Monthly Archives: September 2024

Welcome to Oregon Archive Month!

Join us for a month of activities. We will have presentations, Open Houses, and time to gather with crafts and food! Here’s what’s going on this month in SCARC:

Pride Center Grand Opening: OSU Queer Archives Display – POSTPONED! New Date TBD

  • Friday, October 11th, 11am-2pm @ the Pride Center
  • To celebrate the newly expanded Pride Center Grand Opening, the OSU Queer Archives (OSQA) collaborated with the Pride Center to curate a display of OSU queer history featuring materials from OSQA archival collections. 

Oregon River Maps Special Open House

  • Wednesday, October 16th, 10:30am-1:30pm @ the SCARC Reading Room
  • In collaboration with PRAx’s annual theme of watersheds, SCARC is highlighting hand drawn maps and figures from our “Plans and Profiles of Oregon Rivers” collection. Curated selections will include original images of the Klamath River from field data surveyed in 1923, just after the completion of the Copco dams but before the construction of Iron Gate. Months after the removal of these dams, these historic maps hold new interest.

Add Glitter to the Archives! A Crafternoon with the OSU Queer Archives

  • Thursday, October 17th, 4-6pm @ Valley Library Main floor, Kow Lounge
  • Join us in using (copies of) archival materials from the OSU Queer Archives (OSQA) for crafting projects! Participants will have the opportunity to donate their craft or a photograph of their creations to OSQA if they would like to do so. This event is a part of the OSU Libraries Crafternoon series and is hosted in celebration of Queer History Month.   

William Appleman Williams: A Retrospective

  • Wednesday, October 23rd, 4:00-5:30pm @ the SCARC Reading Room
  • This event will include reflections from three scholars on the life and work of William Appleman Williams (1921-1990), a major American historian and member of the History faculty at Oregon State University from 1968-1986. Regarded as a founder of the “revisionist school” of American diplomatic history, Williams’s The Contours of American History (1961) was named one of the 100 best non-fiction books written in English in the twentieth century.

Imag(in)ing structure: envisioning the atomic structure of crystals from x-ray diffraction

  • Thursday, October 24th, 4-5:30pm @ the SCARC Reading Room
  • For centuries, people have inferred that crystals have an ordered internal structure based on their external form. It was not until the 20th century, with the development of x-ray diffraction, that the atomic structure of crystals was revealed. Melissa Santala will draw upon her experience as a materials scientist and the SCARC’s rich history of science collection to discuss the process of imaging – and imagining – the atomic structure of crystals from x-ray diffraction patterns.

Betty Lynd Thompson Special Open House

  • Wednesday, October 30th, 10:30 am-1:30 pm @ the SCARC Reading Room
  • Learn about the amazing legacy of art nurtured by OSU Dance Professor Betty Lynd Thompson in a curated display featuring items from the archival collection about her in SCARC.  

Taste of the ‘Chives Recipe Cookoff

  • Thursday, October 31, 12-1p @ Willamette East (Valley Library room 3622)
  • Celebrate OSU’s longtime connections to cheese in this food sampling showcase courtesy of SCARC! Enjoy flavors from past and present recipes featured in campus publications and learn about historic OSU ties to the production, promotion, and research of this tasty and delectable dairy product.

New Finding Aids: July – September 2024

SCARC completed 2 new finding aids July – September 2024; as of the end of September, SCARC has 1149 finding aids in Archives West.

These finding aids are available through the Archives West finding aids database, the SCARC website, and the OSU Library discovery system a.k.a. “the catalog.” The links below are to the guides in Archon, SCARC’s finding aids website.

New collection guides created this quarter:

Cathy Dark Papers, 1952-2019

The Cathy Dark Papers consist of materials generated and collected by Oregon State University professor Cathy Dark that document her instruction of dance coursework and coordination of the OSU Ballroom Dance Club and Cool Shoes performance group. This collection contains photographs, event programs, posters, scrapbooks, newspaper clippings, plaques, publications, correspondence, and course materials. Dark joined the faculty of the College of Health of Human Performance in 1990. She retired in 2019.

