Map showing the grounds, buildings, and water systems circa 1900. This is the earliest extant campus map held by Oregon State University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Research Center.
A May Day pageant was one of OAC's traditions in the early 20th century. The queen and king of this May Day celebration were Marie Cathey and Charles Watts, seen in the center of the photograph. The pageants were typically held on the lawn to the southeast of the Administration Building (Benton Hall).
This view shows several early campus buildings, including (from left) Waldo Hall, the Armory and Gymnasium, Agriculture Hall (now Furman Hall), Benton Hall, and the Mechanical Building (now Kearney Hall).
These OAC women are standing outside the front entrance to the college's first Mechanical Hall. Part of one of the floors of this building was used as a gymnasium.
Aitken was participating in the Waldo Girls versus Town Girls track and field meet. This competition was a precursor to OSU's intramural sports program, which began in 1916.
Dodge attended OAC in the early 1920s. He participated in the 1924 Olympics, where he finished 6th in the men's 800 metres, and the 1925 Pan American Games. He also ran for the Multnomah Amateur Athletic Club.
This building was designed by Albany, OR, architect Charles Burggraf. It was built to provide classrooms and labs for agricultural departments and also included offices for the experiment station.
The Orange Owl was a college humor magazine published from 1920 to 1928 by the Orange Owl Chapter of the Hammer and Coffin National Honorary Society at Oregon Agricultural College (OAC). The magazine includes humorous and satirical pieces as well as cartoons and pen sketches created by students.
OAC's Vigilance Committee consisted of sophomores who instructed the freshman class members in the traditions of the college. George "Gap" Powell is in the front row (kneeling) in the white shirt.
This hand colored photograph shows Lady McDuff, a record setting White Leghorn chicken bred by OAC's renowned poultry program. In 1913 she laid 303 eggs, a record at the time.
This group of graduates posed on the lawn in front of the Administration Building (Benton Hall) -- women forming the apostrophe and the "1", and the men forming the "0."
According to the OAC catalog, this class was "a course designed to give advanced students of Home Economics training in application of principles of cookery to conditions found in the camp."
Lower campus looking west at Waldo Hall, (Agriculture Hall (Furman Hall), Administration Building (Benton Hall), Paleontology Lab (Chemical Lab), and Apperson Hall.
Galvani, born in Russia, worked as a civil engineer and surveyor in Oregon. He bequeathed his personal library amd map colleciton to the OSC Library in 1947.
Class members included Rosa Jacobs (front row center), John B. Elgin (front row right), James K. Weatherford (top row right), Thomas C. Alexander, and Alonzo J. Locke.
Harvey L. McAllister, known as "Pap Hayseed," graduated from OAC in 1897 with a degree in agriculture. He served in the Spanish-American war and then worked as a farmer in Lexington, Oregon. Thomas Edward Palmer was a 1900 graduate of OAC in electrical engineering and served as the leader of the cadet band his senior year.
Vance DeBar "Pinto" Colvig studied art at Oregon Agricultural College from 1911-1913. Colvig illustrated cartoons for the 1913 Beaver Yearbook and worked with silent films. Colvig was known for his performances as Bozo the Clown and Disney character voices, including Goofy, Grumpy and Sleeping from Snow White, and the munchkins of Wizard of Oz.
Burkhart was a member of the Corvallis College Class of 1871 and was from Lebanon, Oregon. He was elected as the Alumni Association’s first vice president after its founding in early 1873. He also served on the college’s board of trustees in 1887 and 1888.
Blacksmithing courses were offered at OAC for "those who desire to learn how to make simple repairs and improvements about the farm and shop" (1909-10 catalog).
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.
Line of cadet officers at parade rest with sabres. Columns of Benton Hall in background, stucco wall finish dates photo to after 1899. The uniforms in photo are of the pre-1908 style with soft campaign hat designs. Belted tunics with unexposed buttons. Possibly on graduation day waiting for commissioning.
Lower campus looking west at the Mitchell Playhouse, Fairbanks Hall, Administration Building (Benton Hall), a water tower, Apperson Hall (Mechanical Hall), and Chemical Lab (Paleontology Lab). The image was used in the 1938 Orange and Black and 1898-1899 OAC Catalog.
A new armory was built to replace the 1898 armory. The new armory was touted as one of the largest in the country. The building, designed by architect John V. Bennes, is known as McAlexander Fieldhouse today.
