Homepage of the BIPOC Greek Letter Organizations in SCARC new research guide
In honor of Juneteenth, celebrated each year on June 19th to commemorate the emancipation of enslaved people, SCARC is delighted to publish a research guide featuring a curated list of collection materials documenting the histories of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) Greek Letter Organizations at Oregon State University.
The National Pan-Hellenic Council (the Divine Nine) and the Multicultural Greek Council (consisting of 11 chapters) focus on creating safe and inclusive spaces for students of color on college and university campuses. As part of SCARC’s broader anti-racist and enhanced description efforts that began in 2020, we engaged in a collections survey and conducted research to chronicle the history and activities of these organizations to identify archival collections that would support research on each group (for more information on SCARC’s on-going anti-racist work please see our online guide).
As noted in the guide, the sororities and fraternities featured in this subject guide surfaced as part of our initial round of research into BIPOC Greek life on OSU’s campus. This is an ongoing project for which we will continue to seek out and add materials to our collections, and will update this guide with additional information we or community members surface.
This summer we plan to update relevant archival collection finding aids to highlight specific materials. Look for another blog post later this year with more information documenting our process and providing more context for this project.
The OSU Queer Archives hosted a booth at OSU’s June 2nd Pride event in the MU Quad and we had a blast! Lots of organizations shared information with the hundreds of attendees, there was an assortment of games, crafts, a photo booth, and free rainbow tamales, and Poison Waters and her friends performed a special drag show on the steps of the MU – they were all fabulous!
OSQA Booth
We had over 150 people stop by to view the materials and/or chat with us! We featured copies of materials from a few of our collections including the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers Collection, the After 8 Records, and The Lavender Network Newsmagazine. We also included some materials pertaining to general information for archiving personal papers and some newsletters from the Society of American Archives Archival Outlook newsletter that showcased how archives across the nation support traditionally marginalized communities. And, we gave away free Pride themed as well as cute Benny the Beaver pins 🙂
Photos of the Event
BONUS: Pride Display at the OSU Pride Center
OSQA shared digitized content from various collections for the OSU Pride Center to showcase as part of their renovated space, which includes permanent display space!
Sol: LGBTQ+ Multicultural Support Network Collection: The Sol: LGBTQ+ Multicultural Support Network Collection consists of records and materials documenting Sol’s history, from its beginning in the early 2000s up to its operations in 2023, at Oregon State University. Sol’s intention is to create spaces that celebrate the intersectional identities of queer and trans people of color. Sol works closely with the Pride Center (historically known as the Queer Resource Center), as well as other Cultural Resource Centers on campus. The collection contains administrative and programming records, as well as art related materials. The collection contains digital and physical items, including oversize materials. Sol related oral history interviews can be found in the OSU Queer Archives Oral History Collection.
Ellen and Carolyn Dishman Papers: The Ellen and Carolyn Dishman Papers are the collected materials and photography by the Dishmans documenting their involvement at Oregon State University in the late 1990s to early 2000s. As OSU students, they were involved in prominent LGBTQ+ groups on campus and served as primary advocates for the establishment of the Queer Resource Center (QRC) in 2001; the QRC is now called the Pride Center.
Pride Center (RG 236) (currently closed for processing): The Pride Center serves as Oregon State University’s resource center for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) members of the OSU community and their allies. In addition to its roles in outreach and education, the center provides a safe space for anyone in the community to “explore aspects of sexual orientation and gender identity in an open and non-judgmental atmosphere.”
Corvallis Lesbian Avengers Collection: The Corvallis Lesbian Avengers Collection documents the activities of the Corvallis chapter of the Lesbian Avengers throughout the 1990s. The Corvallis Lesbian Avengers were a local chapter of the national Lesbian Avengers organization. Originally formed in 1992 in New York City, the Lesbian Avengers were a direct-action group focused on issues vital to lesbian survival and visibility. The bulk of the collection is made up of photo albums and scrapbooks containing photographs, news clippings, flyers, artwork, poetry, and other paper material. The collection also includes a small collection of artifacts, an annotated calendar, and 3 issues of the Necessary Friction zine produced by the Corvallis Lesbian Avengers.
During winter 2025, the Oregon Multicultural Archives (OMA) collaborated with OSU Professor Adam Schwartz to gather materials from his course SPAN 399 “Bilingüismo local y personal” as an addition to the Oregon Multicultural Communities Research Collection. The set of materials includes course materials, documents pertaining to a book launch, an OSU Today article, and a sample of student projects.
