Guide to Peter Wotton Papers
1933-1998

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Overview of the Collection

Creator: Peter Wotton
Title: Peter Wotton Papers
Dates: 1933-1998 ( inclusive )
Quantity: 2.0 cubic feet (5 document boxes, 33 audio cassette tapes)
Collection Number: M-003
Summary: Peter Wotton broadcast "Elderberry Wine" commentaries, focusing on issues of interest to older people, on KLCC radio in Eugene, Oregon, 1982-1996. The collection includes "Elderberry Wine" scripts, audio recordings, and newspaper columns; correspondence, speeches, sermons, poems, short stories, scrapbooks, and photographs.
Repository: Lane Community College (Eugene, Or.)
Archives

4000 East 30th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97405
Phone: 541-463-5466
Fax: 541-463-3996
E-mail: archives@lanecc.edu
Web: http://www.lanecc.edu/archives/

Languages: Collection materials are in English 
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Biographical Note

Peter Wotton was born in Pasadena, California, in 1920. He attended Princeton University from 1938-1942, graduating with a degree in English literature. During World War II he served in the U.S. Armed Forces in the Pacific and in Europe from 1942-1946.

For the next 17 years, he worked in marketing, advertising, and public relations for a number of firms in New York and Connecticut. In 1963 he switched careers to public health administration. He received a Masters Degree in public health from Yale University in 1967. He worked as an administrator and planner in hospitals working in health education, psychiatric administration, and counseling in Connecticut until 1979 when he moved to Eugene, Oregon. In Oregon, he continued his work as an administrator in community health and senior services and as an in-home care provider.

Peter was active in the community as a member of the Unitarian Church and the Eugene Peace Choir. He served on a number of advisory committees and boards dealing with human rights, public health, senior citizens, the rights of aging, disabled services, and grief counseling. Peter was also a journalist, and from 1982 until his death in 1996, he broadcast a weekly commentary on KLCC radio in Eugene which he called “Elderberry Wine.” His commentaries focused on issues of interest to older people and the processes of living and growing older. In addition to the weekly radio broadcasts, Peter covered similar topics in the “Elderberry Wine” columns he wrote for local newspapers.

Peter married five times and was survived by his wife Carol Browne Wotton, son George, sister Mariah Marvin, and several step-daughters and step-sons. He had a heart attack in 1977 and was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1980. He died on November 3, 1996.

Content Description

The core of the Peter Wotton Papers is the scripts and audio recordings of "Elderberry Wine," a weekly commentary on KLCC-FM, the public radio station on the campus of Lane Community College. There are over 700 commentaries, which date from June 1982 until November 1996. The commentaries focused on issues of interest to older people, local events and services, local and national politics, and Wotton's reflections on the processes of living and growing older.

The collection also contains personal records such as speeches, scrapbooks, newspaper columns, and other records relating to his death.

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Access :  

The collection is open for research.

Restrictions on Use :  

Permission to rebroadcast or publish the commentaries must be obtained from KLCC-FM radio which holds the copyright to the commentaries.

Preferred Citation :  

For the collection: Peter Wotton Papers, 1933-1998 (M-003), Lane Community College Archives, Eugene, Oregon

For "Elderberry Wine" radio commentaries: Elderberry Wine Commentary ###, Peter Wotton Papers, 1933-1998 (M-003), Lane Community College Archvies, Eugene, Oregon

Administrative Information

Arrangement :

The collection is divided into three series.

Series A. Elderberry Wine Commentaries, Scripts, 1982-1998

Series B. Elderberry Wine Commentaries, Recordings, 1982-1996

Series C. Subject Files and Recordings, 1933-1996

Acquisition Information :  

The collection was donated to the Archives by Carol Browne Wotton in several donations in 1999, 2001, and 2006.

Processing Note :  

The collection was processed by Elizabeth Uhlig in 1999 and 2001. All material in the several donations were merged into one colleciton.

Related Materials :  

Recordings of fourteen "Elderberry Wine" commentaries are on the Lane Community College Archives website. To listen to these recordings online, visit: Elderberry Wine: Selected Radio Commentaries by Peter Wotton at the Lane Community College Archives.

Contact the Lane Archives for a complete list of commentary titles as well as poems and short stories written by Peter Wotton.


Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Series A:   Elderberry Wine Commentaries, Scripts, 1982-1998

This series contains the scripts of "Elderberry Wine" a weekly commentary on KLCC-FM , the public radio station on the campus of Lane Community College. There are over 700 commentaries, which date from June 1982 until November 1996. The commentaries focused on issues of interest to older people, local events and services, local and national politics, and Wotton's reflections on the processes of living and growing older. The numbered scripts are arranged chronologically by broadcast date.

The series also contains a volume titled "Elderberry Wine: Selected Radio Commentaries by Peter Wotton." One hundred commentaries were selected by Carol Browne Wotton, Peter's wife, and published in 1998 in this volume.

The series contains a copy of Peter's last commentary about his own death which was broadcast after he died.

Collection is open to the public.

Permission to publish the commentaries must be obtained from KLCC-FM radio, which holds the copyright to the commentaries.

