Why a pictorial history of OSU?
• OSU’s sesquicentennial is in 2018
• OSU’s previous pictorial history dates to 1938
• A pictorial history can be an excellent marketing tool
Format
• 12 chapters
– Overview, 10 thematic chapters, one “quick facts”
• 250-275 pages; somewhere between 450 and
600 photos and related images
• Each thematic chapter includes “sidebars” –
short features on key events, people, topics
• To be published by the OSU Press
Looking at the Past to Build the Future:
A Pictorial History of Oregon State University
Table of Contents
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Foreword (Dr. Bill Robbins)
Preface and acknowledgements
Chapter 1–An Overview History of Oregon State University
Chapter 2—“Let Us Flee From Debt as From the Grave”: OSU’s Early Years, 1858-1889
Chapter 3—Architectural Harmony and Function: Development of OSU’s Campus
Chapter 4—Builders of a Great University
Chapter 5—Academics at OSU: Promoting a Liberal and Practical Education
Chapter 6—Producers of Knowledge: Research Through the Decades at OSU
Chapter 7—Campus Life and Culture
Chapter 8—It Is All About Community: Campus Organizations at OSU
Chapter 9—A Culture of Excellence: Student Athletes at OSU
Chapter 10—The West Point of the West
Chapter 11—The Best of the Best: Prominent Faculty and Alumni
Chapter 12—OSU Quick Facts
Sources
Afterword (Dr. Ben Mutschler)
Index
Chapter 1 -- Overview
Oregon State University Name
Changing Ceremony, March 3,
1961.
Governor Mark O. Hatfield signs
the legislation changing the name
of Oregon State College to
Oregon State University.
Left to Right: C. R. Hoyt, rep. from
Benton County; Francis Ziegler,
Senator from Benton County;
Richard A. Seideman, Student
Body President; Robert White '40,
Senator; President A. L. Strand;
Harry Boivin, President of State
Senate; John Fenner ‘40 , Alumni
Association; Anthony Yturri,
Senator.
Chapter 2 – Early History
Corvallis College Building, ca. 1868.
This carte-de-visite photograph of the
original Corvallis College building, built
in 1859, was taken by Corvallis
photographers Stryker & Dohse. It is
the earliest known photograph of
what was to become Oregon State
University. At this time, the campus
was located on 5th Street, between
Madison and Monroe Avenues in
downtown Corvallis. (Harriet’s
Collection #1344)
Chapter 3 – Campus
Development
Men’s Dormitory, 1934. The Men’s
Dormitory, now known as Weatherford
Hall, was constructed in six months in
1928. John Bennes and his partner
Harry Herzog designed this landmark
residence hall. It was built as five
separately named units – Cauthorn,
Poling, Buxton, Hawley, Weatherford –
with only the central tower unit being
Weatherford. The entire building was
named Weatherford Hall in 1957. The
building underwent a major
renovation in 2003-2004 to became
the home of the College of Business’s
Austin Entrepreneurship Program.
The building is named for James Know
Weatherford, an 1880 graduate of
Oregon State and a member of the
Board of Regents from 1885 to 1929.
This photograph was taken by Portland
photographer Walter Boychuk.
(Harriet’s Collection #57)
Chapter 4 – Presidents and
Key Administrators
Student Pilot A.L. Strand, 1947.
Described by his flight instructor
as an apt pupil, President Strand
took his first solo flight on
September 19th, 1947, 29 years
to the day after his first solo flight
as a US Navy sea plan pilot during
World War I. Dressed for the
office, Strand went to the
Corvallis Airport regularly for an
hour or so of early morning flying
in a 150-horsepower enclosed 4passenger Stinson Voyager.
August L. Strand served as OSU
president from 1942 to 1961.
Chapter 5 -- Academics
Students in Chemistry Lab, ca.
