Frank Evans Coulter
Oregon Folklore Study
American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project, WPA
1936-1940 [Violin-Making and Local Politics]
OREGON FOLKLORE STUDIES
Name of worker Sara B. Wrenn Date March 27, 1939
Address 505 Elks Building, Portland, Oregon
Subject:
Violin-Making and Local Politics.
Name and address of informant: Frank E. Coulter 421 S. W. Second Ave, Portland, Oregon.
Date and time of interview: March 24, 1939 A. M.
Place of interview: Workshop of informant, 421 S. W. Second Ave., Portland
Name and address of person, if any, who put you in touch with informant:
Chas. Olson, fellow-worker on Writers' Project.
Description of room, house, surroundings, etc:.
Second floor of old building, reached by dark, dusty flight of stairs. Room some 20 by 30 feet, with windows opening on court. Floor of old, worn and uneven boards, and a rusty stove in the center of the room. Piled everywhere, on the floor, on shelves and tables and benches, is the material -- old and new wood of every description -- from which the informant makes his instruments. Scores of instruments, completed and in the making, hang against one wall. His work table or bench stands beneath the dusty, cobwebby windows. A motor-run whipsaw is in the center of the room, neither the whipsaw itself nor the band being protected. In one obscure corner is a stationery washbowl with running water. Cans of glue and varnish, used and unused, as well as other incidental materials, is here, there and everywhere. What little floor space remains is filled with a nondescript assortment of chairs, doubtless for the use of the informant's many visitors and cronies. One of Portland's very old business blocks, the rest of the second floor being used by a printing establishment. Building is in the town's oldest business section, close to Chinatown.
1. Ancestry
2. Place and date of birth
3. Family
4. Places lived in, with dates
5. Education, with dates
6. Occupations and accomplishments with dates
7. Special skills and interests
8. Community and religious activities
9. Description of informant
10. Other points gained in interview
1. Father, Samuel Coulter ; mother, Rebecca Andrus Coulter . Stock: Scotch and Irish.
2. Marion, Ohio. April 16, 1862.
3. Wife, Ellen Louisa Kent Coulter ; two daughters, Mrs. Inez Boskill, Dorothy Coulter .
4. Ohio, California and Oregon. In Oregon 50 years.
5. Public schools; 2 1/2 years denomination school, Woodridge, Calif. 1 year, Stanford University.
6. Minister, United Brethern Church. Maker of stringed instruments.
7. Especially interested in political and economic questions dealing with humanitarianism.
8. General community interests. No lodges or fraternal organizations. Member United Brethern Church.
9. Tall and slender, with smooth kindly face. Shabby clothes. Of the fanatic type.
10.Interested in the welfare of mankind, but with considerable ego attached.