Monthly Archives: August 2013

Friday Feature: Nuclear History Research Guide

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The Special Collections and Archives Research Center is pleased to share the first of our new research guides, which details our significant collection strengths in nuclear history and atomic energy.

The guide includes subtopics on:

The guide will expand as we begin processing on a few new accessions in SCARC, including further records of the Radiation Center, the papers of Radiation Center director Chih Wang, and a very special new collection arriving in the fall. Watch this space for updates, and for new research guides on other subject strengths. In the meantime, check out interesting selections from the atomic energy and nuclear history collections on SCARC’s Pinterest page.

Friday Feature: Portraying Forest History

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I love new projects that celebrate new collections! Last Friday, August 16, we released nearly 5,000 digital images of the Siuslaw National Forest (SNF), which date from 1908 when Siuslaw was first established as a national forest to the present. A highlight of the collection is a series of photographs taken by Corydon Cronk during his time as an assistant ranger on the forest in 1910-1911.

Aerial Central coast N. from Cape Perpetua

Kevin Bruce, SNF Heritage Resource Program manager, approached Larry Landis and Ruth Vondracek nearly a year ago with the exciting proposal to create the Siuslaw National Forest Collection. The collection represents the first step in a long-ranging joint project between the SNF and the OSU Libraries and Press’ Center for Digital Scholarship and Special Collections & Archives Research Center.

Heritage Resource Program manager Kevin Bruce says

“Ranging from early 20th-century homesteading activities to modern stream restoration efforts, the collection includes a wide array of topics that reflect the changing management, landscapes, and people on the Siuslaw National Forest.”

Making forest history more publicly accessible is the goal of the project, and this project also involved the public. The images were digitized and described by volunteers in the Passport in Time Program, a volunteer archaeology and historic preservation program of the U.S. Forest Service. Under the supervision of former Siuslaw National Forest Heritage Program manager Phyllis Steeves, volunteers scanned images over the course of a decade, and even developed the database to store the associated information. Maura Valentino, from the OSULP Center for Digital Scholarship played a significant role in making the images available as through the OSULP digital collections.

See the Siuslaw National Forest Collection.

Read the OSU press release.

Enjoy!

Friday Feature — road trip

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Tacked to the end of a family road trip, I made a visit to the American Hop Museum in Toppenish, WA (which is just south of Yakima). It was a lovely museum and a fun trip through the hops production system!

American Hop Museum

The AHM has a mission to “preserve, protect & display the historical equipment, photos, and artifacts that have long been important in the raising and harvesting of this obscure perennial vine that is vital to the brewing industry.” The Yakima Valley is the heart of hop growing country, with a clear claim to being the nation’s largest hop producing area. The museum combines exhibits with artifacts and information displays with a fun and unique gift shop.

There is a small archives, around 30 cubic foot boxes (think paper boxes), with records pertaining to hops production in the area (pictures, correspondence, business records). From what the staff person said they haven’t had a lot of research traffic for the archival materials, but they do get a variety of visitors from all over the world. When we signed the guestbook I have to admit that people from England seemed to dominate!

You can learn more about the museum, including the history of the building, on their web page.

You can also find a new Flickr set “American Hop Museum in Toppenish — a field trip” with more pictures from my trip!