom, was held on January 20, 1948. It is the only example of mid-century synagogue architecture in the city. A Mogen David (Star of David), identifying the building as a Jewish house of worship, is part of the brickwork facing Broadway Street.

When you visit
After five decades at its 1764 Broadway location, the congregation had grown too large for its home. As preparations were made for renovation, another option appeared. Our Savior's Lutheran Church in South Salem had also outgrown its facilities and was moving. That property was purchased. On September 17, 2006, the members of Temple Beth Sholom, with the participation of the Salem community, marched the Torahs 5.2 miles to their new home. The former temple property has been designated as a Local Landmark. In May (2010), the building was sold to Joslin's American Ballet Academy for a dance/performing arts center. This building has recently been designated by the City as a Local Landmark.

Other events

• A January flood in West Salem closes the vehicle bridge at Center Street. The railroad bridge is pressed into passenger service to rescue residents. After the emergency, it was discovered the trestle was heavily damaged and could have washed out with the weight of the trains.
• A smiling and confident Harry Truman poses for photographs at the airport during a visit to Salem during his cross-country presidential campaign in June.
• There is more airport excitement in August when the first jet plane arrives.
• The boyhood home of a former president, Herbert Hoover, at Hazel and Highland Avenues, is vacant and for sale. It has since been completely transformed and is no longer recognized as the same structure.
• Douglas McKay, a local businessman who had been mayor, is elected governor. McKay had come to Salem as a young man with a wife and three small children to make a living as a car dealer. His great success in such a competitive occupation was a testament to his drive and personality. His career in politics had one drawback ~ he took him and his wife Mabel out of Salem, where they were both more comfortable and could enjoy their family.
• Two old school buildings are demolished: the 1890 Grant School on Market and Cottage Street, demolished in 1954; and the even older 1867 South School between Mission and Kearny on the west side of Commercial Street.
• The "Statesman House" is part of a vanishing residential neighborhood at Church and Chemeketa Streets when it is scheduled to be demolished for the future Statesman Journal building.

The Piety Hill homes on Court Street and Capitol Street are demolished. Clockwise:  Bush,  Robertson, Thayer, Miles, Spaulding.

• Construction of the North Capitol Mall begins again with the demolition of homes on the Court Street block west of Capitol Street for the Highway Building, renamed the Public Service Building. Among the homes razed were those of Charles K. Spaulding and B. Clarkson Miles. These large homes were occupied by close friends whose driveway porte-cocheres almost touched. The electric power for both houses was supplied, for a fee, by the generator of their neighbor, A.N. Bush. A photograph taken a few years before Mrs. Thayer built her house shows the Miles house and neighbors.
• The 1926 Estelle Bush Thayer house on Capitol Street, around the corner from the Miles home, is also demolished. Mrs. Thayer had eloped to marry Claudius Thayer and lived away form Salem (and one suspects at a distance from her disapproving father) in Tillamook and then in California. Tragically, she lost first his husband (always in poor health) and then her only child, her young daughter Eugenia. As a widow she returned home and lived here until her death in 1942.

A. N. Bush home, last of the Capitol Street homes, just before demolition in 1948.

• A.N. Bush also had to leave his house, two doors north of the Thayer house, and so returned to his former home (now Bush House Museum) where his sister Sally had lived until 1946. However, his household staff, as elderly as himself, objected to the steps in the old "farmhouse". Henry Compton, on behalf of Mr. Bush, had to go to the State of Oregon Land Board to buy the elevator in the Capitol Street house before it was demolished. The elevator was moved to Bush House where it still operates.

Salem in 1940

World Events

-->In Tibet, 4-year old Tenzin Gyatso is named the 13th Dalai Lama.

Winston Churchill elected Prime Minister of Great Britain. In a radio address he blames Mussolini for leading Italy into war against the British: placing "the inheritors of ancient Rome upon the side of the ferocious pagan barbarians" ("Dunkirk" film and "Darkest Hour" film, both 2017)

British forces are evacuated from Dunkirk leaving Europe under axis control.

The International Olympic Committee formally cancels the Summer Olympics.

Salem's Senator McNary was nominated for Vice President to Republican Wendell Willkie this year, but Roosevelt is elected for a third term.

The Selective Training and Service Act creates the first peacetime draft in U.S. history. Willys Corporation introduces a lightweight, all-terrain vehicle: the "Jeep" of later military use.

 Nylon stockings are placed on sale with almost 5 million sold on the first day. The McDonald brothers' restaurant opens in San Bernardino, Ca. Walter Knott begins construction of a ghost town replica that becomes Knott's Berry Farm.

