We have six new or updated finding aids that were finalized during May or June 2016.

These guides include:

• 3 guides for collections that have been separated from the Gerald W. Williams Collection and described as stand-alone collections
• 1 guide that has been significantly updated to incorporate additions and bring the guide into compliance with current descriptive standards and practice
• 2 guides that have been updated to reflect recently digitized materials

Frank Patterson Photographic Postcards, circa 1920s – 1986 (P 312)
This collection consists of ~1500 postcards of natural features, tourist sites, and highways in Oregon and northern California. Of note are numerous images of the Oregon Caves, Crater Lake, the Oregon Coast, and the redwoods. Frank Patterson was a prolific photographer who worked in studios in Medford, Oregon and Santa Rosa and San Francisco, California during the 1920s-1950s. Many of the images are available online in the Frank Patterson Photographs collection within Oregon Digital.

Gerald W. Williams Collection on Smokey Bear, 1933-1995 (MSS Smokey)
This collection is comprised of materials collected by U.S Forest Service historian Gerald Williams relating to Smokey Bear, the Forest Service mascot for wildfire prevention. The collection includes records from the 50th “birthday” of Smokey and materials documenting the history of the Smokey campaign. Included are promotional materials, a design guide, slides and photographs, video recordings, and memorabilia.

Gerald W. Williams Moving Image and Sound Recordings Collection, 1959-2007 (FV 320)
This collection consists of audio-visual materials, either collected or created by Williams, that document a variety of topics in the natural history of the Pacific Northwest, with a particular emphasis on the practice and culture of forestry in the region. The collection includes 97 items representing a variety of formats. The bulk of the items are VHS videotapes and DVDS. Audiocassettes, motion picture films, camcorder videocassettes, record albums, and CDs are also part of the collection.

Ava Milam Clark Papers, 1856-1972
These papers document Clark’s career in the field of home economics, her role as Dean of Home Economics at Oregon State College from 1917 to 1950, and her international activities as a consultant to home economics programs in China, Japan, Korea, Iraq, and Syria. The collection includes about 450 photographs. A separate collection, the Jesse C. and Ava Milam Clark Photographic Collection (P 152) has been integrated into this collection.

Hatfield Marine Science Center Videotapes, 1968-1998 (FV 254)
These videotapes (12 total) document the research activities and public programs of the Center. Oregon State University established the Marine Science Center in Newport, Oregon, in 1965 as a marine laboratory. All of the videotapes are available online; links are available from within the guide and here.

United States Forest Service Video Workshop Videotapes, 1988-1989 (FV 264)
These videotapes (6 total) were generated as part of Forest Service workshops held at Oregon State University. The productions were intended for a general audience and address reforestation, debris burning, log exports, logging careers, and tree diseases and pests. All of the videotapes are available online; links are available from within the guide and here.

This post ends an epic and elegantly written biography of a very complex individual. All of all were authored by Matt McConnell – nicely done, Matt!

Linus and Peter Pauling in England at a model of Bourton-on-the-water, 1948.

Before he passed away in 2003, Peter Pauling saw his daughter Sarah marry, and also witnessed the births of two grandsons, Isaac and Malachi. Over time, he likewise learned to recognize the ebb and flow of his manic and depressive phases, at points struggling to overcome insomnia and drinking too much whiskey or beer, and at others walking the country paths around the mill so giddy with delight, that he felt he could not contain his joy.

Read the rest on the Pauling Blog. 

Lee Hedgmon interview, June 9, 2016

There were a couple of crazy weeks there in the middle of June, with lots of events, and documentary launches, and oral histories. Over two separate days I interviewed Lee Hedgmon, Mellie Pullman, Emily Engdahl, Natalie Baldwin, and Sonia Marie Leikam. The last four on one day!

I’d intended to write up individual blog posts on each interview, but the reality of work and life means that I’m just not going to get to that – and I really want to share!! So I’m going to do a post with interview abstracts, pictures, and links.

RBMS 2016 Conference, Coral Gables, FL

This summer the OMA presented at the annual conference for the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), a division of the American Library Association (ALA).

