Category Archives: Finding Aids

Great Cities and Gobs of Glaciers!

Great cities, gobs of glaciers, and a whole bunch of new collection guides? Must be another busy couple of weeks of work in the OSU Archives.

Since we always start with Flickr, this week we’ll kick off with fabulous finding aids. Lots of fun collections you can now read about online, including the Oregon State University Historical Motion Picture Films from 1921 to 1969, a Put Up the Gates Campaign Scrapbook from 1940, and 60 fabulous images added to the Women’s Athletics Photograph Collection from 1899 to 1958. See them all here.

And what about our tremendous travels? Two opposite extremes over the past couple of weeks, from Great Cities of the World to Great Gobs of Glaciers of the Globe.

In the Great Cities of the World set you can see the streets of Cairo, Chicago, and Calcutta.

And are you curious to see the Androssy Strasse in Budapest at the turn of the last century? Or the beautiful bridges in Osaka and the Danube Canal in Vienna?

And Prague, glorious Prague

And Leningrad, lovely Leningrad

And, of course, Paris!

And if you want an assignment, can you figure out which cities have changed their names since the early part of the 20th century? And why didn’t the Visual Instruction Department instructors include Corvallis, Oregon?

Not content sticking to a continent, the Gosh Golly — Gobs of Glaciers! set travels around the globe showing off shots of glaciers!

From floating icebergs to glacial scratches, maps of yore to cave-like crevasses?

And what about those lovely colorful pictures of picaresque lodges or stately train stations?

And a big bump?

Enjoy them all!

Don’t just sit there!

Want to watch a movie? Take a trip? Do some research? There are plenty of things going on in the OSU Archives this month! In addition to the general buzz around exciting summer projects, we’re all a flutter over lazy, gorgeous summer days … Check out what we’ve been up to!

More new sets in Flickr Commons! We’ve been to Australia & Ireland over the past couple of weeks (care of the Visual Instruction Lantern Slide Collection, of course), with lots of gorgeous historical shots from both sides of the equator.

We’ve also had several films transferred to DVD for your viewing pleasure!

  • Gotta Start Somewhere: Minorities in Mass Media; An OSU Workshop, 1973 (FV P 119) This film was part of a program to train minority students for jobs in radio, television, or print media. It included in-class training at OSU, as well as off-site internships.
  • Nothin’ Comes Easy, 1974 (FV P 119) This film looks at services for minority students at OSU in the early 1970s, including the Educational Opportunities Program. It features footage of minority students describing their experiences and academic programs at OSU (engineering, forestry, pharmacy, etc.).
  • Hail to OSC, circa 1945 (FV P048:030) This is a 37-minute color silent film, which includes footage of academic programs as well as various student activities. The date in the finding aid dates it at 1960 … but it is much earlier than that – probably 1940s.You can listen online to a 1953 version by the Oregon State College Glee Club or a 1950 version by the Oregon State College Mens’ Choir.

Finally, we can’t ignore our 12 fabulous new finding aids for June! Included are another collection of moving images in the Media Services Moving Images, 1957-2002 (FV P 119) records; the Records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Corvallis Branch, 1971-1974; the Pacific Northwest Seed and Nursery Catalog Collection, 1992-2009; the President’s Office Photographs, 1923-1998 (P 092); and the Voices of Oregon State University Oral History Collection, 1995-2010 (OH 09).

March Finding Aids

Rain, rain, go away — and bring us some new finding aids!

Click here to read about the new collection guides created in March. Of special note this month are the early student records included in the Administrative Council Records, oral histories conducted in the 1950s with students and faculty affiliated with Oregon State as early as the 1890s is the History of Oregon State University Oral Histories and Sound Recordings, and the Long-Range Planning Conference Reports for Oregon counties.

Finding aid fury

Elizabeth Nielsen, Senior Staff Archivist and generally fast & furious finding aid creator, has compiled her “best of” / status report list for the state of the Archives’ world at the end of 2009. It is an impressive thing to read!

Here are a few highlights:

  • 944 total collections in the Archives. This includes 173 record groups (RG); 458 manuscript collections; 244 photo collections; 43 moving image collections; and 15 oral history collections.
  • 464 collections represented in the NWDA finding aids database. More than half of the RGs (61%), MSS (53%), moving images (79%), and oral histories (67%) are reflected in NWDA.
  • 73 preliminary collection-level descriptions. This is an increase of almost 30 since Jan 2009. They will probably continue to grow at this rate (or higher) as we continue to receive large new collections and the number of undescribed collections that are large.
  • 257 collections with no information online (other than perhaps a collection title). This is a reduction from 308 in Jan 2009 and is approaching only a quarter of the total collections. This number includes 8 scrapbooks and photo albums. She is plowing through this at a breakneck pace to work on these and hope to zero-out the scrapbooks/albums category during 2010. The components of our collections that are “least well represented” online are the photograph (51%) and oral history (33%) collections — although both have improved since Jan 2009. She keeps whittling away at these collections by preparing collection-level finding aids (final for small collections and preliminary for larger ones).

Finding Aids

The following 9 finding aids for OSU Archives collections were completed or updated in July 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 collections are available through the OSU Libraries’ Catalog, Summit Navigator, and Worldcat. One of the collections was received in 2009; four are for collections for which there was previously no information available online. The OSU Archives now has 418 finding aids in NWDA.

