Oregon's Tom McCall, Enviromentalist
Tom McCall served as Oregon's governor from 1967 to 1975
Jun 13, 2009
Tom McCall was significantly ahead of his time when it came to environmental protection. Perhaps he gained an appreciation of the environment on the family farm in Oregon, or growing up in Massachusetts, or from his grandfather, Samuel McCall, the Congressman and Governor of Massachusetts. After his graduation from the University of Oregon in 1936 with a degree in journalism McCall went to work for a small town newspaper in Moscow, Idaho. There he also served as the chairperson of the Idaho Wildlife Association. Perhaps it was this association, during which he met and married his wife, Audrey Owen; that crystallized his conviction and dedication to the cause of the environment.
McCall's Career in Radio and Television
In 1942, McCall was fired from the newspaper job in Moscow and moved to Portland. He immediately got a job on The Oregonian, Oregon’s leading newspaper, followed by a job at a Portland radio station owned by the newspaper. In 1949, he was hired by Governor Douglas McKay as his executive secretary. When McKay was defeated in 1952, McCall went back to work as a radio newsman until he was hired by KPTV television in 1955 as a newscaster and commentator. He quit this job over placement of a sponsor’s product on the news set and one month later was hired as the news anchor and commentator at KGW-TV which had just gone on the air. He was the co-anchor for KGW-TV for seven years until he quit to campaign for Secretary of State in 1964. After serving two years in this position he was elected to the first of two terms as governor in 1966.
McCall and the Environment
In 1962, Rachel Carson published the groundbreaking book, Silent Spring, which dealt with the effects of pesticides on animals, especially birds. Silent Spring is often regarded as the catalyst for the beginning of the environmental movement in the United States. The same year Tom McCall produced and hosted a KGW-TV documentary on pollution in the Willamette River called, Pollution in Paradise, which graphically displayed the damage to the river and the poor air quality throughout the Portland area. It was primarily this documentary which convinced the 1963 Oregon state legislature to deal with the deal up of the Willamette River. During this time McCall also hosted a show called “Viewpoint” on KGW-TV which dealt with political issues.
Governor Thomas McCall
When McCall was elected Governor he set the tone for his administration in his inaugural message in 1967. He declared that: “Health, economic strength, recreation – in fact, the entire outlook and image of the state – are tied inseparable to the environment.” As governor McCall proposed over one hundred pieces of environmental legislation including the first “bottle law” outlawing non returnable bottles and cans. He was also a champion of “civil rights and administrative and tax reforms.” In fact, his commitment to civil rights also began before it was the popular political thing to do. In 1958, while chairing a committee on migrant worker issues, he proposed ground breaking civil rights legislation to protect migrant workers which was passed into law at the next legislative session in 1959. The Committee dealt with school attendance, parent visitation, equitable business practices, community education, constructive law enforcement, and migrant acceptance activities.
It is certainly clear that McCall was a leader who put issues before politics. He often went against his own party to do the right thing.
Tom McCall, Tom McCall: Maverick; An Autobiography with Steve Neal. (Portland: Binford and Mort, 1977). OregonState Achieves: http://arcweb .sos.state.or.us/governors/McCall/inaugual1967.htm.
