Sager was a State Home Economics Leader with the Extension Service. Rachel Azalea Sager was a clothing specialist and Home Economics specialist from 1932-1952. Sager also served on the Oregon Nutrition Committee for 17 years. The Azalea House, named after Sager, is a women's cooperative.
Jeanette Alice Brauns Dixon was a physical education instructor at Oregon State College from 1930 to 1973. She previously worked at Bosse High, in Evansville, Indiana, and from 1941 to 1943 she took administrative leave from OSC to become an instructor for the National Red Cross Aquatic School. She received her Bachelor of Science in Physical Education from Battle Creek College in 1930, and her Master of Science from Oregon State in 1940. Her initial salary was $1,800 for ten months. She was promoted to assistant professor in 1943, with an annual salary of $2,400. She was married to James Dixon without children when she came to work for OSC. She took sabbatical leave from OSC in 1947 to complete a study on swimming, and later published a book called, “Simplified Swimming”. In 1967, she was granted indefinite tenure and promotion to an Associate Professor. She was born in 1907, in Evansville, Indiana.
Beatrice Beebe worked as an English instructor at OSC from 1934 to 1952. As an undergraduate, she attended the University of Illinois, Boston University Law School, the University of Washington, and she received her L.L.B. from the University of Oregon Law School in 1912. She received her Master of Arts from the University of Oregon in 1925. She was born in 1886, in Chicago, Illinois. She listed her son, William Beebe, as her beneficiary. Before coming to OSC she had worked on various school boards throughout Washington and Oregon, from as early as 1911. She was a member of the National Writers Club and the American Poetry League. She also taught English and math at various high schools in Oregon. She published articles, poems, and translated plays in her spare time. Before her retirement, she was promoted to assistant professor. Her beginning wage was $195 a month and grew to $3920 a year.
Jane Catherine Dale was an English instructor at Oregon State College from 1946 to 1947. She was paid an annual salary of $2,000. She had previously worked as a supervisor of teaching at Oregon College of Education in Monmouth from 1939 to 1946. She came to OSC because she wanted to teach English. She received her undergraduate education from James Milikin University and the University of Delaware and George Washington University from 1927 to 1932. She received her Bachelor of Arts in English in 1938 and her Master of Arts in English in 1939 from the University of Wisconsin. She was unmarried when she came to work at OSC, and listed her friend, Miss Ruth Elizabeth Lautenbach, as her beneficiary. She resigned in 1947 to take another position elsewhere with a higher rank and salary. She was born in 1907, in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Dora May Himmelsbach Costello was a reference assistant at the Oregon State College library off and on from 1923 to 1925, then from 1938 to 1943, and from 1945 to 1948. Her annual salary was $1,920. She was twenty-nine years old when she came to work at OSC in 1923. She had previously worked as an English instructor at an Idaho high school. She received her Bachelor of Education in 1921, and her Bachelor of Library Science in 1923 from the University of Washington. She was a member of the American Library Association and the Pacific Northwest Library Association. From 1926 to 1937, she worked as a library assistant at Louisiana State University, California State University, and at Yakima Public Library. She came back to work at Oregon State College in 1938 because she wanted a permanent position. From 1943 to 1945, she took a leave of absence for military service to join the Women’s Army Corps. At this time, OSC’s library was already suffering from staff shortages due to the war, but her leave was granted. She resigned in 1948. She was born in 1894, in Crookston, Minnesota.
Emma S. Coe was a secretary for the Department of Housing and Employment for Men at OSC from 1941 to 1945. Coe was born in 1888, in Niverville, Manitoba, Canada. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the University of North Dakota in 1915. Previously, she had been a high school and substitute teacher and worked for several newspapers in North Dakota. She also published an article titled “History of Crary, North Dakota and Southern Ramsey County”, which was published to the North Dakota State Historical Collections. Coe moved to Corvallis in 1936. Before coming to OSC, she was a housewife, and she explained on her job application that she wanted to help the family income. She was paid an annual salary of $1,200.