Most of these are new finding aids; one (for the Technology Educators of Oregon Records) is an update of an existing finding aid.

A Dairy Program for Oregon Scrapbook, 1929

Graham, Robert D., Papers, 1903-1973

Home Economics, College of, Oral Histories, 1968-1985 (OH 11)

Home Economics, College of, Motion Picture Films and Videotapes, 1950-1998 (FV P 044)

Landscape Architecture Department Records, 1932-1982 (RG 089)

Rodman, Wilma M., Photograph Collection, 1950-1974 (P 147)

Science, College of, Videotapes, 1991-1997 (FV P 084)

Technology Educators of Oregon Records, 1954-2001

Walls, Robert B., Collection, 1916-1974

Finding Aids

The following 8 finding aids for OSU Archives collections were completed or updated in June 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. Four of these collections were received in 2008; two are collections for which there was previously no information available online.

Most of these are new finding aids; one (for the Mesang Collection) is an update of an existing finding aid.

These include a finding aid for an historic map collection that may serve as a model for guides to other components of the historic map collection.

Bryant, William C., Collection, 1902-1905

Counseling and Psychological Services Records, 1965-2007 (RG 157)

Green, John W., Papers, 1919-1973

Mesang, Ted, Collection, 1925-1968

Newman Foundation of Oregon State University Records, 1962-2008

Oregon State University Alumni Oral History Collection, 2005-2008 (OH 13)

Starker, T.J., Collection, 1975-1982

Zobel, Donald B., Collection of Historic Forestry and Vegetation Maps, 1914-1989

The OSU Archives now has 409 finding aids in NWDA.

New Finding Aids for May!

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

New finding aids for April!

The following 9 finding aids for OSU Archives collections were prepared in April 2009. Records for all of the collections are available (or will be soon) through the OSU Libraries’ Catalog, Summit Navigator, and Worldcat. One of these finding aids is for a collection acquired in 2009; 6 are for collections received in 2008; and 2 are for collections for which there was previously no information available online. The OSU Archives now has 393 finding aids in NWDA.

Bluebird Habitat Research Records, 1975-2004

  • This collection documents the Bluebird Trail project of the Audubon Society of Corvallis to install and monitor bluebird nesting boxes in Corvallis and the surrounding area in an effort to reestablish local breeding populations. It was donated to the Archives in 2008.

Brown, Walter S., Photograph Album, 1919-1942 (P 274)

  • This albums consists of more than 400 images taken or assembled by Brown during trips throughout the United States and Canada documenting agricultural operations, especially orchards and processing facilities. Brown was a horticulturist and faculty member at Oregon State College from 1913 until his death in 1942. The album was donated to the Archives by his grandson in 2008.

Crop and Soil Science Department Videotapes, 1999-2006 (FV P 134)

  • This collection consists of 26 videotape recordings of lectures presented in OSU’s sustainable agriculture seminar series. The videotapes were transferred to the Archives in 2009.

Eltzroth, Merlin S., Papers, 1971-2005

  • The Eltzroth Papers consist of field notes compiled by Eltzroth about first and second recorded sightings of birds that are rarely seen in Oregon and a personal history written by Eltzroth. Merlin S. Eltzroth earned a BS degree in Wildlife Science from Oregon State University in 1974. The papers were donated to the Archives in 2008.

Fisheries and Wildlife Department Photographs, 1938-1971 (P 179)

  • This collection of 400 photographs documents fisheries and wildlife students, faculty, teaching, and research at Oregon State University, especially the research activities of the Oregon Cooperative Wildlife Research Unit. The collection includes images of the annual big game field trips and of a fish pond field day in Jefferson County for school children.

Gibson, Vane G., Collection, 1908-1937

  • The Gibson Collection consists of two photograph albums, a clippings scrapbook, and related materials documenting the student years of Gibson and his wife, Fern Loughridge Gibson, at Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) and their activities during the 1920s and 1930s. Vane G. Gibson attended OAC from 1908 to 1912; Fern Loughridge attended OAC from 1908 to 1911.

Jenkins, Merle T., Papers, 1913-1974

  • The Jenkins Papers document Jenkins’ student years at Oregon Agricultural College and his career as an agronomist and developer of corn hybrids. The collection includes a photograph album of images taken or assembled by Jenkins about this student years in 1913-1918; correspondence; certificates and diplomas; publications, ephemera; and artifacts. The materials were donated to Crop and Soil Science Department by Jenkins’ nieces and nephews and were transferred to the Archives in 2008.

Oregon State University Mothers Club Records, 1933-2007

  • The Oregon State University Mothers Club Records document the activities and programs of the statewide Mothers Club organization as well as the Eugene and Springfield, Corvallis, Pendleton, and Salem Units. The Mothers Club (also known as the Moms Club) was established in 1933; the Eugene and Springfield Unit was the last active unit until it disbanded in 2008. The records of that unit were donated to the Archives in 2008.

Wagner, Effie L., Scrapbook of the Women’s Debate Tour, 1928

  • This scrapbook documents the 1928 Women’s Debate Tour by three members of the Oregon Agricultural College varsity women’s debate squad. The three-week tour to Washington, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, and California was the longest every taken by the women’s squad at that time. The scrapbook consists of a narrative journal of the trip, photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera. It was compiled by Effie Wagner, one of the team members, and was donated to the Archives by family member in 2008.