Selma Loney Oral History Interview

The interview opens with Selma Loney describing her family origins. Her father, William Konick, came to Corvallis, Oregon in 1913 from the East Coast. Her mother, Sarah, was originally from London but grew up in Portland. Loney was born in 1922 in Corvallis. She recalls that one other Jewish family, the Reicharts, had settled in Corvallis before her father did. Loney had one brother, Alvin. Her maternal grandparents lived in Portland, so she frequently spent time there as a child, especially for high holidays and other community events. Other than that, her family was not particularly conservative, so she had very little Jewish education. Loney recalls that her playmates throughout her childhood knew very little about Judaism, but religion was never a cause of conflict between them. Loney lived relatively free from experiences with anti-Semitism until she got to college and was not invited to the sorority rush weekend despite being eligible.

The focus then shifts to her husband’s background and how they settled to Corvallis. Roy Loney grew up in Minnesota. The couple met in Seattle and married after dating for four and a half months. They lived in Seattle for a time until Loney’s father asked them to come to Corvallis because he wanted to bring her husband into his jewelry business. The Loneys had four children. With no synagogue or official community organization in Corvallis, they were members of the Salem synagogue. In 1947 Selma started a sewing group along with a few other women from Jewish families. They sewed garments which were donated to Israel through the Portland Hadassah. Loney’s sons both had bar mitzvahs through the Salem synagogue.

Loney then talks about the formation of the Corvallis chapter of Hadassah, a Jewish women’s organization. She recalls that Hadassah was the only national organization that was willing to accept the Corvallis community as a chapter since they did not have enough people to meet the minimum number requirements. She concludes the interview by describing some of Hadassah’s activities and how the Corvallis group differed from the official standards of the national organization. She also mentions her mother’s work during the war years.

Corvallis native Selma Loney was born in 1922 and attended both Corvallis High School as well as Oregon State College. She completed her degree in Business and Industry in 1944. After meeting and marrying her husband in Seattle, Loney settled with her family in Corvallis and raised four children. She passed away in 2001.