Author Archives: edmunsot

Note the change! Desk hours during winter break

We’re changing our hours for the 3rd floor Archives and public service desk during winter break, so make sure you make sure you are heading to the right desk to get help!

Monday December 12th through Friday December 16th

  • 3rd floor desk OPEN 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Monday December 19th through Monday January 2nd.

  • 3rd floor desk CLOSED – see below for contact information
  • 5th floor desk OPEN for archival reference assistance 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
  • 2nd floor desk OPEN for maps, microforms, government documents, and other reference assistance 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Tuesday January 3rd through Friday January 9th

  • 3rd floor desk OPEN 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

For maps, microforms, and government documents reference assistance, please see the staff at the 2nd floor “Ask Here” desk.

For archival reference assistance, please see the staff at the 5th floor public service desk.

Produce

Crate of celery from the Labish Meadows Celery Union, Lake Labish area near Brooks, Oregon

Crate of celery from the Labish Meadows Celery Union, Lake Labish area near Brooks, Oregon

In our era of pre-cut, pre-cleaned, pre-packaged fruits and vegetables, we celebrate produce production and sales at its historic finest with a brand new Flickr Commons set called “Production, processing, & sales: the many stages of produce“!

Lettuce grown in Wellsher's Corvallis greenhouse

Lettuce grown in Wellsher's Corvallis greenhouse

You’ll see people packing produce in packing houses throughout the state — and then unloading it all! You’ll see farmers in their fields with their hands in the soil — and workers in factories washing it off. And thrown into the mix you’ll see greenhouses, irrigation, wagons, weighing, processing, and selling!

Wagon hauling fruit boxes

Wagon hauling fruit boxes

Going market to market with Flickr!

People driving trucks loaded with produce! (1925)

People driving trucks loaded with produce! (1925)

Our shelves are stocked, wagons loaded up, and meat counters are ready for you to pick the choicest cut of meat!

This week’s Flickr Commons set is an eclectic bunch of images loosely organized around the “people at a market” theme and is our newest addition to the “People Doing Stuff” collection. In addition to fun shop shots and street market construction, you’ll find a delightful group of images from the early days of the supermarket Berg’s in Salem, Oregon, including my favorite… The super-sized bucket of Karo!

A person carrying a can of Karo syrup at Berg's Supermarket, circa 1950

A person carrying a can of Karo syrup at Berg's Supermarket, circa 1950

Anniversaries and New Beginnings!

Celebrate with friends, celebrate with cake!

Celebrate with friends, celebrate with cake!

Just in time to commemorate the Special Collections 25th and OSU Archives 50th anniversaries, we merged departments to form the new Special Collections & Archives Research Center.

Though we are now beginning anew as one department, we connected with our past and each other during Homecoming Weekend 2011 in fourth floor rotunda of the Valley Library, welcoming former student workers and staff members, special guests, and a big cake!

Check out the new Flickr set — it will be just like being there, you know except for the cake…

New finding aids from August to October

The following 10 guides (finding aids) for Special Collections & Archives Research Center collections were completed or updated in August thru October 2011. Most have been loaded to the NWDA finding aids database; all are available online through either the Archives’ or Special Collections’ website. MARC records for most of the collections are available through the OSU Libraries’ Catalog, Summit Navigator, and Worldcat. Five of the guides are for new collections acquired in 2011; one is for a collection received in 2010. Two of the guides are for collections for which we previously had no information available online [Admissions Office Records (RG 163) and Lora Lemon Scrapbook] .

At the end of October 2011, the OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center had 588 finding aids in NWDA.

SCARC finding aids : August – October 2011

Taste those ‘chives this Thursday!

Putting meringue on lemon pies, 1940

Putting meringue on lemon pies, 1940

Did you make your shopping list? Did you check it twice?

This Thursday (10/27) from 12:00-1:00 you can sample tastes of the past in our annual Taste of the ‘Chives recipe event! Bring yourself — and a dish if you wish to share — to the Willamette Rooms.

This year, you’ll find “international” recipes dating from 1928 to 2008. The publications are all available online at the OSU ScholarsArchive site and downloadable here as PDF files:

Remember, volunteers to help prepare the recipes are always appreciated! Contact karl.mccreary@oregonstate.edu for more details or to sign up.

History, plus a movie for lunch? Sure!