Academy Award: "Rebecca". Also popular this year, the classic "Grapes of Wrath". Notable books read this year are The Nazarene, Sholom Asch and How Green Was My Valley, Richard Llewellen.

In Salem
Local excitement was the all-volunteer Salem Centennial in August. Many events were public and with costumes of pioneer days. A Centennial Pageant entitled "From Wilderness to Wonderland" was produced at the State Fairgrounds. A 25-cent, illustrated booklet (cover reproduced above) was the Souvenir Program for the five days of activities throughout the city. It lists hundreds of local residents as producers and participants.

When you visit
In the scene above, the parade marchers are headed south on Commercial Street, passing the former site of Douglas McKay's auto dealership at the northeast corner of the intersection with Marion Street. Not seen in the photograph, is a young Mark Hatfield, parading with the Salem High School band. Traffic still flows south at that intersection, but the Marion Street Bridge, added in 1954, now brings a stream of vehicles east from West Salem. Mr. McKay's business, which became Capitol Auto Group, is no longer at that location. The Marion Square Park, across Commercial to the west, is still an oasis of evergreen trees, although the grove was much diminished in the Columbus Day windstorm of 1962.

Other events

• The census reports Salem population as 30,908, one fifth the population of 2012.
• An important 1940 economic effect was the U.S. National Bank of Portland acquisition of a large portion of the Ladd and Bush Bank. Ladd and Bush Trust Company moved into the U.S. Bank building as Pioneer Trust Company. This historic institution continues to serve the Salem community as Pioneer Trust Bank.
• The first Salem family to suffer loss in World War II was that of Ralph Barnes, a foreign correspondent who had lived with his wife and two young daughters in the capitals of Europe during the years leading up to World War II. He had sent his family to England as combat began, but their safety was threatened by the German bombing of London. His wife Ester, Joan and Suzanne had returned home to Salem just a few months before Ralph died in an English reconnaissance flight crash over Yugoslavia.
• Families and friends gather at the 12th Street Railroad Station to say goodbye to young men leaving for National Guard duty.
• George Waters, in the local tobacco business, bought the Class B Western International League franchise in Bellingham, WA, and brought the pro team to Salem in 1940. On May 1, the Salem Senators christened the new Waters Field with 4,865 attendance and an 11-10 victory over the Yakima, WA, team with five runs in the ninth inning. The stadium of Waters Field later burned, leaving no prospect of rebuilding.
• The late George Strozut remembered that as a child of 7 in this year, he and other travelers were greeted with a prominent sign as they arrived at the local Greyhound bus station located at the north end of the Senator Hotel on High Street. The sign listed Salem statistics (including the fact that the population was 31,000) and concluded with the statement that the city was "99.9 percent white."

From the Capitol Journal:

• Salem was soon to become a port of call along United Airlines route between Vancouver, B. C. and San Diego.
• In July, Chairman Ray Stumbo, in charge of construction for the Salem Centennial Pageant to be staged at the fairgrounds, reported that 20 workman were already on the job. 100,000 feet of lumber would be required to build the mountain set 300 feet wide and 40 feet deep. That same month, Marion County Court gave the Salem Centennial Committee use of the Courthouse square during the celebration for the erection of an Indian village, Red Cross first aid station and a free trapeze set. In addition, Salem merchants announced that their stores would be closed for three big centennial parades. An opening fun parade would be on July 31. Succeeding days would see the pioneer parade and the major centennial parade. It was estimated that it would take three hours for the centennial parade to pass.
• In September, over 1,100 boys and girls were enrolled in the second year of Bible instruction classes in Salem public schools.
• Gov. Charles Sprague gave unqualified support to President Roosevelt's $1, 820, 000 national defense program, but doubted that the nation's civilians were prepared to stand up under total war.
• Salem Grange, under its Master, Zero Polaire, started a movement for registration of all aliens in the United States as a protection against fifth column treachery that President Roosevelt warned against.

(See Ben Maxwell's Salem, Oregon, edited by Scott McArthur, 2006.)

