Category Archives: Main Page

What to pack…

campIn honor of the historical recipe extravaganza on the 17th, the Archives staff will be giving you a glimpse into our recipe files! As we get ready to set forth on our month-long adventure, it seemed only appropriate to share the 1913 edition of “A bulletin on camp cookery issued by the Extension Division of the Oregon Agricultural College for special use of forest rangers, campers and sportsmen” by Ava Milam Clark.

One Month’s Supplies for One Man on a Forest Trip

  • 15 lbs. flour (includes flour, pancake flour, cornmeal, in proportion to suit)
  • 15 lbs. meat (bacon or boned ham)
  • 8 lbs. rice
  • 1/2 lb. baking powder
  • 1 lb tea
  • 150 saccharine tablets
  • 2 lbs. sugar
  • 8 lbs. cereal
  • 1 lb. raisins
  • Salt and pepper
  • 5 lbs. beans
  • 3 lbs. or 1/2 dozen erbswurst*
  • 2 lbs. or 1/2 dozen dried vegetables
  • 2 lbs. dried potatoes
  • 1 can Baker’s eggs

If you’d like to see the entire bulletin, with all her tips for travel, you can view it in ScholarsArchive@OSU.

Happy Oregon Archives Month!

movie.jpgIt’s that special month where we celebrate our history! The OSU Archives has a host of activities to keep everyone busy, full, and entertained all month. Following the theme “Eat, Walk, Watch” please join us for one of these events:

10/8: Walk through OSU’s Building History
Join Larry Landis for his buildings tour and learn about our historic campus.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008, 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM, meet on the east side of Benton Hall.

10/17: Taste of the ‘Chives: A Historical Recipes Showcase
Karl McCreary hosts a fabulous event featuring food prepared by Library staff and others—straight from the recipes in our historic publications.
Friday, October 17, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM in the Willamette Seminar Room East, 3rd floor of The Valley Library

10/22: Archives Film Fest
Join Karl McCreary again to watch 4 short films from the OSU Archives collections.
Wednesday, October 22, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM in the Willamette Seminar Room East, 3rd floor of The Valley Library

10/30: Haunting for History
Get scared senseless with tales of terror! Grab your flashlight and join Tiah Edmunson-Morton for a ghostly tour through the 2 main campus quads.
Thursday, October 30, 6:30PM – 7:30 PM, meet in the Archives on the 3rd floor of The Valley Library

New Digital Collection: Gerald W. Williams Images

Indian man with huckleberry basketIn 2007 the OSU Libraries acquired the Gerald W. Williams Collection, consisting of the collected historic photographs, personal papers, and research library of Gerald “Jerry” Williams, a former national historian for the U.S. Forest Service. Williams, a native Oregonian, spent much of his Forest Service career in the Pacific Northwest before becoming national historian in 1988.

This digital collection includes some of the best imagery from the Williams Collection, including photos of the WWI era Spruce Production Division, logging photos of northwest Oregon taken by John Fletcher Ford, photos of Celilo Falls taken in 1956 by Jack Williams, and photos of depression era Civilian Conservation Corps camps and activities. Many of the historic photos are postcards arranged in several geographically based albums. Examples include the Umpqua, Columbia River, and Willamette Valley albums.

Several books from Williams’ 3,000 volume research library, many pertaining to natural resources issues, are being made available digitally through ScholarsArchive@OSU.

To see the guide and learn more about what you’ll find in this wonderful collection, see the finding aid here.

Just what you’ve wanted: A Microform Machine Tutorial!

student microfilmFor all who have felt like they are on shaky ground when heading to the 3rd floor of The Valley Library and the mysterious microform machines, we’ve created a tour on the OSU Archives Flickr page.

While you are there, check out the Flickr tour of the 3rd floor and some great shots of the transfer of the Gerald Williams Collection.

August Finding Aids

students-studying.JPGThe following 8 finding aids were completed (or updated) during August 2008 and loaded to NWDA (with PDFs on the OSU Archives website).