Container(s)
Description
Dates
Box-Folder
1/1 Elderberry Wine: Selected Radio Commentaries by Peter Wotton, published by Carol Browne 1998
1/2 Elderberry Wine, lists of commentary titles and broadcast dates undated
1/3 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 1-31 1982
1/4-5 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 32-83 1983
1/6-7 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 84-135 1984
1/8-9 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 136-183 1985
1/10 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 184-208 1986
1/11 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 209-211, 213-224, 248-258 1986-1987
1/12 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 259-283 1987
1/13-14 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 284-333 1988
1/15-16 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 334-386 1989
1/17, 2/1 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 387-438 1990
2/2-3 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 439-491 1991
2/4-5 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 492-541 1992
2/6-7 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 542-592 1993
2/8-9 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 593-628 1994
2/10-11 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 629-677 1995
2/12-13 Elderberry Wine, scripts, commentary no. 678-719, 999, 1000 1996
2/14-15 Elderberry Wine, extra scripts undated
2/16 Elderberry Jam, commentary script undated

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Series B:  Elderberry Wine Commentaries, Recordings, 1982-1996

This series contains the audio cassette recordings of the Elderberry Wine broadcasts, which are numbered and arranged chronologically by broadcast date. The series also include a recording made at Peter's 75th birthday party.

Collection is open to the public.

Permission to publish or copy the taped commentaries must be obtained from KLCC-FM radio which holds the copyright to the commentaries.

Container(s)
Description
Dates
Box-Folder
6/1 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 1-24 1982
6/2 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 24-46 1982-1983
6/3 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 47-71 1983
6/4 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 72-94 1983-1984
6/5 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 95-116 1984
6/6 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 117-142 1984-1985
6/7 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 143-168 1985
6/8 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 169-191 1985-1986
6/9 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 192-213 1986
6/10 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 214-232, 234-235 1986-1987
6/11 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 233, 236-260 1987
6/12 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 261-286 1987-1988
6/13 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 287-312 1988
6/14 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 313-328 1988
6/15 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 329-343 1988-1989
6/16 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 344-368 1989
6/17 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 369-391 1989-1990
6/18 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 392-418 1990
6/19 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 419-442 1990-1991
6/20 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 443-466 1991
6/21 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 467-490 1991
6/22 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 491-513 1991-1992
6/23 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 514-537 1992
6/24 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 536-560 1992-1993
6/25 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 560-584 1993
6/26 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 584-605 1993-1994
6/27 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 606-630 1994-1995
6/28 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 631-655 1995
6/29 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 656-678 1995-1996
6/30 Elderberry Wine, audio cassette recordings, commentary no. 679-703 1996

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Series C:  Subject Files and Recordings, 1933-1996

This series contains copies of monthly newspaper columns, also titled "Elderberry Wine," which were often identical to the radio broadcasts. The columns were published in a number of local newspapers such as the Phoenix Senior World, Lane County Senior News, Senior News Monthly, and the OTHER paper. The columns are contained in three scrapbooks, which also include other newspaper articles written by Peter Wotton.

The series also contains letters, photographs and copies of speeches and sermons, as well as a scrapbooks, dated c. 1948 - 1965, containing samples of advertisements which Peter produced during his career in marketing in New York and Connecticut. There are also some records form his college days at Princeton University.

The series also contains a video tape made shortly before his death and a recollection titled "Peter's Death" by his sister, Mariah Marvin.

Container(s)
Description
Dates
Box-Folder
5/7 Academic Essay, Thomas Hardy and George Eliot 1942
3/7 Awards and appointments 1984-1995
5/3 Booklet, Princeton University, photo-gravures undated
3/8-9 Correspondence 1961-1963, 1983-1993
2/17 Elderberry Wine, newspaper columns 1982-1984
2/18-19 Elderberry Wine, newspaper columns 1990-1993
3/1-3 Elderberry Wine, newspaper columns 1994-1995
5/8 “Enjoying the Sunset,” video tape recording, August 25,1996 1996
3/10 Lifeline / Resume undated
3/25 M.A. thesis, Yale University 1967
6/33 Memorial Service, audio cassette recording, November 10,1996 1996
3/13 Miscellaneous undated
3/4-6 Newspaper articles 1982-1983, 1990-1995
6/31 Peter's 75th Birthday party, audio cassette recording, December 9, 1995 1995
3/11 “Peter's Death” by Mariah Marvin, news clippings 1996
5/4 Poems 1933-1995
3/12 Photographs undated
4/1-3 Scrapbook, Elderberry Wine, columns and news clippings 1982-1984, 1990-1996
5/2 Scrapbook of advertisements circa 1948-1965
5/1 Scrapbook of advertisements, explanations circa 1948-1965
3/14 Sermons undated
6/32 Sermons, audio cassette recordings, "Community," October 30, 1994; "Spirituality," January 29, 1995 1994-1995
5/5-6 Short Stories 1934-1953, undated
3/15-16 Speeches 1960-1962
3/17-18 Speeches 1967-1968
3/19 Speeches 1971, 1977
3/20, 24 Speeches undated
3/21-23 Speeches 1980, 1983-1988

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Subjects

This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.

  • Personal Names :
  • Wotton, Peter
  • Corporate Names :
  • KLCC-FM
  • Lane Community College (Eugene, Or.)
  • Subject Terms :
  • Community colleges--Oregon
  • Elderberry Wine - radio commentaries
  • Old age
  • Old age assistance
  • Older people
  • Older volunteers
  • Universities and colleges--Oregon

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