The OMA presented as part of the session “Short Papers Panel: Diversity and Cultural Communities.” The presentation was “Latinos en Oregón: sus voces, sus historias, su herencia ~ A Latino/a community oral history project.” In 2015 the Oregon Multicultural Archives began a Latino/a community-based oral history project Latinos en Oregón: sus voces, sus historias, su herencia. The project involves partnerships with Oregon State University’s Juntos program, the Canby Public Library, and various organizations within Yamhill County. The presentation focused on the importance of project partners and community liaisons, the relationship and trust building aspects of the project, the lessons learned and suggested best practices based on experience, as well as current models and ideas for the project’s sustainability.

Find out more on the Oregon Multicultural Archives blog!

The Pauling family at Deer Flat Ranch, 1973. Peter stands at left.

[The life of Peter Pauling, part 8 of 9]

It was the 1970s, and Peter Pauling was studying the molecular arrangement and physiological effects of hallucinogens. The field of psychopharmacology, crucial to psychiatric treatments of mental disorders, was at the time almost brand new. Only in the 1960s did most physicians begin to consider the potential of psychoactive pharmacological treatments in treating mood disorders and neurologically based physical ailments. The role that different substances played in the alteration of brain chemistry, their influence on synaptic changes, and the modifications in nervous response that they could bring about were all still poorly understood.

Curious? Read the whole post on the Pauling Blog!

I got two big bags of coasters from a library coworker last week, and as I sorted through the trove for gems I didn’t already have in the collection I started to form a vague idea for a blog post on coasters. Namely, I wondered if there was more to the “your drink goes here and the coaster catches condensation, keeping the table or bar cleaner” explanation.

Read the whole post on the Brewstorian blog!

2012-2013 Oregon State University Women’s Basketball Media Guide

The Sports Media Guides set in Oregon Digital now includes all the women’s basketball guides that are part of our collections — 25 guides spanning from 1981-82 to the most recent record-breaking 2015-2016 season.

• Check them all out! 

The set now includes 160 items. The Libraries’ Digital Production Unit started working on baseball last week, and softball is next in the queue.

Peter Pauling, speaking at his father’s sixtieth birthday party, Los Angeles, 1961.

[The life of Peter Pauling, part 7 of 9]

Journeying on their honeymoon through the caves of northern Spain, Peter Pauling and his wife Julia arrived at a small fishing village and made camp. His beard full and his hair grown to nearly his shoulders, Peter sat on the beach, scouring pots. Meanwhile, Julia watched the water, contented by the meal that she had just prepared for her new husband. She had always loved the sea, saying as much in her letters to Linus and Ava Helen Pauling, her new parents-in-law.

Read the whole post on the Pauling blog!

Canby Public Library

El Proyecto / The Project

Las comunidades latinas en Oregón tienen una historia profunda y diversa, y las nuevas generaciones continúan contribuyendo en gran medida a la identidad del estado. Latinos en Oregón es un proyecto dedicado a la recolección y a la preservación de las voces y las historias de comunidades latinas en Oregón.

Oregon’s Latino/a communities have a deep and diverse history, and new generations continue to contribute greatly to the identity of the state. Latinos in Oregón is a project dedicated to collecting and preserving the voices and stories of Latino/a communities in Oregon.

Read the whole post on the OMA blog!

In his time as a resident scholar at Oregon State, Taylor Rose conducted research into the history of several state roads that most Oregonians will be familiar with. A master’s degree candidate at Portland State University, Rose spent his time at OSU utilizing maps, postcards and other materials from the OSU archives. In his Resident Scholar presentation, titled “Engineering Roads, Envisioning Nature: the Columbia River Highway and Mount Hood Loop, through Maps and Postcards, 1913-1931,” Rose examined how these roads were created, what inspiration shaped them and how public sentiment and reaction functioned in vital debates about accessibility to nature.

