Helen S. Moor
- Title
- Helen S. Moor
- LC Subject
- Universities and colleges--Faculty Portraits Deans (Education)
- Description
- Helen Sterling Moor was Dean of Women at OSC from 1954 to 1966. She was born in 1900 in Toledo, Ohio. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, with additional study in philosophy and history, from Smith College in 1925. She received her Master of Arts in student personnel administration, with additional study in administration and counseling, from Stanford University in 1935. She completed additional graduate study at the Teachers College of Columbia University and New York University. Her thesis for her master’s degree was “Orientation Programs in Public Junior Colleges.” She was active in AAUW, Business and Professional Women and various personnel organizations for many years, often serving as President or Vice-President. Her position as Dean of Women was not her first position at OSC. She previously worked as Assistant Preceptress of Waldo Hall for the year of 1926-27, and spent the next year serving as Secretary to the Dean of Women. She moved on to hold a number of administrative positions, including as Dean of Women and Registrar at Eastern Oregon College of Education, and Dean of Women at Northern Illinois State Teachers College. Altogether, she had 25 years of experience as a dean of women when OSC’s Dean Bash passed away in 1954. Several individuals contacted OSC recommending Dean Moor for the position, as she would bring “culture, education breadth, good looks, and thorough understanding of students to Oregon State College.” President Strand met with her in Chicago to discuss the position. Although she was receiving considerably more salary at Northern Illinois than OSC paid its Deans of Women, she felt very drawn to Oregon State. She did, however, wish to have enough money to support herself at retirement--and, at fifty years of age, this was an important concern to her. She agreed to move out west for no less than less than $7,500, which was still $360 less than she would receive at Illinois. She was offered $7,800, academic rank of Professor, and indefinite tenure on a twelve month basis, including a month’s vacation. President Strand requested a picture, and she sent what she referred to as “one very poor picture” and expressed she would take another as soon as possible. She received a number of letters from friends and acquaintances in Oregon expressing excitement about her appointment. She took sabbatical leave from March to July of 1961, for the purpose of obtaining information about cultures of European countries, and for rest and recreation. Unfortunately, she was called home near the end of her trip, as her mother suffered a stroke. She spent time with her family until it was time to return to Corvallis, on July 3rd. She retired at the mandatory retirement age at OSU in 1966, and thereafter accepted a position as Dean of Students and Director of Residences, at Beirut College for Women in Lebanon. She vacationed on her way to Beirut, where she was contracted for a two-year period. During the Israeli-Arab conflict in 1967 she was evacuated to Greece.
- Work Type
- photographic prints photographs black-and-white photographs
- Date
- 1954
- Identifier
- P092:0868
- Rights
- In Copyright
- Local Collection Name
- President's Office Photographs, 1923-1998 (P 092)
- Type
- Image
- Format
- image/tiff
- Set
- OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center Historical Images of Oregon State University
- Primary Set
- OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center
- Institution
- Oregon State University