If Webster had a dictionary defining people, Harriet D. Munnick’s (maiden name Duncan) description would read: teacher, historian, writer and published author; earned two master’s degrees (U of O in education about 1945 and 1956-57 Willamette University in history) plus her bachelor’s (U of O 1941 education); received the Bishop Francis P. Leipzig Award in 1985 for her outstanding contributions to Oregon church history; learned French and Latin so she could translate the early church records for her books; charter member of St. Paul Mission Historical Society; became an expert in ceramic artifacts, participating in the archaeological digs at Champoeg; born and raised on the Duncan family farm in the Hazelia Area (now Stafford Hamlet) and lived most of her life in Clackamas County on what I believe is now Wilda Lane (named for Wilda Grimm, Grimm’s Fuel.)
What strikes me most about this remarkable woman is why she chose to write about the history of the early settlers in the St. Paul area when she was raised on a farm in Clackamas County and lived most of her life in Clackamas County. Down the research rabbit hole I went, searching for an answer.
An email conversation with certified genealogist and St. Paul Mission Historical Society board member Connie Lenzen raised the following possibilities: Harriet received a second master’s degree in history from Willamette University (1956-57). Perhaps her thesis had something to do with her passion for St. Paul. That combined with the fact that Willamette University is located in Marion County plus Harriet’s cousins were descendants of early Native American settlers in the area. Lenzen noted that Munnick’s thesis is a very strong possibility, but she has not been able to track it down to confirm.
Upon graduating from Washington High School in Portland, where she was enrolled in college prep classes and was an honor student, Harriet accepted her first teaching position in George, Oregon. Here’s what she wrote: “I went to Estacada on the train. George is way up on the mountains, eight or nine miles, I guess, much too far to walk. So I had to go on horseback. The school stood on an acre of burned-over land, half given back to brush and blackberry tangle over the decaying logs. When the wind from the east blew, the sound of the school bell at Porter could be heard across the miles of Eagle Creek canyon, making George seem less a lone educational outpost in the foothills.” Harriet’s grandmother worried that Harriet might find Native Americans at George. Harriet herself wasn’t too sure what she would do if she did run into a Native American. Strange thinking considering her family history.
Teaching math and science at Oakridge High School in Lane County marked the end of Munnick’s teaching career. The 1953-54 annual staff dedicated the publication to her, stating “her sportsmanship, sense of humor, and her untiring zeal for real scholar-ship have endeared her to her pupils and those who have entered the college halls from Oakridge High. She can always be depended upon to lend a helping hand. The students of Oakridge High will long remember Mrs. Munnick.”
Harriet D. Munnick passed away when she was 96. At 77, well into her retirement years, she began researching and writing prolifically about Oregon’s early history. Although much of her work was never published, it is available online via a database housed at the St. Paul Mission Historical Society. Her first published work, “Etienne Lucier — Oregon’s First Farmer,” appeared in the Marion County Historical Society newsletter volume 3 in 1957. She also wrote Priest’s Progress, an account of Archbishop Francis Blanchet’s early life before coming to Oregon in 1838. The book, published in 1989 by the St. Paul Mission Historical Society, was the final volume of an eight-book series about the role of the Catholic Church in the early history of the white man in Oregon and Washington. Her motivation for writing this series: “I simply wanted to know what became of the first Catholic settlers in Oregon.” Using the title “Catholic Church Records of the Pacific Northwest,” Harriet painstakingly compiled and annotated the records; translating them from French and Latin into English. An article in the Feb. 16, 1990 Sentinel stated that she spent close to 20 years reading diaries and journals of 19th century missionaries and settlers. Her books contain photographs, maps and sketches of scenes of early pioneer life.
Citations:
St. Paul Mission Historical Society
Lake Oswego Review, 1975
Oregonian 1992 obituary
St. Paul Mission Historical Society Fall 2017 newsletter
Email correspondence with Connie Lenzen
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