Taken during the visit of Dr. Liberty Hyde Bailey. Included are James Withycombe (seated far left), E. R. Lake (standing center with hands in pockets), James Robert Cardwell (seated center with white vest), Dr. Bailey (to Cardwell's left), and A. B. Cordley (to Bailey's left. Also in the photo are OAC station chemist Abraham Lincoln Knisely and horticulturists E. L. Prince, E. I. Smith and D. M. Williamson.
The Bacteriology Department worked closely with other OAC departments, such as Dairy Husbandry and Poultry Husbandry, on Experiment Station reserch projects. Beckwith served on the OAC faculty from 1912 to 1919, and later served as chair of UCLA's Department of Bacteriology.
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.
This is a map of OAC's buildings and grounds as proposed by the 1909 Olmsted Plan. The 1909 Olmsted Plan is available in ScholarsArchive@OSU: http://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/technical_reports/tt44ps23z. The inscription in the lower right corner of the map was made by Gordon V. Skelton, an OAC engineering faculty member who assisted Arthur L. Peck with creating the map. The inscription provides additional context for the map in relation to the Olmsted Plan. Skelton's inscription probably dates from the 1930s.
This pen and ink map was created using survey data gathered by OAC students. It shows buildings, roads, pathways, and the campus utility system, which included water, steam and sewer lines, wells, windmills and storage tanks.
Machine Gun training post WWI beside the Armory (now McAlexander Fieldhouse). Cadets are seen training with the Browning M1917A1 .303 Water Cooled machine gun. This photo, probably just after WWI shows training cadets in setting up and firing the gun.
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.
First Lieutenant Frank Edward Hall is pictured back row, third from left. Frank Edward Hall attended Oregon Agricultural College from 1906/1907 through 1908/1909 and graduated with the Class of 1909 in Agriculture. He was from Milwaukie, Oregon. The 1910 Orange cites his activities as Athenaeum Literary Society, Lewelling Club, Glee Club, and Agricultural Club. He was a 1st Lieutenant and Battalion Adjutant in the OAC Cadets.
The cover is from the 1888-1889 Farmers' Institutes Program that was held in the Senate Chamber of the State Capitol in Salem, Oregon, on January 3-4, 1888.
Plot in foreground not fertilized. Plot in background fertilized with flowers of sulfur at the rate of 200 pounds to the acre. Antelope Clay Adobe soil.
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.
Plot on left fertilized with superphosphate supplying sulfur at the rate of 100 pounds to the acre. Plot on the right received monocalcic phosphate supplying phosphorus at the same rate as on the superphosphate plot, but no sulfur. Note the dark color and heavy yield of the superphosphate plot, and the poor yield and very light color on the monocalcic plot. Antelope Clay Adobe soil.
Plot on left fertilized with muriate of potash and plot on right with sulfate of potash. The same amount of potash was supplied to the two plots. The muriate of potash contained no sulfur, while the sulfate of potash supplied sulfur at the rate of 100 pounds to the acre. Note the poor yield and light color on the muriate-of-potash plot and the heavy yield and dark color on the sulfate-of-potash plot.
Plot on left fertilized with nitrate of soda and plot on right with sulfate of ammonia. The two plots received exactly the same amount of nitrogen. The sulfate of ammonia also supplied sulfur at the rate of 100 pounds to the acre. Note the remarkable influence of the sulfur in the sulfate of ammonia. Antelope Adobe soil.
The Practice House, first established at Withycombe House in 1916, was used for instruction in Home Economics. The curriculum included "Practice Housekeeping" and work with "Practice Babies" - local infants used to teach the basics of caring for a baby.
Originally named Cauthorn Hall and was later named Fairbanks Hall. It was constructed in 1892 as a men's dormitory. Women lived in the dormitory from 1912 until the early 1930s, when it was converted into a classroom building. The building is now home to the Art Department.
This building was constructed in 1892 to accommodate the offices of the Agricultural Experiment Station. The station's chemistry lab was in the basement. Since 1973 it has served as the Women's Center.
All four of these Corvallis young women attended Corvallis College as preparatory students between 1866 and 1868. Rose Russell married Lewis F. Wilson in 1869; their son, Eddy, graduated from the college in 1889 and was a longtime member of the board of regents.
This image shows the Hogg/Nash house (surrounded by trees) on the current site of Waldo Hall. At the far right is the Administration Building (present day Benton Hall), to the middle of center is the Gymnasium and Armory (present day Gladys Valley Gymnastics Center) and at the far left is Cauthorn Hall (present day Fairbanks Hall).
The water fountain in the foreground was a class gift and originally located in front of Agriculture Hall. The Paleontology Lab is now the OSU Women's Center.