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Washington Women’s Heritage Project records, 1900-2000 
University of Washington Libraries Special Collections 
Erna Dora Meerscheidt Bouillon 
October 2, 1980 
Cassette 1, Side 1 
 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  00:03 
Testing, one, two, three. This is Susan Ehlers with the Washington Women's History Project, 
interviewing Erna Bouillon on October 2, 1980, tape one, side one. Okay, your name is Erna--  
 
Erna Bouillon  00:42 
E-R-N-A.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  00:48 
And Bouillon?  
 
Erna Bouillon  00:50 
Yes, B-O-U-I-L-L-O-N. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  00:53 
Okay, and your maiden name was? 
 
Erna Bouillon  00:56 
Erna Meerscheidt. I'll spell it for you-- are you gonna write Erna first, no?  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  01:02 
No, just the last. 
 
Erna Bouillon  01:04 
 M-E-E-R-S-C-H-E-I-D-T. I'm of German decent.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  01:13 
Okay, [?you're German?]. 
 
Erna Bouillon  01:17 
Drop of French.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  01:25 
Okay, have any nicknames?  
Page 2 of 12 
 
 
Erna Bouillon  01:27 
No. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  01:31 
Your telephone?  
 
Erna Bouillon  01:34 
525-9666. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  01:34 
Current address? 
 
Erna Bouillon  01:40 
60-- Wait a minute. 6720 East Green Lake Way North. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  01:56 
Date of birth?  
 
Erna Bouillon  01:58 
July 24, 1893. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  02:05 
Place?  
 
Erna Bouillon  02:06 
San Antonio, Texas. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  02:10 
I was born in Cuero.  
 
Erna Bouillon  02:11 
Where?  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  02:13 
Cuero. 
 
Erna Bouillon  02:14 
Oh, is that Texas too? 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  02:18 
Yes, it's about 85 miles.  
 
Erna Bouillon  02:19 
Mm-hmm? Oh, I haven't heard of it.  
 
Page 3 of 12 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  02:23 
Marriages? 
 
Erna Bouillon  02:26 
I've had two.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  02:27 
Okay, first one, to whom was that? 
 
Erna Bouillon  02:32 
Harold F. Weeks.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  02:38 
Weeks? 
 
Erna Bouillon  02:39 
W-E-E-K-S. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  02:42 
And where was that?  
 
Erna Bouillon  02:43 
In Seattle, on the Mercer Island.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  02:49 
When was that? 
 
Erna Bouillon  02:54 
Well, I'll have to figure that out. Married Harold, July 23, 1916. I graduated from the university 
few-- A week before.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  03:17 
Okay, and the second one? 
 
Erna Bouillon  03:18 
Victor Bouillon. Now let's see, I've got that here-- February 15, '64.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  03:22 
15? 
 
Erna Bouillon  03:25 
15, and then the year is '64.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  03:30 
Okay, and where was that? Seattle? 
 
Page 4 of 12 
 
Erna Bouillon  03:35 
Yes, that was in University District. Oh, it was in the University Congregational Church. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  03:44 
And no common law marriages?  
 
Erna Bouillon  03:57 
No.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  03:59 
Okay, education?  
 
Erna Bouillon  04:02 
Well, when I was, let's see, five years old, we went to Germany and traveled all summer. Then, I 
lived, my whole family lived with my grandmother-- No, my Great Aunt Emma and Uncle Carl 
in Bad Harzburg, Germany. And then we traveled the next summer, and I had a private tutor, and 
learned to write German script and, read and write. I knew how to speak it because we spoke 
both languages in the home.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  04:56 
Okay, and how long were you, you in Germany?  
 
Erna Bouillon  05:04 
Well, we traveled one summer, had a private tutor in the winter and lived with my great aunt, 
traveled the next summer and went back to San Antonio, to get back into schools, in September. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  05:19 
Okay, so then when you were about six, then you went to American schools in San Antonio? 
 
Erna Bouillon  05:24 
Well, wait. Then, then, let's see. Then I, we went to, back over to Germany when I was 13 and 
traveled all summer, went into very exclusive German, German-- [Movement]. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  05:47 
Just a minute, I'm going to turn this over. Okay, Germany again at 13? 
 