Rose’s talk touched upon several events and debates that were occurring over land use and accessibility that ultimately led to Congress passing the Wilderness Act in 1964. The speech looked at the fledgling government services of forests and parks and how their roles were shaped by contemporary debates. In particular, Rose looked at the explosion of road construction that occurred in the 1910’s and how automobiles were slowly replacing trains as the primary means of transportation. This transition was largely occurring among the upper classes who could afford these vehicles.

The Columbia River Highway was the work of Samuel Hill, an entrepreneur who hired Samuel Lancaster to design it. The pair toured Europe, attending a conference on road construction, as well as looking at scenic roads in countries like Germany and Switzerland among others and drawing inspiration from their design. Although Hill and Lancaster were the two men who completed this undertaking, they were not the first to attempt such a project, as philanthropist Simon Benson had tried the same idea just a year earlier. Lancaster viewed the natural landscape as a gift from God and thought that everyone should be able to enjoy it. The finished product of the highway was a splendid combination of European styles and cutting edge American technology. His vision was shown by the vista house at Crown Point along the road, that offered a view of the river.

Lancaster and Hill broke ground in 1913 and by 1915 the road was open to the public. A key issue in the construction of the road was the land around the road. The investors purchased land out from under people along the road if they felt it was necessary to prevent unsightly development. Simon Benson had made similar efforts as well, going so far as to purchase the land around Multnomah Falls. Hill himself was invested in the scenery and wanted to prevent logging, so he talked to the Chief Forester of the Department of Forest Services and was able to secure over 14,000 acres of timber land around the highway. At this time the Forest Service still felt it best to use the land for production and their ideas and goals changed over time in response to public views as well as projects like the Columbia River Gorge Highway.

Auto-tourism was exploding in the years following World War I and the federal government soon required all states to have a highway commission to oversee road building and repairs – duties that had previously belonged to the individual counties. The increasing ownership of vehicles meant that the traffic, both commercial and private, skyrocketed and the scenic highway stops became crowded and noisy. By 1926 it was simply entitled US Route 30, marking the completion of it from a scenic getaway into a main thoroughfare of transportation.

In 1919 the south road around Mt. Hood was very rough and began to lose all appeal as trains to Portland rendered the road obsolete. Hotels that existed along the road tried to appeal to affluent Portlanders who wanted to get away into the mountains. E. Henry Wemme – who had tried to facilitate construction of the Columbia River Highway, before either Hill or Benson – bought the road in 1912 to develop it into a more reliable path for automobiles. Wemme imagined the road as a potential scenic trip, with hotels and restaurants along the way. Both the Oregon Highway Commission and US Forest Service were sympathetic to his vision, but were ambivalent about the plan still. Constant pressure however from the constituents in Multnomah County, and the relatively cheap cost to repair the road, finally convinced the OHC to relent.

By 1925, over 200 miles had been graded and oiled and visitors began flocking to Mt. Hood. In 1926 the secretary of Agriculture signed off on a plan by members of the US Forest Service to establish the Mt. Hood Recreation Area. Tensions were raised though when a conglomeration of private investors got involved in the building and proposed a tramway that would go from the highway up to the very summit of the mountain. The idea fell through during the Great Depression, even though it had received the go ahead, but it had created much discussion about how far roads should extend towards “untrammeled” natural areas. Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal program led to a great increase in road building towards natural areas and government involvement, that contrasted with the private enterprise and lobbying that had characterized road-building in prior decades.

In his lecture, Rose explained that much of the debate over road building and usage had roots in class conflict, although it was never clean cut. To emphasize the point, Rose expanded on the involvement of the Mazamas, a mountaineering club, in the Trammelway proposal. They adopted what some people called an elitist attitude towards people who would use such a device to reach the top of the mountain.

Rose concluded by speaking of the power of technology being linked with imagination and illustrated that by showing how roads and cars offered the freedom to connect with nature in a way that trains could not. The freedom and opportunity connected with driving was lost though as they became more commonplace, leading to these drives becoming something akin to a chore. This led to a backlash against machines and technology and roads took the blame.

Thanks to SCARC volunteer Chris Russell for this post!