Interviewer: McGwire Smith
Interview Date: February 24, 2019
Location: Davis residence, Corvallis, Oregon
Duration: 1:17:14
This interview ranges from the generation before to the generation after Nancy Lee Davis. Born in 1935, Nancy grew up in the World War II era with her mother and her two sisters living in Oregon and her father away on Midway Island, working as an engineer for the military. He came back after the war ended and Nancy lived with her family until her marriage in the 1950’s.
Nancy spoke of her love of academics and told the story of her OSC years that started after she graduated from high school in 1953. She had been encouraged by an English teacher to continue her education even though she couldn’t afford it, so she applied for, and earned, a Pell Grant. She enjoyed every minute at Oregon State and took a variety of classes from secretarial science and home economics to religion and western civilizations. She left after two years to get a job and to get married one year after that.
When talking about her post Oregon State experience, Nancy discussed what it was like to raise three children through the 1950s and 1960s. In this, she talked about how different parenting was between her childhood, her children’s, and her grandchildren’s. She also noted how important a foundation her education at OSC was when she and her husband opened a small construction business, for which she ran the financials. She further discusses computer programming classes that she took at a local community college and her implementation of these new skills in her day-to-day work for the business.
The interview concludes with a discussion of Nancy’s day-to-day schedule nowadays. Even as a retiree, she stays very active in the community, spending her time volunteering with a local branch of an international organization called Altrusa, going to Beaver games, and going to church. She credits everything to her family and to her faith.
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Nancy spoke of her love of academics and told the story of her OSC years that started after she graduated from high school in 1953. She had been encouraged by an English teacher to continue her education even though she couldn’t afford it, so she applied for, and earned, a Pell Grant. She enjoyed every minute at Oregon State and took a variety of classes from secretarial science and home economics to religion and western civilizations. She left after two years to get a job and to get married one year after that.
When talking about her post Oregon State experience, Nancy discussed what it was like to raise three children through the 1950s and 1960s. In this, she talked about how different parenting was between her childhood, her children’s, and her grandchildren’s. She also noted how important a foundation her education at OSC was when she and her husband opened a small construction business, for which she ran the financials. She further discusses computer programming classes that she took at a local community college and her implementation of these new skills in her day-to-day work for the business.
The interview concludes with a discussion of Nancy’s day-to-day schedule nowadays. Even as a retiree, she stays very active in the community, spending her time volunteering with a local branch of an international organization called Altrusa, going to Beaver games, and going to church. She credits everything to her family and to her faith.