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.
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.
TJ Starker marking timber during snowstorm in eastern Oregon, 1910. Thurman James Starker was a professor of Forestry from 1922-1942. Starker taught courses in forest management and silviculture and purchased land during the 1930's which would become Starker Forests. Starker helped Corvallis gain Avery Park and was made a member of the Oregon State Board of Forestry by Governor Mark Hatfield in 1962.
George Peavy in his office on "Heaventh" floor of Chem Shack (Education Hall) around 1910. George Wilcox Peavy was the first Dean of Forestry from 1913-1940 and president of Oregon State College from 1932-1940. Peavy founded an arboretum that would act as a laboratory for forestry students.
Richard Jeffrey Nichols was the librarian at Oregon Agricultural College from 1902 to 1908. A native Oregonian, Nichols was the first librarian not educated at OAC, earning his degree from Willamette University.
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.
Greer succeeded Margaret Snell as head of the Department of Domestic Science and Art in 1908, and was named the first dean as a result of President Kerr’s academic reorganization of the college. She served until spring 1911. Greer was a graduate of Vassar College and spent ten years as an instructor at New York’s Pratt Institute prior to coming to OAC.