The Special Collections and University Archives (SCUA) archivists have been hard at work, making over forty collections available for researchers and students!

Journalism, Photography and Writing

Robert W. Ruhl papers, Coll 224

Robert W. Ruhl (1880-1967) was the publisher and editor of the Medford Mail Tribune. The collection contains personal and professional correspondence and source material on the Oregon system of higher education.

Sol Neelman papers, Coll 963

Sol Neelman is a photojournalist who previously worked with The Oregonian newspaper in the early 2000s, where his tenure included working on a team which won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007. He left the newspaper industry that same year and has since photographed for a variety of well-known publications and sports brands.

Brian Lanker collection (excluding digital), PH 405

Brian Lanker was a nationally recognized photographer and pioneered several series of photographic campaigns. The collection contains many of his relevant work from the early 1970s to 2021. Notably, this collection houses Lanker’s I Dream a World Collection, a project of seventy-five portraits and interviews with Black women discussing their contributions to American society, their challenges with racism and sexism, and their determined spirits.

Bernice Redington papers, Ax 092

Bernice Redington (1891-1966) was a journalist and home economist. The collection contains correspondence, writings, cookbooks, printed matter regarding home economics, a scrapbook, and subject files, 1930s-1950s.

Henry Alsberg papers, Ax 597

Henry Garfield Alsberg was born in New York City in 1881. He was educated at Columbia University School of Law. He worked as a reporter and editorial writer for several New York Newspapers. In 1924, he adapted at produced The Dybbuk, by Solomon Rappopport. In 1935, he was appointed national director of the Federal Writers Project and from 1944-1949, was editor of the American Guide Series published by Hastings House. His career after 1951 focused on general editorial work. He died in 1970.

Chambers Communication Corporation records, Coll 427

Chambers Communications Corp. was a TV news production company in Eugene, Oregon. The company produced daily TV news and feature programming for the ABC affiliate station KEZI.

Matika Wilbur Project 562 collection, Coll 993

Matika Wilbur (Swinomish and Tulalip) is a documentary photographer. Wilbur’s Project 562 is a multi-year national photography project dedicated to photographing over 562 federally recognized Tribes, urban Native communities, Tribes fighting for federal recognition and Indigenous role models in what is currently-known-as the United States. This collection contains 12 photographic prints from Wilbur’s Project 562 collection.

Verne Athanas papers, Ax 212

W. Verne Athanas was a writer of western fiction. The collection includes Athanas’ personal and professional correspondence, source and idea notes, miscellaneous papers, teleplays, manuscripts, and Western Writers of America correspondence and documents.

Frances Holmstrom papers, Ax 492

Frances Holmstrom, born in Oakland County, MI, lived and worked in Oregon’s Coquille Valley, publishing poetry for newspapers and magazines. This collection contains manuscripts of her works and anthologies.

University Archives

Faculty Papers

Sharon Sherman papers, UA 215

Sharon Sherman was a professor of English and Folklore at the University of Oregon. From 1976 to 2008 she taught courses and produced films and videos about folklore subjects. Her work—books, articles, reviews, and committee work in addition to her films—gave folkloric film a new prominence and led to its recognition as a valid form of academic research. The collection contains teaching and research files as well as film, video and audio recordings and correspondence.

Philip C. Gilmore Interview Sound Recordings on W.R.B. Wilcox (digital only), UA 408

Philip C. Gilmore (1921-1996) was a professor in the University of Oregon Department of Architecture. The collection includes sound recordings of his interviews with approximately 66 former students and associates of W.R.B. (Walter Ross Baumes) Willcox (1869-1947), dean of the University of Oregon Department of Architecture from 1922 to 1942. The interviews, conducted from 1975 to 1981, provide accounts of Willcox’s architectural theories and educational philosophy and demonstrate his continuing influence on Pacific Northwest architecture.

Glen A. Love faculty papers, UA 358

Glen A. Love was a professor of English and author who wrote about western, northwestern, and environmental topics. This collection includes published volumes, bound material, and professional and personal correspondences.

Steven Deutsch faculty papers, UA 426

Steven Deutsch is a professor emeritus at the University of Oregon’s Labor Education and Research Center (LERC). This collection contains Deutsch’s files on student campus protests of the late 1960’s to mid-1970’s.

Maude Kerns faculty papers, UA 312

Maude I. Kerns was the head of the Art Education Program at the University of Oregon from 1921 to 1947. The faculty papers consist of class notes, as well as correspondence, personal papers, and personal art.

Joan Miller papers, Coll 448

This collection is comprised of letters written to Joan Miller by Luther Cressman, Professor of Sociology, and later founder and chair of the Department of Anthropology, at the University of Oregon. It also includes news clippings about Cressman’s career, two photographs of Luther Cressman, and the bound, unpublished manuscript To You from Cecilia, reminiscences of Dorothy Cressman’s experiences during World War I.

Thomas Condon papers, UA 210

Thomas Condon (1822-1907) was an Irish Congregational minister, a geologist and paleontologist who was appointed University of Oregon’s first professor of geology in 1876 and continued as professor and chair of Natural Sciences until 1907. The collections contains material created by Thomas Condon and material about Condon gathered by others. This includes correspondence, newspaper clippings, notes, publications, and photographs.

