Helen Berg Oral History Interview

In this interview, Helen Berg discusses her career at OSU, issues of gender in the workforce that she has faced throughout her life, and her position as the first female mayor of Corvallis. She starts by talking about her beginnings in Corvallis as a new mother with a degree in Mathematics from the University of Wisconsin - Madison. She began working for OSU in 1963 as a statistical clerk for the Agricultural Experiment Station. The statistical work she did piqued her interest, and she began taking statistics classes at Oregon State University, eventually earning her Master’s in Statistics from Oregon State in 1973.

Berg then explains her beginnings in politics, which came about in the early eighties when she married her third husband, former mayor of Corvallis, Alan B. Berg. When her husband passed away in 1989, she ran for City Council while still working as the director of Oregon State’s Survey Research Center. From there, she discusses various experiences and projects she worked on as mayor, such as the Riverfront Park construction and the controversy surrounding it, and her Vision Statement 20/20 for the City of Corvallis.

She also mentions various political figures she admires and touches on her volunteer work at the Beaverton Obama Campaign Headquarters. She likewise brings up the importance of healthcare and health insurance, before delving into talking about her gender-based publications; she wrote on the issues of the statistical differences of social opportunities and gender. She also touches on the social changes she’s witnessed throughout America over the course of her lifespan, and the positive changes she’s seen in Corvallis since she first moved to the city.

The interview concludes with Berg encouraging everyone to pursue higher education. In this, she brings up the fact that, while her career was not neatly planned out in the beginning and it took her a bit to find her true calling, she still was able to find success and happiness in the workplace.