Laura Cornelia McAllester was an Assistant Professor and Chairman of Physical Education. She was born in 1883 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. She began at OSC in 1926, at a salary of $2,200. She received a certificate from the Boston Normal School of Gymnastics in 1906, and completed further undergraduate work at Wellesley College. In 1932, she received her Bachelor of Science from OSC. Before coming to OSC, she spent seven years as the Director of Physical Education at North Carolina College for Women. She was the director of a high school in Rochester, New York, did physiotherapy at a private office for four years in Sacramento, and spent two years doing health corrective work at a private school. After starting as an instructor at OSC in 1926, she became Chairman of the Department in 1932, and an Assistant Professor in 1935. She took sabbatical for winter term of 1945 to conduct a survey of new methods and procedures in body mechanics, particularly as they related to posture and relaxation. She planned to conduct this work in either San Francisco or New York, in order to contact resident leaders in the field. She was a member of Kappa Delta Pi and the Episcopal church.
Gayle Corinne Timmons was an instructor in Foods and Nutrition from 1946 to 1949. She was born in 1925, in Eureka, California. She received her Bachelor of Science in Home Economics Education from OSC in 1946. She married and changed her name to Gayle C. Merlin in 1947. By 1948, while working as a part-time instructor, she finished off all the requirements for her Master’s degree. When a colleague, Miss Riedesel, fell ill, Merklin went full-time to cover her classes. By the next year, she was given a 5% raise for her able teaching, as well as her “real flare for food preparation.” She began in 1946 at a salary of $850 for part-time teaching, and resigned in 1949 at a full-time salary of $2,835.
Philis Louise Parsons was a laboratory assistant in the Department of Art and Architecture in 1946. She was born in 1912 in Twin Falls, Idaho. She was divorced with four children, who ranged in age from 14 to 8 at the time of her hire at OSC. She attended undergraduate college at Chapman College in Los Angeles, and then received her degree in arts and crafts, with additional study in painting, from Oregon State in 1945. Before coming to OSC, she was the Arts and Skills Coordinator for the Camp Adair Navy Hospital. She also had experience teaching art in an eighth grade country school on a volunteer basis, and lived for two years in Alaska. At OSC, she was hired at $1,500 on a nine-month basis. She worked from nine to five every weekday with instructors and their classes, taking care of supplies and equipment, and organizing materials for “demonstration and reference.” As a recent student at OSC, she was familiar with the classes. She was a member of Kappa Kappa Alpha, as well as the secretary of the Valley Rangers, an amateur riding club.
Florence L. Hupprich was an Assistant Professor of Physical Education for Women at Oregon State College from 1937 to 1958. Hupprich was born in 1901, in Highwood, Illinois. She received her bachelor’s degree in 1923 and her master’s degree in 1926 from the University of Wisconsin. She was brought on to work as an instructor in physical education in 1937. In 1944, she requested a leave of absence to pursue her Ph.D. at the University of Oregon. She was promoted to the rank of Assistant Professor in 1945. She went on to receive her Ph.D. in education from the University of Oregon in 1949. After receiving her Ph.D., Hupprich began discussing the issue of receiving tenure with the director of the Department of Physical Education for Women, Dr. Eva Seen. Hupprich was not afraid to point out the inequality of the situation to Dr. Seen. She stated that members of the Department of Physical Education for Men had already received tenure by 1949, while only two members of the Department of Education for Women had received tenure, Dr. Seen being one of those two women. Dr. Seen remained opposed to granting tenure status to her staff until 1952, when she finally began granting tenure to certain staff members. Hupprich did not receive tenure, however, and went to President A.L. Strand to discuss promotion policies. At this time, academic policy stated that those who worked at an institution of higher education for seven years were entitled to tenure. Having worked at Oregon State for thirteen years, she felt she had earned the right to tenured status. Dr. Seen did not agree with Dr. Hupprich on this issue, and she took decisive action against her. At the end of the 1952 school year, Hupprich was notified by Dr. Seen that her position with the department would be terminated the following year. Dr. Seen did not give any reason for this termination. At fifty-two years