About SPAN 399 “Bilingüismo local y personal”
“This course explores Spanish language education as a deeply personal, local (as opposed to foreign), and lifelong practice. Distinct from a survey course that introduces that thesis through published and multimodal texts, this class challenges students to realize their own bilingualisms as lived, dynamic experiences, and in ways that do not organize neatly into academic categorizations. Students will individually and collectively write, share, reflect, interview, sit in conversation, and present Spanish-English bilingualisms as lifelong relationships with and through teaching and learning.
Our work will be guided by the contents of Aquí Se Habla: Centering the Local and Personal in Spanish Language Education, a co-edited volume to be published this term. One of the co-editors of this text is the course instructor, and the other three will visit our classroom to invite students in as additional contributors. Over the course of ten weeks, students will read the text and learn about its foundational theoretical framework: The tension point. Aquí Se Habla raises awareness about long-standing points of tension that organize as ideological binaries (e.g. “home” vs. “abroad”) which relegate local and personal Spanish to marginalized status in academic spaces. Students will make the case for a tension point of their choosing, one that concerns not just themselves, but their families, friends and bilingual communities. In so doing, their own voices and testimonios will warrant inclusion alongside Aquí Se Habla’s diverse set of contributors, whose perspectives help to deconstruct disciplinary boundaries and elevate the knowledge and lived experiences of U.S. Spanish speakers. Final work in this course will prepare students to showcase how their local and personal bilingualisms may double as calls to linguistic justice. As such, students are invited to co-present with Aquí Se Habla’s co-editors at the volume’s official book launch at OSU in May.”
~ SPAN 399 “Bilingüismo local y personal” Syllabus
About the OMA and SPAN 399 Collaboration
Professor Schwartz shared the tension point the class selected to explore was “self-identity / imposed identity” — a tension point that resonated greatly with archival materials. As part of the students’ first of three visits to the archives, we talked about how archives can be a place in which people choose how their stories are represented on their terms as a form of empowerment and how archives can also be a place in which materials about but not by a community or individual can sometimes cause a great deal of harm. During their second visit, the students engaged with a curated set of materials that showcased the variety of ways in which communities and individuals have represented their identities — examples included diaries, songbooks, collective works of art, scrapbooks, and zines. On the third visit, we discussed the students’ ideas and questions for them to determine if they planned to donate their final projects to the archives. We discussed the importance of choice, representation, and consent, not only from them but for those who they interviewed for their projects. Of about a dozen students, five decided to share their final projects. At the end of the term, the students gave presentations of their findings and reflections, and many again shared their work as part of the Aquí Se Habla book launch on May 21, 2025.
SCARC completed 2 new finding aids January – March 2025; as of the end of March, SCARC has 1153 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.
2 new (big!) collection guides were created this quarter:
The Roy Haber Hanford Nuclear Reservation Downwinders Case Collection contains research materials used by the law office of Roy Haber, in litigation regarding radiation exposure suffered by individuals living close to (or ‘downwind’ from) Hanford from 1945 to the mid 1990s.
The Dean of Students Office was established in 1962 as part of a major administrative re-organization of the university to provide “a more efficient line of communication from the students to the university president.” The office ceased to exist as a separate unit of Student Affairs on August 1, 1997. The Dean of Students Office records document the programs and activities of the office, especially pertaining to student organizations, student living groups, student retention, non-traditional and commuter students, and services to students offered by the Dean of Students staff.
The event invited the general public to join us for a screening of OPB’s new Oregon Experience documentary The Living Legacy of Colegio César Chávez. The event included a panel discussion led by documentary producer Alicia Avila, Colegio César Chávez co-founders Sonny Montes and José Romero, and PODER: Oregon’s Latino Leadership Network President, Anthony Veliz. Colegio César Chávez: The Legacy Lives On / El legado sigue vivo exhibition curator, Natalia Fernández, gave an introduction. The panelists shared their thoughts on the history and legacy of the Colegio César Chávez, ideas for the future of a Colegio 2.0, and then opened the conversation to the audience for questions. Prior to the film screening, attendees enjoyed live music from the Forest Grove High School Mariachi band and viewed the exhibition Colegio César Chávez: The Legacy Lives On / El legado sigue vivo.
Event Panelists:
Event Panelists: Alicia Avila, Sonny Montes, José Romero, and Anthony Veliz
Alicia Avila is a multilingual journalist and documentary producer based in Portland, Oregon. A common theme of her work is advocating for underrepresented communities, language justice, and accessibility. She is a champion of collaborative and community-led storytelling and leads her video production work through trauma informed practices and a bilingual, bicultural reporting lens. Her most recent work led Pacific Northwest based nonprofit, Oregon Food Bank, to transition into fully bilingual English-Spanish content. Avila is a proud first-generation Chicana born and raised in southeast Los Angeles.