OPB's Oregon Experience, "Linus Pauling"

OPB's Oregon Experience, "Linus Pauling"

Join us to watch the fabulous Oregon Public Broadcasting “Oregon Experience” documentary on Linus Pauling, an amazing man and native Oregonian. You’ll learn fascinating facts about OSU alumnus and Nobel Prize winning chemist and peace activist Linus Pauling in this new film about his life, including a look at Pauling’s childhood in Portland and a great story about rowing carboys of chemicals across the Willamette River to conduct chemistry experiments at home!

You might just spot someone you know — OSU luminaries such as Cliff Mead, Chris Petersen, and Mina Carson are featured.

When & Where? Wednesday Oct 19th, noon-1:00pm (Willamette East Room — 3rd Floor of Valley Library)

Have some history for lunch!

From Flickr, "filmstrip," by bmitchellw

From Flickr, "filmstrip," by bmitchellw

Celebrate Oregon Archives Month and join us for a lunchtime viewing about campus history and famous alums from the 1960s and 1970s.

  • When & Where? Thursday 13th, noon-1:00pm (Willamette East Room-3rd Floor of Valley Library)

These three films, produced at OSU from 1968 to 1974, offer a glimpse into campus and student life during an intense period of cultural change in American life; this change is reflected in the variation in the tone of each film.

Two of the films, “Nuthin’ Comes Easy” and “Gotta Start Somewhere,” were created to attract minority students to study pharmacy and media services at OSU. The third, “The Possible Dream,” celebrates OSU in its centennial year in 1968. Highlights include a funky re-creation of an average student party in the early 1970s.

Come judge for yourself — and bring your lunch!

Be Local

Benton County Courthouse with pruned trees

Benton County Courthouse with pruned trees

To celebrate Oregon Archives Month 2011 we’re heading home (again) with a new collection called “Be Local: some things to note…” and an innaugural set called “Be Local: some places in Benton County.”

Oregonians are passionate about our state, and Corvallis-ites and residents of Benton County are no different. Starting as the first territorial capital, at the confluence of the Marys and Willamette Rivers, and arriving now at this place in the 21st century, with an ever-expanding community and university, it’s always fun to take a look back over our shoulder to see where we were. And yes, for me, that’s means to read more about our history.

Joseph C. Avery settled a land claim at the mouth of Marys River where it flows into the Willamette River in 1845. In 1849, Avery opened a store at the site, platted the land, and surveyed a town site on his land claim, naming the community Marysville … In 1853, the legislative assembly changed the city’s name to Corvallis, from the Latin phrase cor vallis, meaning “heart of the valley.” Corvallis was incorporated as a city on January 29, 1857 … [and] the town served briefly as the capital of the Oregon Territory in 1855 before Salem was eventually selected as the permanent seat of state government. Corvallis, Wikipedia

Territorial capital at Corvallis, Oregon

Territorial capital at Corvallis, Oregon

Though you can find great contemporary books on Corvallis and Benton County, I encourage you to consider David Fagan’s 1885 A history of Benton County, Oregon including its geology, topography, soil and productions (call no. F882.B4 F2), the 1890 Benton County, Oregon: the heart of the famous Willamette Valley (F882.B4 C6), and the 1912 Corvallis and Benton County, Oregon (F884.C6 S6 and available electronically on ScholarsArchive). Each is available at OSU Libraries’ main library in Corvallis. Fear not, there is plenty more research and reading to be done!

  • The Benton County Historical Society is the ideal place to start! “The Benton County Historical Museum artifact collection comprises approximately 66,000 items that illustrate the diverse themes of our Benton County, Oregon heritage.”
  • Search the Oregon Encyclopedia site for Corvallis and you’ll find a plethora of information about the people, places, and amazing things that have happened here. Want to know about the Women’s Land Army, Corvallis and Eastern Railroad, or Bernard Malamud (1914–1986)? All there – plus much more about both our great state.
  • The City of Corvallis website has a very informative Historical Narrative (1811 to 1945), which includes a historic walking tour of downtown and a historic property inventory.
Campus store

Campus store

  • Because I love Wikipedia, check out the article on Corvallis. The info there isn’t limited to our history, but gives all those delicious up-to-date details. Wikipedia also has a great article on Benton County.
  • Finally, in the spirit of historic renovation, we’re delighted to see the Whiteside Theater coming back to life! It opened to the public on November 9, 1922, but closed in winter of 2002. The Whiteside Theatre Foundation is currently raising funds to rehabilitate and reopen the Whiteside Theatre, and they have shared the history of this gem on their site.

Enjoy!