old, Hupprich worried that if she did not obtain tenure from Oregon State, her teaching career would be over. Hupprich got an attorney and requested a hearing at the Faculty Committee on Review and Appeals. Her hearing was long delayed and Hupprich was not able to gain knowledge of any claims Dr. Seen had made against her as to why she was terminated. The committee did state, however, that since she had been working at Oregon State for thirteen years, she was long overdue to receive tenured status. Hupprich wrote a letter to the American Association of University Professors explaining her situation. In this time, she was allowed to keep working at Oregon State until 1954 by President Strand. Strand was contacted by the association in 1954 to discuss a review of Hupprich’s case, particularly the cause for her termination and her contentious relationship with Dr. Seen. At this time, Dr. Seen wrote to Strand explaining Hupprich’s termination. She claimed she was not an engaging professor and did not go beyond what was required of her. However, the review revealed that Dr. Seen had some failings as an administrator. Evidence suggested the two women had been feuding as far back as 1945 over low salaries and differences in teaching methods. Hupprich was described by some students and faculty as being “too exacting and detailed with beginning students” but it was concluded that this was not enough grounds for her termination. At the same time, she was still described as “a good teacher”. Hupprich claimed Dr. Seen practiced favoritism in granting promotions and salary increases. Hupprich was also known among staff in her department to occasionally stand up to Dr. Seen’s “autocratic procedures”. There was also evidence Seen had been encouraging Hupprich to find employment elsewhere since 1945. In 1955, the American Association of University Professors concluded that Hupprich was unfairly terminated and was entitled to indefinite tenure. This was granted by President Strand. But this was not the end of her case. In 1957, the Faculty Committee on Review and Appeals reconsidered Hupprich’s case after another associate professor from the Department of Physical Education for Women, Betty Thompson, requested a hearing from the committee regarding her mistreatment. Thompson and Hupprich’s case revealed a significant problem within Oregon State’s Department of Physical Education for Women. For decades, the department had been denying older women faculty members tenure out of a rationale that an aging staff of women would be unable to meet desired performance levels. The case also revealed clear displays of favoritism by Dr. Seen in promotion decisions and salary raises. The committee found that this was an issue seemingly unique to the Department of Physical Education for Women. The committee ultimately suggested departmental reforms. Hupprich remained at Oregon State until her retirement in 1966. She returned to work part time for a few years afterwards.
Bertha Emma Herse was a reference librarian at Oregon State College off and on, from 1910-1912, 1916-1922, and from 1924-1957. Herse was born in 1891, in West Point, Nebraska. She received a bachelor’s degree in 1910 and another in 1928 from Oregon Agricultural College, which would later become Oregon State College. She also received a Bachelor of Liberal Studies from New York State Library School in 1924. She was brought on to work at Oregon Agricultural College in 1910 as a loan desk assistant, but in 1912, she had to resign due to a serious knee injury. She returned in 1916 as a half-time library assistant, where she was in charge of book binding. In 1922, she requested a leave of absence to obtain her degree from the New York State Library School. She returned in 1924 and was appointed a Reference Librarian with an annual salary of $2,000. Herse was offered a library position at Bellingham State Normal School in 1929 at a salary of $2,500, but declined the offer to stay at OSC. This prompted the Oregon State library to request a pay raise for Herse to keep her on their faculty. Herse’s salary rose to $2,500 by the end of 1929. Herse requested a leave of absence in 1944 due to more troubles with her knee. She returned to work in 1945. Toward the end of her career with the library, Herse became the focus of resentment for some of the library faculty due to her salary. An anonymous letter written to President A.L. Strand claimed Herse was one of the best paid staff members in the library, yet contributed very little and carried few responsibilities. However, this letter did not hurt her career, and she retired in 1957. Herse spoke to President Strand about her unhappiness in the library during the last years of her service, but she also spoke fondly of notable librarians Ida Kidder and Lucy Lewis, who she worked with throughout her career.