All have MARC catalog records in the OSU Libraries catalog, Summit, and Worldcat:

Army Specialized Training Corps Records, 1943-1946 (RG 059)

Association of Latin American Students Records, 1994-1999

Gellatly, Robert H., Photograph Collection, circa 1891-1899 (P 074)

Industrial Arts Department Motion Picture Film, 1944 (FV P 189)

KBVR Videotapes, 1979-1980 (FV P 170)

McIlvenna, Don E., Papers, 1970-1978

United States Department of Agricultural Aerial Photographs of Linn, Benton, and Lincoln Counties, Oregon, 1972-1994 (P 267) [full]

Visual Instruction Department Lantern Slides, circa 1900-1940 (P 217) [full]

Other notes: most (7) are new finding aids, most (6) are collection-level finding aids, 3 are for collections for which we previously had no information available online, other than a title (RG 059, P 074, and P 267).

Enjoy!

Historic Sites Database Now Online

aerial-corvallis-1.jpg

The State Historic Preservation Office has made its master database of historic buildings and sites in Oregon available online. There are almost 45,000 records in the database, including National Register properties, surveys, and inventory records.

“This is still a rudimentary version,” said Roger Roper, the deputy state historic preservation officer. “There are many features we will be adding over the coming weeks, including the ability to run more complex searches and printout both site-specific data and summary data for groups of buildings. Please read the Disclaimer page for details about the limitations and the ‘coming attractions.'”

They are interested in your feedback, so please send your comments to ORsurvey.feedback@state.or.us.

Finding Aid Additions: July 2008

archbox.jpg

We’re starting a new feature on our blog, designed to let you know when we add to our existing online resources and descriptions of our collections. Additionally, and as a means of providing some background information, we thought we’d share a bit about or arrangement and description process.

In our effort to get as many collections described and online, we create collection level descriptions for most collections. What is a collection level description? It means that you’re not likely to find a detailed inventory; it’s more in line with the levels of arrangement and description suggested by Greene and Meissner in their “More Product, Less Process” article. This means that you’ll find a note following many of the titles in this list that tells you whether the finding aid is a preliminary guide or in its final form.

For example, in this round:

  • most (11) are collection-level finding aids
  • 2 are full finding aids (RG 062 and P 259)
  • 5 are for collections received in 2007 (Bartholomew, King, Packard, Williams, and RG 235)
  • one is for a collection received in 2006 (P 259)
  • most (11) are new finding aids
  • 2 are updates of existing finding aids (FV P 069 and FV P 182)
  • 5 are for collections for which we previously had no information available online, other than a title (RG 062, P 053; P 090, P 146, and Gilkey)

In the list that follows, you’ll also notice that we give you a link to both the NWDA guide and the locally hosted PDF—you choose your view, both are the same!

Finally, when we create a new finding aid, we load the file to the Northwest Digital Archives, provide a locally hosted PDF on our site, and produce MARC catalog records that are accessible through the OSU Libraries catalog, Summit, and Worldcat.

For July, the following 13 finding aids were completed:

Bartholomew, Frank H., Collection, 1983-1985

College of Engineering Records, 1930-2002 (RG 062) [full]

College of Engineering Videotapes, circa 1995-1996 (FV P 069)

Gilkey, Beulah, Collection, 1905-1960 [preliminary]

Horticulture Department Photographs, 1900-1980 (P 090) [preliminary]

King, David B., Papers, 1982-1994

Nolan, J.M., Photograph Collection, 1889-1902 (P 053)

Packard, Earl, Papers, 1913-1980

Sewell, James A., Photograph Album, circa 1902-1904 (P 259)

Student Affairs Moving Images, 1963-1995 (FV P 182)

Western Center for Community College Development Records, 1979-2004 (RG 235) [preliminary]

Williams, Gerald W., Collection, 1855-2007 [preliminary]

4-H Photograph Collection, 1913-1988 (P 146) [preliminary]