Are you feeling crafty? Tired of digging in your garden? Spring cleaning your office? Ready to have fun with scissors, glue, and historic photos?
Check out the indicommons post on using Flickr Commons images to make cards!
Ever wonder why there is a huge sculpture of Benny the Beaver in the MU Commons? It was a class gifts from the Class of 1966 — one of many class gifts given over the years! Trysting tree memorial, Lady of the Fountain, The Runner — all gifts …
Check out the new display in the Archives Reference room to see how past classes have given back to OSU and are giving back today.
It’s a magical time of year… The flowers are blooming, families are beaming, graduates are throwing their caps — and it’s time for a new Flickr set!
The first commencement took place at OSU in 1870, though the class was a bit smaller than you would expect today. Robert Veatch gave the valedictory address, “Utility of Science,” at the June 30 commencement ceremony and Alice Biddle, who was only 16 years of age when she received her degree, read a paper called “Progress of Mind.”
The location has changed, from the College Chapel in the Administration Building (now Benton Hall) to the College Armory (now the Gymnastics Training Center) to the Men’s Gymnasium (Langton Hall) — before finally settling in Gill Coliseum for the first time in 1950. Ceremonies were held in Gill until 2001, when the first outdoor commencement ceremony in Reser Stadium on June 17.
Fun Facts:
To learn more, visit the History of Commencement page.
The rumors are true, it’s a brand new Flickr Commons collection with its first set: CCC at Camp Arboretum
Intended to become a “locus of the Schools educational and social activities,” Peavy Arboretum was dedicated by the university in 1926 in honor of Dean George W. Peavy, long-time dean of the School (now College) of Forestry. Peavy pushed for “an outdoor laboratory in which experiments with various tree species and silvicultural practices could be conducted and a ‘botanical garden’ of trees.” It operated as a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp from 1933 – 1942 and then reverted to College of Forestry management in 1964.
When the CCC established Camp Arboretum on the site in 1933, crews built roads, planted trees, constructed firebreaks, strung telephone lines, and established trails (including the Section 36 Trail, which is still used by visitors). They also expanded the nursery and constructed Cronemiller Lake to provide water for irrigation. Because their role in western Oregon was fire prevention work and reforestation, the CCC contribution to McDonald Forest and the Arboretum directly affected the development of the landscape and the forest we see today.
At its height, the camp consisted of 39 permanent buildings in the Arboretum, including the Camp Arboretum Sign Shop, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places. Reflecting many distinctive architectural features characteristic of CCC buildings, the Sign Shop was constructed by the CCC in 1936. Although it was one of the last buildings constructed at Camp Arboretum, “the board-and-batten sided Sign Shop is the only existing building from the Camp in its original location, and is one of only a few remaining in the state.”
The following 8 finding aids for OSU Archives collections were completed in May 2009. They have been loaded to the NWDA finding aids database and have a PDF on the OSU Archives’ website. MARC records for all of the collection s are available through the OSU Libraries’ Catalog, Summit Navigator, and Worldcat. Five of these are collections received in 2008; two are collections for which there was previously no information available online. The OSU Archives now has 401 finding aids in NWDA.
Blue Key Fraternity Records, 1934-2003
Cordley, A.B., Entomological and Horticultural Scrapbook, 1896-1899
Japanese-American Association of Lane County, Oregon, Oral History Collection, 1994-2008 (OH 15)
Koester, Ardis W., Papers, 1962-1996
Kramer, Leo George and Ruth Ann, Papers, 1951-1982
Oregon Sea Grant Communications Moving Images, 1939-2007 (FV P 185)
Pharmacy, College of, Records, 1899-2006 (RG 105)
Walters, Jayne, Scrapbook, 1934-1940
Celebrating the 10th anniversary of The Valley Library remodel!
Look how far we’ve come…
2009 marks the 10th anniversary of a major remodel on the 1963 Kerr Library building. In 1999, the $47 million 3-year renovation project was complete and building was re-named after the Valley family, generous library donors. This project was also the first OSU building campaign and all the funding was from matched grants or donations with over 5,000 individual donors and a pledge of $1 million in fees from the student body.