Sonny Montes was one of the founders of the Colegio César Chávez, co-founded the César E. Chávez Student Leadership Conference in 1990, and was a member of the César E. Chávez Boulevard Committee in Portland, Oregon, that was successful in renaming 39th Avenue in honor of César Chávez. In 2010, he received the Distinguished Latino Educator Award from the Oregon Association of Latino Administrators.
José Romero was one of the founders of the Colegio César Chávez and co-founded the César E. Chávez Student Leadership Conference in 1990. He 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. Romero taught Chicano Studies at Lane Community College and at Colegio César Chávez where he also served as Director of Academic Affairs and was Co-President.
Anthony Veliz is the founder of PODER: Oregon’s Latino Leadership Network, a nonprofit organization and collective movement of over 100 Latino-led and serving community-based organizations and private-sector businesses, plus thousands of Latinos across Oregon. Veliz is also the owner of IZO Public Relations & Marketing, a multicultural agency specializing in the Latino community; it is a People Focused, Purpose Driven agency. The son of farmworkers, Veliz is involved in the community where he lives and works, and he has a passion for public service. In August of 2023, PODER organized and sponsored a 50th anniversary community commemoration event to celebrate the history and legacy of the Colegio César Chávez.
Natalia Fernández is an Associate Professor and the Curator of the Oregon Multicultural Archives (OMA) and the OSU Queer Archives (OSQA) at the Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center. Fernández’s mission for directing the OMA and the OSQA is to work in collaboration with Oregon’s African American, Asian American, Latinx, Native American, and OSU’s LGBTIAQ+ communities to support them in preserving their histories and sharing their stories. In collaboration with Montes and Romero, she curated the exhibition Colegio César Chávez: The Legacy Lives On / El legado sigue vivo.
Event Photos:
PODER: Oregon’s Latino Leadership Network Forest Grove High School Mariachi band performed.Event attendees viewing the exhibit.Standing room only for the event attendees!Oregon Experience documentary: The Living Legacy of Colegio César Chávez
Audience(s): Free for Members, Family-Friendly, Researchers, Teachers
Description: Located in Mt. Angel, Oregon, and in operation from 1973 to 1983, Colegio César Chávez was the first independent, four-year accredited Chicano/a college in the United States. Rooted in the Chicano/a notion of “familia,” the college offered a unique and innovative educational philosophy that incorporated a holistic, integrated, community-based approach for students whose needs were not being met by traditional educational institutions. This bilingual exhibition highlights Colegio César Chávez’s significance and legacy by exploring the national and local context for its establishment, its educational philosophy and structure, as well as and the challenges it faced and how it overcame them.
Credits and Online Access:Colegio César Chávez: The Legacy Lives On / El legado sigue vivo was curated by Natalia Fernández, Associate Professor and Curator of the Oregon Multicultural Archives and OSU Queer Archives within the Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center. Digital copies of the exhibition panels are available via Oregon State University’s digital asset management system Oregon Digital.
On February 3, 2025, Jefferson Public Radio interviewed Natalia Fernández for a 15 minute segment about the exhibit! In the interview, Fernández discusses her work as an archivist as well as the exhibition. She shared that the college‘s primary goal was to provide equal education opportunities for Chicano/a and minority students through a bilingual, bicultural curriculum and experiential learning. With the exhibition, Fernández hopes to honor and share this significant history, to highlight the “incredible foundation of social justice advocacy for us to learn from,“ and that people take away the “inspiring legacy for us to continue.”
SCARC completed 2 new finding aids and updated 1 finding aid October – December 2024; as of the end of September, SCARC has 1151 finding aids in Archives West. And, all three collections happen to be a part of the OSU Queer Archives!
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 or updated collection guides created this quarter:
The Queer History Research Collection (QHRC) is an artificial collection containing items of interest about LGBTQ+ communities within Oregon State University and to a lesser extent, the city of Corvallis, the state of Oregon, the United States, and the World. The digital folders described in this collection are available upon request.
The Queer Theatre Collection is an artificial collection containing theatre materials or educational materials that have queer subjects or characters. The materials were donated to the Oregon State University (OSU) Pride Center by OSU Theatre Professor Charlotte Headrick.