Erna Bouillon  05:58 
At 13, and to-- Traveled all summer, went to this exclusive boarding school, and the, the girls 
came from all over Europe, and they were all title, titled people. We had a title too, my son-- My 
father, when he was in Germany, was called a baron. He'd been sent over to a school in Germany 
when he was a boy, because the schools in Texas were so poor, and he lived with this same great 
aunt, and then he went to Heidelberg and graduated from there as an architect. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  06:50 
Okay, and did you come back to the US after that? 
 
Page 5 of 12 
 
Erna Bouillon  06:56 
We came back from the boarding school, we took a cousin along, there were four-- My three, 
two sisters and I, and my cousin, four of us, went to this boarding school.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  07:07 
Do you remember what the name of the boarding school was?  
 
Erna Bouillon  07:09 
Yes, Victoria Pensionate. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  07:16 
How's it, Victoria and then-- 
 
Erna Bouillon  07:18 
And then Pensionate, P-E-N-S-I-O-N-- 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  07:24 
P-E-N-- 
 
Erna Bouillon  07:25 
S-I-O-N-A-T-- A-T-E. Pensionate.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  07:27 
Okay and-- Okay and then? 
 
Erna Bouillon  07:35 
Then, we traveled again. And my father was a very wonderful man, even when I was, the first 
time, five. We traveled all over Europe, and we went to all the castles, cathedrals and places of, 
churches and art museums, of interest. And that's where I think I got my foundation. And he took 
the trouble, even when we were five years old, to explain everything, and that's where I got my 
foundation. Later on, wanted to be an interior decorator.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  08:13 
I see. Just a moment. [Tape stops and starts] Okay, now we're at the Pensionate.  
 
Erna Bouillon  08:25 
Oh, yes.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  08:25 
And traveling. 
 
Erna Bouillon  08:27 
Then we, then-- My mother suffered from migraine headaches and, instead of going back to San 
Antonio, then we, my father decided that a cooler climate, a climate more like Germany, would, 
might help her, because she suffered so in the summertime, in the Texas heat. And so we came 
right to Seattle then. And I, we reached Seattle the year of the fair, the AYP. 
Page 6 of 12 
 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  09:10 
Okay, that was 1909, 1908, something like that?  
 
Erna Bouillon  09:14 
Now let me see, I may have that date. [Pages turning] I thought I could find it. I know I got it. 
Did you want the date I married my husband, the second husband, February-- 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  09:57 
Oh, yes, I've already got that. 
 
Erna Bouillon  09:58 
You've got that? And you got when I married my first one?  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  10:02 
Yes. 
 
Erna Bouillon  10:03 
And we left San Antonio in 1906 and came here. That's the date you want now. We've arrived 
here, and the AYP was on, and we went out to the fair because they held it over, it was so good. 
The next year, they held it over.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  10:26 
Okay, so then you graduated from school?  
 
Erna Bouillon  10:31 
Well, I went to The Summit School, because, you see, I was behind as far as school was 
concerned, because I studied over there. So, I had to go, to take two years at The Summit School, 
then I went to Broadway High School. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  10:48 
Summit School, and then Broadway? 
 
Erna Bouillon  10:50 
And then Broadway, and I graduated from Broadway, I had quite a time getting permission to do 
this, to graduate in three years, because I went into German five and French four, because I knew 
those languages. And my teacher wouldn't give me permission, and I had a very sophisticated 
friend and she said, "Go to the principal and tell him that your father wants to travel again, and 
he's getting old, and," which was true, "and he, but he won't go until you've graduated from high 
school." And the principal said, "Well, a year's travel will help you. I'll allow you to double up in 
English," and you had to have four years of English, you see, and I was graduating in three years, 
"and then you can graduate." So, I graduated in three years from high school, and went out to the 
university directly.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  11:57 
UW, and-- 
Page 7 of 12 
 
 
Erna Bouillon  11:59 
I graduated in 1916. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  12:04 
That was from college or high school?  
 