Yesterday we mixed cookies, historic pictures, and a lot of gratitude to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Valley Library remodel project with a new Flickr set. We’ve put up a set of historic images of the Kerr/Valley Library, including some great shots of the construction during the big remodel in the late 1990s. And, because it’s a “then & now” set, we added images of the Cookies in the Library Quad party on May 28th.
Fun Facts:
Check it out! http://www.flickr.com/photos/osuarchives/sets/72157618881854630/
ROTC at has a long history at Oregon State University, and our new Memorial Day set gives you a glimpse of some of the great images we have in the Archives to document it.To see our Guide to the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) Records 1890-1965.
For more about the past, present, and future of ROTC at Oregon State University, click here.
It’s spring and time to look at the pretty birds…
We happen to have the personal papers of renowned wildlife conservationist William L. Finley in the OSU Archives, which means we have his amazing nature photography as well!
Between 1900 and 1908, Finley and friend and partner Herman T. Bohlman made several trips around the Pacific Northwest to photograph birds. Finley published “American Birds”in 1907, and subsequently published two other books and over 100 illustrated articles in newspapers and wildlife magazines.
Fun fact: did you know that William L. Finley happens to be a nephew of William A. Finley, the first president of Corvallis College, what we now know as OSU?
For detailed information on Finley’s life, see “William L. Finley: Pioneer Wildlife Photographer,” by Worth Mathewson (OSU Press, 1986) and available in both the Valley Library and OSU Archives.
For more about the William F. Finley Manuscript Collection, read through our collection guide.
Oregon State University celebrates its historic status with a ceremony on Thursday, May 14th, to honor our history, architectural legacy, and National Historic District status. The university received this designation from the National Park Service and U.S. Department of the Interior last fall, and it places OSU on the National Register of Historic Places. So join us in the celebration — at corner of 15th and Jefferson or virtually on Flickr!
Who better to focus on than the man famous for designing many of our campus buildings for our latest Flickr set? We’ve created a new set, which lives in the OSU Archives Photograph Collection, to show you some great pictures of the buildings of John Bennes.
Bennes was a prolific Portland architect who designed more than 30 buildings on the Oregon State campus from 1907 to 1940. He was an admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright and an proponent of the “Prairie School” design for residences in Portland, but his styles ran the gamut and his unity of design at OAC was characterized by many as “exceptional.” Interestingly, his first building on the OAC campus was a dairy barn — the first of six he designed for the college — but he expanded his reach and designed all the buildings you see in this set. To learn more check out the Alumni Association site’s “Up Close and Personal: Campus Tour”, written by OSU Archivist Larry Landis.
And what about the historic designation? “The uniqueness of the place was not lost on the National Park Service, which recently announced that is has placed not just a building but an entire ‘historic district’ of OSU structures, green spaces and plans on the National Register of Historic Places. Some 83 ‘historic resources’ are involved, including such icons as Weatherford Hall, the Memorial Union and Benton Hall, which at the age of 116, is the oldest building on campus. OSU is now Oregon’s only public or private college or university so represented on the register. In fact, only a handful of campuses nationally have secured such a district, among them the College of William & Mary and Washington and Lee University.”
To learn more about OSU and the National Historic District, visit the “Oregon 150 at Oregon State” page.
The Elk Lake Guard Station in the Deschutes National Forest has been added to the National Register of Historic Places.
In 1929, employees of the US Forest Service built the Elk Lake Guard Station, described as a “simple cabin” made of logs with a wood-shingle roof. The station is historically important as an early example of the Forest Service’s current management polices that emphasize both recreation and natural resource conservation.
In the early-20th century, Guard Stations were constructed in remote areas as outposts to protect timber, water, wildlife, and fish. At Elk Lake, increasing public recreation led to the construction of a guard station to both protect natural resources and serve visitors. To meet the agency’s goals, the facility was sited to allow for maximum contact between Forest Service personnel and forest users while still allowing backcountry access to the soon-to-be designated Three Sisters Primitive Area. The station was one of the agency’s first efforts to standardize building appearance and its design represents the desire to construct buildings that complemented the natural environment.
More than 1,800 historic Oregon properties are now listed in the National Register, which is maintained by the National Park Service under the authority of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. More information about the guard station and recent Oregon listings is online at http://www.oregonheritage.org/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/nrhp_recent_nominations.shtml