1916. Students taking chemistry
courses at OAC in the 1910s
through the 1930s used this lab in
the Science Building or “Chem
Shack” as it was affectionately
known. Linus Pauling
undoubtedly spent many hours in
this lab. The Science Building
today is Furman Hall, home of the
College of Education. (Harriet’s
Collection #947)
Chapter 6 - Research
Helen Gilkey and students in the
Botany Lab, circa 1915. Gilkey
received her master’s degree
from Oregon Agricultural College
in 1911. She was a botany faculty
member and served as the
curator of the Herbarium for
thirty-three years, from 1918 until
1951. Gilkey added
approximately 50,000 plant
specimens to the Herbarium
during that time. Gilkey was also
a botanical illustrator and was the
author of 44 publications during
her career, including Tuberales of
North America and Weeds of the
Pacific Northwest. (Harriet’s
Collection #946)
Chapter 7 – Student life
“Burning of the Green,”
freshman hat burning ceremony,
circa 1955. For several decades in
the 20th century, OSU freshman
men were required to wear green
beanies, or “rook lids,” and
freshman women were required
to wear green ribbons. At the end
of their freshman year, many of
the students participated in the
“Burning of the Green” ceremony
and committed their hats and
ribbons to the flames. Waldo Hall
is in the background. (Alumni
Association Photograph
Collection, P017:759)
Chapter 8 – Student
Organizations
OSU Powwow dancers,
October 29, 1977. Miss
Warm Springs, Miss Indian
Northwest and two other
young Indian women await
the dance competition at
the OSU Powwow. This
was the first powwow held
at OSU, sponsored by the
Native American Club.
(News & Communication
Services Photograph
Collection, P057:5455)
Chapter 9 -- Athletics
OSU women’s basketball player
Carol Menken goes up for a shot,
1981. Menken is considered the
greatest women’s basketball
player to come out of OSU. A first
team Kodak All-American in 1981,
she led the nation in scoring and
field goal shooting percentage
(.750) that year. She was the first
basketball player (men’s or
women’s) to score 2,000 points
during a career, and holds the
single game scoring record (51
points against Alaska-Anchorage
during the 1979-80 season). She
played on the gold medal winning
1984 U.S. Olympic women’s
basketball team, and played
professionally in Italy. (Oregon
State University Historical
Photographs, P025:3120)
Chapter 10 – West Point of
the West
OAC cadet battalion in front of
the Administration Building
(Benton Hall), ca. 1889. This is
one of the earliest photographs
showing cadets on the grounds of
the college farm. The cadets are
in formation near the south
entrance of the Administration
Building (Benton Hall). The
cadets’ uniforms were gray in
color and they wore the
traditional 19th century campaign
hats. The cadet officer in front of
the company on the left is E. E.
“Eddy” Wilson (Class of 1889),
who later became a prominent
Corvallis lawyer and businessman,
and served for many years on the
college’s Board of Regents. (HC
85)
Chapter 11 – Notable Faculty
and Alumni
Bernard Malamud selecting a
volume from his office bookcase,
1959. Prize winning novelist
Bernard Malamud (1914-1986)
was a member of Oregon State’s
English Department faculty from
1949 to 1961. During this time he
wrote many of his famous works,
including The Natural (1952), The
Magic Barrel (1956, winner of the
National Book Award), The
Assistant (1957), and A New Life
(1961). The latter is a novel
loosely based on his experiences
here; the book’s Cascadia College
and city of Eastchester are thinly
veiled representations of Oregon
State College and Corvallis in the
1950s. (Gwil Evans Photograph
Collection, P082:035 #2421)
Chapter 12 – OSU Quick Facts
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Presidents of Oregon State, 1865-2014
Members of the Corvallis College Board of Trustees
Members of the Oregon Agricultural College Board of
Regents
Presidents of the OAC Student Assembly/Associated
Students of OSU
Rhodes Scholars
Pulitzer Prize winners
Academy/Emmy/Tony/Grammy Award winners
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Fellows
Distinguished Faculty
Honorary Degree recipients
OSU Olympians
Lessons Learned
• OSU has a long photographic tradition that dates back to the early 1890s
– Incredible photographic resources available to draw from
• Verifying minor details takes the most time –
– This often includes rectifying contradictory sources
• Explore technology available
– MS Word not the best for creating chapters
– Use a reference management tool such as Zotero
– Indexing software