Lora F. Kelts (nee Ives) was born in 1909. She worked at OSU from 1944 to 1973, beginning as a part-time Assistant Librarian in both the Serials and Reference departments. She eventually rose to the rank of Professor and Head Agriculture-Forestry Librarian, ending with a salary of $16,300 (roughly equivalent to $97,624, adjusted for inflation). She received her Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Los Angeles, in botany and zoology; and her librarianship certificate from University of California, Berkeley in 1942. Previously, she worked as a Junior Assistant in the reference department at U.C. College of Agriculture in Davis, California, but had to find other work when the college closed down due to the war. For a short time after, she was employed as a Junior Assistant in the reference department of Sacramento City Library, but felt her skills would be more useful in an agricultural college. She was highly respected for her work caliber and experience, so much so that the U.C. Davis Library offered her a posting and a salary increase after the war was over, which OSU was forced to match. She married Donald Kelts in 1957.
Vivian E. Gilkey was an English instructor at Oregon State College in 1946. Gilkey was born in 1912, in Butte, Montana. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Music from the University of Oregon in 1935, and as a graduate, she studied the violin at Columbia University, Juilliard, and the American Conservatory. She was a recipient of the Phi Beta Violin Scholarship, and even played for the Houston Symphony in 1942. Before coming to OSC, she taught at various grade schools in Roseburg, Oregon and Oakland, California. She was married when she came to OSC. She was hired on a ten-month term basis, at a salary of $2,200.
Florence Euren was a librarian at Oregon State College from 1946 to 1972. Euren was born in 1906, in Moorhead, Minnesota. She received her Bachelor of Science in Education from the State Teachers College, and received her Bachelor of Science in Library Science from the University of Minnesota. She began as an assistant circulation librarian in 1946 with an annual salary of $2,620. She left in 1949 to accept a job as a Bookmobile Librarian in Washington. She came back in 1957 as a librarian with an annual pay of $5,000. She retired in 1972.
Shirley A. Drawz was an order assistant at the Oregon State College library in 1946. She was born in 1922, in Superior, Wisconsin. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the College of St. Scholactica in 1944, and her A.B.L.S. from the University of Michigan in 1946. She had previously worked as an assistant at the circulations department at the University of Michigan library before coming to OSC. She was hired for a twelve month period, with an annual salary of $2,000.
Martha Moore was an instructor in institution economics, and an assistant in the dormitories from 1946 through 1947. She earned $3,000 plus meals (valued at $310 per year) on a ten month basis.
Katherine Hughes was a science librarian from 1939 to 1971. She was born in 1906 in Bellingham, Washington. She received a Bachelor of Science in Library Science from the University of Washington in 1928, and her Master of Arts from OSC in 1939. At the time an assistant science librarian, she took a leave of absence from October 1938 to June 1939 to study for her master’s degree in science at OSC. Before coming to OSC, she was an assistant at the Seattle Public Library for three years. She began at OSC as a reference assistant in 1929, and then was promoted to the Head of Science Reference Room, with the rank of assistant professor, in 1941. In 1965, she became the Chief Science and Technology Librarian, with associate professor rank, indefinite tenure, and a salary of $11,160 per year. She was promoted to the rank of full Professor in 1970, and then received Emeritus status after her retirement in 1972. After reaching the mandatory retirement age in 1971, Osborn requested an extension that enabled her to work up to her 70th birthday (5 years past mandatory retirement age). She only desired to work six more months, and submitted her resignation after that. She was hired at $1,500 per year, and resigned in 1971 at a salary of $12,675. She was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi, and Phi Sigma. She was also a member of numerous associations, including the Pacific Northwest Library Association, the Oregon Library Association ,ad the Oregon Academy of Science. She was a member of the Presbyterian church. She married John L. Osborn, who was born in 1881. Their wedding took place on March 24, 1955, and she soon changed her name to Katherine Hughes Osborn.