Salem in 1932

World Events

• Adolph Hitler is leader of the NAZI party in Germany where harsh "Law and Order" policies require the death penalty for many offenses.
• The Chinese regular forces of Manchuria surrender to the invading Japanese army, but continue to fight in guerrilla campaigns.
• In July, Hoover orders the US Army to evict the Bonus Army of WW I veterans, assembled in Washington D.C. to demand their benefits. Troops do so the next day. 
• The tragic news story is the kidnapping and death of the Lindbergh baby.
• Americans celebrate Amelia Earhart's solo flight cross the Atlantic. Hattie W. Caraway is the first woman elected to the US Senate.
• Roosevelt's election in November brings in the "New Deal" government recovery programs.
• "Tarzan of the Apes" stars Olympic swimming gold medal winner,  Johnny Weissmuller. Academy Award: "Grand Hotel". Pulitzer Prize: The Store, Thomas Sigismund Stribling.

In Salem
The Elsinore Theatre presents a new type of popular diversion: sound for movies: no more captions as the actors speak! The Elsinore is an example of the 1930s "atmospheric" movie palace intended to be part of the entertainment. Built to resemble a Gothic castle in 1926, it was named for the palace in Shakespeare's Hamlet. The exterior was designed by Ellis F. Lawrence, an architect who was founding dean of the University of Oregon's School of Architecture and Allied Arts. One of his associates designed the interior. The upper balcony windows are made of stained glass pieces from a cathedral in Germany bombed in World War I.

When you visit
The Elsinore continued as a movie theater until 1993, when it was converted into a performing arts center and placed on the National Register of Historic Places. An extensive, community financed restoration was completed in 2002. The theater is featured on this website's self-guided walking tour of Salem's Historic Downtown. Tours of the theater can be arranged, but the best experience is to attend one of the performances which are listed on the Elsinore website.

Other events

• Douglas McKay becomes mayor. His first job off his father's farm was at the age of 13 to help support himself and his mother. Later he sold candy in Portland theaters, delivered papers, and drove a meat wagon. He quit high school to work at a railroad office. He attended Oregon Agriculture College (now Oregon State University) in Corvallis where he was elected student body president in 1916 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1917. That year he married Mabel Hill. McKay served in the First World War, rising to the rank of First Lieutenant. A severe arm injury suffered in the Argonne combat almost cost him his life. He saw the growing popularity of automobiles and in 1927 he was offered an automobile sales organization in Salem, then at Center and Commercial. He purchased the automobile agency, now Capitol Chevrolet. By 1929, his family was in their home at 395 Jerris Street. It would be the family’s only home in Salem. A natural-born politician, McKay was Salem mayor this year.
• Prices offered by canners for cherries drop to 2 cents a pound and 53 growers form the Willamette Cherry Growers Co-op.
• As a sign of things to come, a first view of television is seen at the State Fair. It will be twenty years before TV becomes developed enough for home viewing.

• Hannah Dautoff Hanzen is the first woman elected to the Oregon Legislature where she serves four terms. During these eight years, she became known as a spitfire who did her homework and was a match for anyone. She recalled later that she "was never looking for a fight, but...wasn't there to be stepped on, either...The year and issues change, but people don't change very much." In 1942 she cracked another all-male stronghold when she was elected Salem Municipal Judge, serving one term. Her marriage to Harry Hanzen led her to withdraw from her career, much to the disappointment of the police department whose members were ready to campaign for her second term. After retirement, Mrs. Hanzen served as president of the Salem Women's Club, corresponding secretary of the Oregon Federation of Women's Clubs, and Executive Secretary of the Marion County Bar Association. She also was an instructor at Willamette University. Her home at 2220 High Street SE, retains the original appearance (with the addition of a garage) and her beautiful garden is much as she designed it.

• Edgar and Ursula Pierce build a home in the Fairmount section of the city for the staggering sum (in those days) of $17,000. This stone English manor house, with its elements of Queen Anne style of architecture, is a unique residence in Salem. The family lived in the house from 1932 to 1935 and from 1940 to 1942, moving out temporarily when it became the rented residence of Governor Martin. Now remembered by both names, it is a National Register property (1997) in the SCAN neighborhood.
• A few blocks away, Dr. Charles G. Robertson builds an English Provincial house, designed by Clarence Smith with gardens created by Lord and Schryver. High on a dead end street, it has wide views over the city. Only its hipped roof and front gable are visible beyond the driveway entrance. It is also a National Register property (1982) in the SCAN neighborhood.
• Elizabeth Lord builds her home on the Mission Street lot adjacent to the site of her parents' home that had burned some years before. Across the street from the home of her friend, Sally Bush, the Bush hillside was an excellent site for experimental plantings. Many of the beautiful trees we enjoy there today date from the 1930s. The Lord residence that she shared with friend and landscape business partner, Edith Schryver, is in the Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park Historic District. It is now the property of the Lord and Schrvyer Conservancy.