Erna Bouillon  12:06 
That was from college. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  12:10 
Graduated in 1916 and what did you-- 
 
Erna Bouillon  12:12 
Yes, and married this first husband a week later, I think. A week or 10 days later. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  12:23 
Okay, and what were you studying at the UW?  
 
Erna Bouillon  12:26 
I was in the Home Economics Department under Miss Raitt and Miss Denny. And I have a 
autographed book that Miss Denny gave me. She came right up here to The Hearthstone and 
gave me this autographed book, "My dear Erna," oh, they were so fond of me, both of them. And 
she gave me that and she died a week later.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  12:47 
Mm. [Pages turning] Educational background, any particular skills that you feel you have?  
 
Erna Bouillon  12:56 
Well, I certainly can run a house, entertain, bring up children. And then I was, went back to 
college and got more credits, as I said, when the children were gone. My one daughter went to 
New York, and one went to Alaska when she grew up, and I'd lost a boy. And that was, shouldn't 
have been, the doctor was gone, and he was allergic to the shot the substitute doctor gave him, 
and he died. It was a horse serum against scarlet fever. The maid I had had scarlet fever, she 
went out to Firland, they had kept them out there in those days. And, let's see, well, and so when 
the children grew up, as I say, one went to Alaska, and one went to New York, and I went back 
to college, and I took a normal psychology and a lot of things I was interested in. And I was 
chairman, I was on the YWCA board, I was president of a sorority, I was a member of Gamma 
Phi Beta at the university, and had been house manager there for two years, and let's see-- Oh 
and I was all-city treasurer of music and art organization. See, I was on the board and I was the 
all-city treasurer. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  14:51 
Of music and art? 
 
Erna Bouillon  14:52 
Page 8 of 12 
 
Music and art foundation, mm-hmm, in Seattle and I-- And skills, I, that picture, I, that's one of 
them that Rudolph Schaeffer gave me, that's called a collage. And he gave-- Liked that so well, 
that he gave me, these are things that helped me get the scholarship. And that picture back, in 
back of the lamp there, I did in a half an hour and he wouldn't believe it, but his wife was in the 
class. And that's done with poster paint, three colors, and then there's a, another thing I did here-- 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  15:44 
Oh, you're attached, don't forget that. 
 
Erna Bouillon  15:47 
Well, you can go around the corner there, and on my TV, you can see the room. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  15:53 
Oh! 
 
Erna Bouillon  15:56 
And that's all made out of wood, the furniture and everything, and painted to look like cloth, and 
I made that. And those are all things that helped me to win a scholarship, because it was so good-
- 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  16:11 
Okay. 
 
Erna Bouillon  16:12 
--down at Rudolph Schaeffer's. That's when I, so I graduated from, got my diploma from 
Rudolph Schaeffer at the age of 60. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  16:21 
Okay, [pages turning] [inaudible] under, let's see, [inaudible] put this down, later life, went to 
Rudolph Schaeffer-- 
 
Erna Bouillon  16:38 
Schaeffer, S-C-H-A-E-F-F-E-R-S, School of Design on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. And it 
cost me a lot of money to do that because I had an apartment in the University District. And my, 
my daughter was, oldest daughter, at that time, was living with me, and she paid half the rent for 
me, just because she stayed living there while I was gone. And then the second year, she moved 
out, and I had to get rent, I got graduate students in oceanic study at the university to, two of 
them, to move in.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  17:26 
Continued education at UW also? 
 
Erna Bouillon  17:34 
Mm-hmm. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  17:34 
Page 9 of 12 
 
Just taking stuff that interested you? 
 
Erna Bouillon  17:36 
Yeah. And then you see, I did all this club work, and I was always way at the top, president or 
chairman or what have you. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  17:51 
Now, occupations, one has been interior decorator, right?  
 
Erna Bouillon  17:54 
Yes, and I did a lot of paintings in the other room, but I gave the 16 best ones away. We had a t-- 
I did those here when I was 70 years old, we had the teacher, and I studied oil painting. Before 
that, I had, I had done pencil sketches, watercolors, and I'll show you those later on when I'm not 
connected.   
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  18:25 
Studied oil painting at 70 at Hearthstone. 
 