OSU Here to Stay Club and Dreaming Beyond Borders Resource Center Records, 2017-2024

The Oregon State University (OSU) Here to Stay Club (HTS) and Dreaming Beyond Borders Resource Center (DBB) Records detail the work of the club and resource center which aim to support undocumented students at OSU and in the surrounding areas. This includes providing resources related to financial aid and professional development; providing education on how to better support undocumented students; and by hosting social events and maintaining a physical space for the students. The entire collection is digital and fully available upon request.

SCARC Anti-Racist Description Activities Exhibit, 2024-2025

SCARC 2024-2025 Main Cases Exhibit

SCARC’s 2024-2025 exhibit “Anti-Racist Description Activities in OSU’s Special Collections and Archives Research Center” is now on view! The exhibit showcases the context, behind-the-scenes processes, and various projects reflecting SCARC’s anti-racist description activities over the past several years.

When: The 2024-2025 academic year (Fall 2024 – Summer 2025)

Where: The Valley Library 5th Floor SCARC Exhibit Cases (open during SCARC’s open hours, Monday – Friday 10am-4pm)

The PDFs of the exhibit are available online via Oregon Digital

SCARC 2024-2025 Main Cases Exhibit
SCARC 2024-2025 Main Cases Exhibit

Community Response to the Exhibit!

OSU Today Story: “OSU library exhibit documents archivists’ anti-racist description work” by Molly Rosbach on Oct. 15, 2024

OSU’s Office of Institutional Diversity (OID) Featured Post on Instagram, November 15, 2024

Exhibit Tour for Members of OLA’s EDIA Committee, November 18, 2024

The mission of the committee is to “encourage an inclusive environment that promotes freedom of speech in conjunction with strong policies that protect patrons and library staff of all gender, national origin, ethnicity, religion, race, sexual orientation, disability, income level, age and all other personal, social, cultural and economic perspectives.” The host the podcast Overdue: Weeding Out Oppression in Libraries featuring EDIA work in libraries from across Oregon.

Colegio César Chávez Exhibit ~ Latinx Heritage Month 2024

PODER’s Hispanic Heritage Month Breakfast & Summit: Higher Education Summit

The Colegio César Chávez exhibit and a panel presentation about the university’s history and legacy were featured at the September 13th, 2024 Higher Education Summit at the Salem Convention Center.

Colegio Documentary (forthcoming!)

In the morning, Oregon Public Broadcasting Documentary Producer Alicia Avila spoke about her forthcoming short documentary about the legacy of the Colegio César Chávez. The documentary is planned to be available online in mid-October.

Alicia Avila speaking about her OPB Colegio documentary

Panel Presentation

As part of the summit, the afternoon panel provided the historical significance of the Colegio César Chávez from 1970 to 1983, focusing on issues and personal successes during Colegio’s most difficult period. Discussion around Colegio’s historical impact and catalyst for equal educational opportunities for Chicano and other minority students also took place. In addition, the panelists shared some personal stories about César E. Chávez and the lessons they learned from their involvement with the Colegio.

The Colegio panel was a part of the Higher Education Track for the Summit:

Moderator: Natalia Fernández, Curator of the OSU’s Oregon Multicultural Archives & OSU Queer Archives.

Panelists: José Romero, Co-founder of the Colegio César Chávez and Colegio’s Director of Academic Affairs & Sonny Montes, Co-founder of the Colegio César Chávez and Colegio’s Director of Administrative Affairs. José is a retired educator, administrator, and community activist for social justice and equality, and he is a life-long advocate for the well-being of the Chicano/Latino community. José taught Chicano Studies at Lane Community College and at Colegio Cesar Chavez. Along with José, Sonny co-founded the Cesar E. Chavez Student Leadership Conference in 1990. Sonny was also a member of the Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard Committee in Portland, Oregon that was successful in renaming 39th Avenue in honor of Cesar Chavez. In 2010, he received the Distinguished Latino Educator Award from the Oregon Association of Latino Administrators.

The Exhibit

Colegio on Tour

The exhibit is on view to the public from mid-September to mid-October at the Newberg Public Library (503 E Hancock St, Newberg, OR 97132). If you are in the area, be sure to visit!

Bonus

A muralist spoke about his art and included a photo of a mural he worked on for OSU!