Bertha Whillook Stutz held a number of positions in secretarial training at OSC, and was employed at OSC for 36 years. She retired an Associate Professor of Secretarial Science. She was born in 1888 in Humansville, Missouri. She studied at Missouri State Teachers College and Oregon State University, receiving her Bachelor of Science from the latter in 1918. She then went on to study graduate work at Columbia University and OSC, receiving her Master of Science from the latter in 1927. After graduating, she taught secretarial training at OSC, and taught summer sessions at the University of California and the University of Southern California. While employed at OSC, she took a leave of absence from January-September of 1921, with the understanding that there would be “no guarantee as to salary” should she resume her work the next September. She taught part-time in 1933, but enrollment reached 28% excess of their facilities, so she and one other half-time professor were increased to full-time work. This year also saw a 20% increase in students from other majors registering for secretarial science classes. She took sabbatical leave from March-June 1945, on full salary. She used this to visit secondary schools, junior colleges, colleges, and universities to study methods and techniques. She was faculty advisor of PHi Chi Theta at OSC. She was a member of the Eastern Star, the Methodist Church, and was the National Treasurer of Sigma Kappa for at least six years.
Robert Walls, Director. Front row: Barbara Eades, Cathy Olson, Nancy Rearden, and Alice Rowland; Back row: Nancy Allworth, Sue Skelton, and Barbara Custer.
Robert Walls, Director. Front row: Barbara Eades, Cathy Olson, Nancy Rearden, and Alice Rowland; Back row: Nancy Allworth, Sue Skelton, and Barbara Custer.
Elzie Herbert was an orders librarian at Oregon State College from 1920 to 1952. Herbert was born in 1887, in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Before coming to work at Oregon State, she taught an introduction class to stenography at Vance Business College, and was an office manager at Black Planing Mill Co. in Pennsylvania. She was brought on as a stenographer at Oregon State in 1920 at an annual salary of $1,300. She was widowed with one daughter when she came to work at Oregon State. She was soon appointed to secretary and order clerk at the library. In 1927, she was promoted to head of the Library Order Department. She retained this position until her retirement in 1952. She passed away in 1971.
Miriam Elizabeth Macpherson Holman was a Foods and Nutrition instructor at Oregon State College from 1944 to 1950. Holman was born in 1916, in Corvallis, Oregon. She received her Bachelor of Science in Home Economics Education from Oregon State College in 1937, and her Master of Arts in Foods and Nutrition from New York Teachers College in 1939. Before coming to work at Oregon State, Holman taught foods and nutrition at New York State Agriculture and Technical Institute. She was appointed as an instructor at Oregon State in 1944 at an annual salary of $2,400. Holman married Lenn C. Holman in 1950, and resigned from her position at Oregon State to join him in Portland.
Margaret Muriel Field was an Engineering Reference Librarian at Oregon State College from 1942 to 1950. She was born in 1895, in Anoka, Minnesota. She received her Bachelor of Arts from Carleton College in 1919 and her Master of Arts from the University of California in 1933. She worked as an assistant librarian at Modesta Junior College and at the Lewiston Public Library in Idaho before coming to OSC. She was a member of the American Library Association and the Pacific Northwest Library Association. She developed an extensive knowledge of engineering literature while working at OSC, and also compiled a bibliography on the electrical heating of houses in 1946, which was published by the Bonneville Power Administration. She passed away in 1950 of a sudden stroke.
Mary Eunice Lewis was an Associate Professor of Modern Languages, specializing in Germanic languages, and was employed at OSC from 1928 to 1951. She was born in 1887 in Georgetown, Illinois. She received her Bachelor of Science in 1906 from Pacific College, her Bachelor of Arts in 1907 from Penn College, and an Master of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley. She was head of the German Department at Pacific College from 1910-1937, until she left to spend a year of travel in France, Germany, Switzerland, and Holland. She returned to the United States too late to secure university employment, so she taught at Silverton High School, in Silverton, Oregon, for a year, until she was brought onto the OSC staff. After teaching here for eight years, Professor Lewis took a sabbatical leave to undertake graduate study at the University of Washington, with a teaching fellowship in German. This enabled her to attain her doctorate. In 1937, she was involved in a brief legal dispute. Years before, in 1932, a colleague by the name of Professor Bach became ill, and Professor Lewis took over the bulk of his classes. Later, Professor Lewis sought compensation for the extra work she undertook, and initiated a legal suit, although they ended up settling out of court. In 1950, with a peak salary of $4,600, she reached compulsory retirement age, but continued teaching half-time throughout the next year. Upon her retirement, she received Emeritus status.