Erna Bouillon  18:38 
Yeah, we had, for two years we had a private teacher down there. She came in from the outside. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  18:49 
Interior decorator, I guess you would say-- 
 
Erna Bouillon  18:52 
Interior design, homes. And as I said, the first job I got was President Henry Schmitz's mansion 
in Washington Park. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  19:17 
Let's see, where's my listing of-- I guess we'll give [inaudible] more on the tape, then. So, let's try 
and get a little bit of family background, you know, grandparents. 
 
Erna Bouillon  19:21 
My grandparents, my paternal grandparents, well, they were all born in Texas for two or three 
generations back, and the one was an engineer and an architect and he--  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  19:43 
Okay, well, let's [inaudible], grandfather his name was?  
 
Erna Bouillon  19:48 
My grandfather's name? 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  19:51 
Yeah. 
 
Erna Bouillon  19:52 
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Was, let me see if I-- 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  19:54 
It was paternal or maternal?  
 
Erna Bouillon  19:56 
Maternal-- Paternal. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  19:58 
Okay, paternal grandfather. 
 
Erna Bouillon  19:59 
Father, let me see, my father's name was Alexander, Axel they called him, Axel Meerscheidt, 
and his, I think his father's name, I'll have to put it down, was the same.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  20:17 
Axel, A-X-- 
 
Erna Bouillon  20:19 
E-L. Put that in parentheses because it was Alexander. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  20:22 
Oh, nickname, I see. 
 
Erna Bouillon  20:24 
Mm-hmm. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  20:25 
And, okay, father's. 
 
Erna Bouillon  20:36 
And my father, want to know more about my father? 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  20:41 
Well, the thing is, the order I've got here is grandmother and grandfathers first, but. 
 
Erna Bouillon  20:48 
Well, I told you grandfather. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  20:50 
No, you didn't, what's his name? 
 
Erna Bouillon  20:51 
Well, I think it was the same, I think you'll have to-- 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  20:54 
Page 11 of 12 
 
Alexander?  
 
Erna Bouillon  20:55 
I think, yes, I wouldn't--  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  20:56 
Okay, do you remember what your maternal grandfather's-- 
 
Erna Bouillon  21:02 
Paternal-- Maternal, yes, he came over with the Prince of Braunfels, who brought over a group of 
professional men, and he took them and opened up a town, and they called it New Braunfels, 
because it was after the Prince of Braunfels.  
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  21:25 
Okay, yes, but what was his name?  
 
Erna Bouillon  21:27 
His name was, let's see, her name was Olga--or, no, Franciska Remer, R-E-M-E-R, and he was, 
oh, gosh, if I remember his name. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  21:47 
Remer, R-E-- 
 
Erna Bouillon  21:47 
M-E-R. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  21:53 
Mother's name was Franciska? 
 
Erna Bouillon  21:56 
My grandmother's name. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  21:57 
Oh. 
 
Erna Bouillon  21:57 
My mother, my grand-- Her mother's name, my grandmother's name-- 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  22:04 
Ah, maternal. 
 
Erna Bouillon  22:05 
--was, was Franciska, you're right. And my mother's name was Olga. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  22:10 
Olga. 
Page 12 of 12 
 
 
Erna Bouillon  22:12 
O-L-G-A. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  22:13 
Olga R-- 
 
Erna Bouillon  22:15 
Remer. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  22:16 
Okay, and okay, now, which grandmother, maternal or paternal, was Franciska? 
 
Erna Bouillon  22:26 
That was the Remer, was Franciska. Maternal-- Pa-- Maternal, yes, mother. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  22:37 
Okay and do you know what her maiden name was? 
 
Erna Bouillon  22:41 
Franciska Remer. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  22:43 
I know, but before she married-- 
 
Erna Bouillon  22:45 
Oh, I-- No, I'd have to look that all up. 
 
Susan Lynn Ehlers  22:47 
Question mark. Okay, and you don't, can't find what you're [inaudible]. [Tape stops and starts] 
Washington's Women's Heritage Project, Erna Bouillon, interview by Susan Ehlers, October 2, 
1980, end of tape one, side one. 