Left to Right: E. E. Grimm, Prof. of Ag; Mrs. Ida Callahan, Assist. in Prep; B. L. Arnold, President; B. J. Hawthorn, Professor of Languages, Dr. Joseph Emery, Prof. of Math and Natural Sciences; W. W. Briston. Benjamin L. Arnold served as the President of Oregon Agricultural College from 1872-1892. Arnold constructed a curriculum structure, dividing studies into two departments, Literary and Scientific. Each department contained specific corresponding schools.
Bristow served on the college faculty from 1882 to 1894. He was principal of the preparatory department and also taught classes in bookkeeping and beekeeping.
The 1891-92 catalog, in which this photograph is published, described the greenhouse as "large and well supplied with many varieties of choice plants." Students were required to work five hours per week without pay; additional labor was paid at the rate of fifteen cents per hour. George Coote was born in Kent County, England in 1842 and (according to Lucy Skjelstad) worked as the gardener for Charles Darwin before emigrating to America. He arrived in Corvallis in 1877 via the Isthmus of Panama and farmed in an area west of Corvallis near Yaquina Bay until his appointment to the College faculty in 1888. He laid out the college grounds, erected and supervised the greenhouses, and taught in the Horticulture Department until 1908 when failing health forced him to take a leave of absence. He died several months later in November 1908. One of his daughters was married to Emile Pernot, the college photographer.
This greenhouse complex was part of an expansion of college agricultural facilities that began in 1889. Standing on the right is George Coote, instructor in horticulture. The Administration Building (Benton Hall) is in the background.
Standing at far right is Professor George Coote. This image was used in the 1892-93 catalog and also in The Orange and Black, 1938. George Coote (1842-1908), a native of England, emigrated directly to Corvallis in 1877, where he established himself as a farmer. In 1888 Coote accepted a position within Oregon Agricultural College's Department of Horticulture - eventually becoming its chair - which he maintained until months before his death in November 1908. During his tenure, Coote was responsible for the college's grounds and greenhouses, and also published several Extension Service Bulletin articles on fruits, flowers, vegetables and nuts.
Bristow served on the college faculty from 1882 to 1894. He was principal of the preparatory department and also taught classes in bookkeeping and beekeeping.
Margaret Comstock Snell, M.D., was appointed the first professor of Household Economy and Hygiene at Corvallis College in 1889. Snell came to begin the college's program in household economy and hygiene -- the first in the western U.S. She trained as a medical doctor at Boston University, graduating in 1886. At OAC she incorporated aspects of her medical training into the curriculum, teaching "people how to stay well, rather than treat them once they are sick." Snell retired in 1907 and died in 1923. Three buildings at OSU have been named for her.