Irene Butts was an English instructor at Oregon State College from 1946 to 1964. She was born in 1899, in Minnewahkon, North Dakota. She received her undergraduate education at North Dakota State University from 1936 to 1939, and received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Oregon State College in 1946. She listed her daughter, Jayce LaRayn Butts, as her beneficiary in her job application to OSC. However, she did not mention if she was single, married, or widowed. In 1951, she had to take sick leave, as she fell ill with pneumonia. In 1953, the Oregon Federation of Women’s Club wrote a letter about the Oregon State College Board of Trustees loan of $200 to Irene Butts in 1946, which was still not fully paid off. She made one payment in 1953, which made the balance $173.90, but afterwards, she was difficult to reach. The letter mentions the many difficulties Butts had faced over the years in paying back her loan. Butts later revealed in an apology letter that she had many medical expenses that made it difficult to pay off her loan. She retired in 1964, after 18 years of service to Oregon State.
Mable G. Buttars was a home demonstration agent in Hood River County for Oregon State College from 1946 to 1947. She was born in 1911, in Clarkston, Utah. Buttars received her Bachelor of Science in Home Economics from the University of Utah in 1934 and her graduate education from the University of Idaho in 1935 and Utah State College in 1946. She previously worked as a senior auditor at the General Accounting Office in Los Angeles before coming to OSC. She was hired at Oregon State at an annual salary of $3,000. Buttars resigned in 1947 because she did not think the climate in Hood River was good for her health, and she relocated to Hawaii.
Ruth McCorkle was an instructor in English for a year in 1946-47 and then again from 1956 to 1961. She was born in 1898 in Tygh Valley, Oregon. She received her Bachelor of Science from OSC in 1931 in the field of home economics and English, received a diploma from Oregon Normal School in 1923 (now known as Western Oregon University), and received an Master of Arts in Education and Anthropology from University of Washington in 1950. Her thesis was titled “Plan for Teaching Speed Reading to Young Adults.” She previously worked as home demonstration agent at Chewama High School, and was discharged from the army in 1946. In between her first and second appointments at OSC, she worked in high schools, some of which were in Alaska. She was a published writer, having published one short professional article in the Normal Instructor in 1925, one short story in Oregon Farmer in 1933, and a poem in Mothers Activities. One of her poems was set to music and published by Westmore Music Company in Portland. She was an active member the American Legion Veterans Association, the American Association of University Women, the Cosmopolitan Club, and a group called the Phratares. She was a class advisor, a school librarian for six years, the assistant director for several school plays, and assistant dean of girls at Nestucca High School. She returned to OSC as a temporary part-time replacement in 1956. However, enrollment at OSC significantly increased in 1957, bringing composition classes up to about 30 students per section, and literature classes up to 60. The head of the English department, Herbert B Nelson, asserted that composition classes should never be more than 25, and literature classes never more than 40. He campaigned for two new part-time positions to take up the increased enrollment, one of which was Professor McCorkle. It was quickly decided to shift her to full-time. Professor McCorkle was said to be very kind and courteous. A visiting professor of a local high school wrote to President Strand to express his appreciation for Professor McCorkle having gone out of her way to help him get his bearings on campus. In 1961, she was granted the rank of senior instructor, after eight years. However, for unknown reasons, her record was flagged with a “failure to receive increase in rank.” She began at a salary of $2,300 in 1946 and resigned in 1961 at a salary of $5,400.
Irene Butts was an English instructor at Oregon State College from 1946 to 1964. She was born in 1899, in Minnewahkon, North Dakota. She received her undergraduate education at North Dakota State University from 1936 to 1939, and received her Bachelor of Arts in English from Oregon State College in 1946. She listed her daughter, Jayce LaRayn Butts, as her beneficiary in her job application to OSC. However, she did not mention if she was single, married, or widowed. In 1951, she had to take sick leave, as she fell ill with pneumonia. In 1953, the Oregon Federation of Women’s Club wrote a letter about the Oregon State College Board of Trustees loan of $200 to Irene Butts in 1946, which was still not fully paid off. She made one payment in 1953, which made the balance $173.90, but afterwards, she was difficult to reach. The letter mentions the many difficulties Butts had faced over the years in paying back her loan. Butts later revealed in an apology letter that she had many medical expenses that made it difficult to pay off her loan. She retired in 1964, after 18 years of service to Oregon State.