Abstract: The Oregon State University (OSU) Rainbow Continuum Records document the administrative and outreach activities of this student group, which has been active at OSU since 1976. The purpose of the Rainbow Continuum is to provide a social and educational space for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and other gender or sexuality diverse (LGBTQ+) members of the OSU community and their allies. Most notably, the Rainbow Continuum hosts OSU’s annual Queer Pride Week celebration in May.
During fall term 2024, SCARC collaborated with Dr. Dwaine Plaza’s course SOC 318 Qualitative Research Methods on an assignment for students to conduct oral history interviews with Oregon State University Faculty. Early in the term, the students came for an instruction session held in the SCARC Reading Room and we shared the SCARC resource Oral History Interviewing Methods & Project Management. We now have 7 new oral history interviews available for public access!
OPB has some additional plans in the works for 2025 including an English and a Spanish episode of a podcast about the history and making of the documentary, as well as screenings of the documentary, especially for K-12 students. One such screening is already planned for January 22nd in Portland, OR!
“The Living Legacy of Colegio César Chávez” Documentary Screening and Panel Discussion
Wednesday, January 22, 2025 6PM – 8PM
Oregon Historical Society (1200 SW Park Ave Portland, Oregon 97205)
Join us for a screening of OPB’s new Oregon Experience documentary The Living Legacy of Colegio César Chávez. The event will include a panel discussion led by documentary producer Alicia Avila, Colegio César Chávez co-founders Sonny Montes and José Romero, and Colegio César Chávez: The Legacy Lives On / El legado sigue vivo exhibition curator Natalia Fernández, which will be on view at the Oregon Historical Society in 2025. They will share a behind-the-scenes discussion about the film, the significance of Colegio’s legacy today, and open the conversation to the audience for questions.
Our Town, Mt. Angel Publishing, a 3-part series
A local reporter in Mt. Angel, Melissa Wagoner, published a 3-part print series about Colegio!
UPDATE! In April 2025, the Northwest Regional Emmy Awards announced the nominations for the “Diversity/Equity/Inclusion – Long Form Content” award and “The Living Legacy of Colegio César Chávez” nominated!
BONUS! A few behind-the-scenes photos filming the documentary in the SCARC reading room in summer of 2024. Alicia Avila and her team interviewed Sonny Montes, José Romero, and Anthony Veliz.
The “Plans and Profiles of Oregon River Maps” exhibition highlights the earliest maps and figures in SCARC’s Plans and Profiles of Oregon Rivers archival collection. Surveyed and hand-drawn in the 1920s as part of the Department of Interior’s U.S. Geological Survey, the twelve (reproductions of) images on display showcase the two types of schematics in the collection: plans (aerial, topographic maps of rivers and surrounding landscape) and profiles (visualizations of stream surface level over a given area).
When: The 2024-2025 academic year (Fall 2024 – Summer 2025); Special Open House Wednesday, October 16, 2024, 10:30am-1:30pm in the SCARC Reading Room
Where: The Valley Library 5th Floor SCARC Exhibit Alcove (across from the Reading Room and open during The Valley Library’s open hours)
Historical Context: Congress established the U.S. Geological Survey in 1879 and charged it with the “classification of the public lands, and examination of the geological structure, mineral resources, and products of the national domain.” In the aftermath of World War I, the Survey shifted focus towards identifying new energy resources, including hydropower. The maps on display, therefore, show current and potential dam sites in plan and profile. The display of these maps today honors the end of the dam century in the western US.
Cartography: Functional and Beautiful
In the early 20th century, cartography was an extreme endeavor. Surveyors traveled across rugged terrain in wooden boats, on foot, and on horseback – lugging plane tables and telescopic alidades up mountainsides and down canyons. Transferring field data to paper was a similarly physical process, one which captured the personalities and particular interests of the mapmakers, even within the highly standardized genre of the topographic map. Bishop Moorhead included ranger stations, canneries, and ferry crossings in his map of the Rogue River and animated rapids with blue strokes. E. S. Rickard rendered the confluence of the Sandy and the Columbia with a sinuous, less demonstrative hand, and marked the water itself as negative space.
Consider the pieces on display as art, as objects made with aesthetic intention. While these maps are created primarily for functionality and to serve the bureaucratic purposes and politics of the Department of the Interior, they become creative forms meant to communicate and shift the perspective of the viewer.
The Vanport traveling exhibit tells the story of the City of Vanport through four pull-up banners. Vanport was the largest wartime housing development in the nation and the second largest city in Oregon before it was destroyed by floodwater. Although Vanport had a short history from 1942 to 1948, thousands of people called the city home.