Student Life

James R. Greenfield papers, UA 219

James Greenfield (1867-1960) was a student at the University of Oregon, 1886-1890, from Echo, Oregon. He attended the University of Oregon Law School, then in Portland, and obtained his LL.B. in 1892. With a classmate, Loyal E. Woodworth, he founded the Pacific Mail Order Company, in Portland. In later years he practiced law.

Moms’ and Dads’ Club records, UA 122

University of Oregon parents established two clubs on the UO campus, the Dads’ club in 1927, and the Mothers’ (also known as Moms’) club in 1929. Both organizations concerned themselves with student financial needs and the quality of student life. They each set up scholarship and loan funds for students to apply for financial assistance. In addition, the Mothers’ club published two cookbooks, one in the 1940s and the second as part of the University’s Centennial celebrations in 1976.

The Dads’ club became involved in the issues of student housing and conduct and mental health services. They sponsored and underwrote the Dads’ Gate Project.

More information on both clubs can be found by searching through the University’s Historic Oregon Newspapers.

S.W.I.N.E. records, UA 107

Students Wildly Indignant about Nearly Everything (S.W.I.N.E.) was a student group at the University of Oregon. S.W.I.N.E started from Al Capp’s satire comedy strip called “Li’l Abner”. The comedy strip consisted of parodies of real life issues, which inspired students to create a political satire organization all over campuses. At the University of Oregon, there were newsletters and zines of sorts made by students who were involved in S.W.I.N.E. They also led protests in which they encouraged students to protest anything that they wished. This organization was a counter-protest to the student activism revolving around the Vietnam war, women’s civil rights, and overall civil rights that were challenged at this time.

Walter East Hempstead papers, UA 431

Walter “Jack” East Hempstead Jr. was an American lawyer, writer, and teacher. Hempstead was an alumnus of University of Oregon where he participated in forensics and debate, including the first around-the-world debate tour in 1927-1928. This collection primarily contains material related to Walter E. Hempstead and the 1927-1928 University of Oregon World Debate Tour, including scrapbooks, news clippings, correspondence, programs, ephemera, and posters documenting the World Tour.

University Archives poster collection, UA 028

The University Archives Scrapbooks collection contains scrapbooks depicting the University of Oregon from 1887-1991. Subjects include students, athletics, sororities, fraternities, campus, and events.

Office of the President

Office of the President: Frank Strong records, UA 001-003

Frank Strong served as the third president of the University of Oregon from 1899 to 1902. The collection contains records of the Office of the President from 1883-1905, though most of the materials reflect the years 1899-1902.

Office of the President: Charles Hiram Chapman records, UA 001-002

Mathematician Charles Hiram Chapman served as the second President of the University of Oregon from 1893-1899 and taught mathematical physics at the university. The collection contains correspondence, presidential reports, departmental reports and information, contracts, and alumni information.

Office of the President: John Wesley Johnson records, UA 001-001

John Wesley Johnson (1836-1898) was an early Oregon settler, a teacher and administrator in Oregon schools and colleges, a professor of Latin, and the first President of the University of Oregon from 1876 until 1893. The collection (1862-1893) contains records from the Office of the President during Johnson’s tenure and letters of recommendation from his time at Yale.

Office of the President: The State of Oregon Board of Higher Education records, UA 001

This collection contains records between the University of Oregon and the Oregon State Board of Higher Education.

General University History

Ronald S. Crane speeches, UA 221

Ronald S. Crane was born January 5, 1886 in Tecumseh, Michigan. He graduated from the University of Michigan in 1908, and received a doctorate in Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1911. That same year he began teaching English at Northwestern University, where he stayed until hired by the University of Chicago in 1924. This collection is composed of three, typed and photocopied speeches delivered on the University of Oregon campus by Crane.

Union University Association records, UA 393

The Union University Association was formed in August 1872 in order to secure a land endowment for a state university in Eugene, Oregon. This collection contains correspondence, contracts, donation records, pledge records, receipts, meeting minutes, and other papers of the Union University Association.

Department of Biology records, UA 038

The biology department at the University of Oregon offers expertise and research opportunities in a wide range of disciplines including Neuroscience, Genetics, Cell and Developmental Biology, Evolution, Ecology, and Marine Biology. The collection contains records that document the functions, activities, and people of the department.

Oregon Bach Festival records, UA 090

The Oregon Bach Festival was founded in 1970 as an outgrowth of the University of Oregon’s School of Music. The collection includes office files, memoranda, advertising records, meeting minutes, reports, grant and financial records, and alumni relations information.

The Pacific Northwest

Harrison Rittenhouse Kincaid reminiscences, CB K573

Collection contains one folder of autobiographical writings by Harrison Rittenhouse Kincaid. The writings include excerpts from his manuscript, written in 1915. They include genealogy, personal and family history, and details on Kincaid’s time in the Oregon legislature and in the newspaper business.

Douglas County Gay Archives, Coll 686

The Douglas County Gay Archives collection documents the work and administration of Oregon gay and lesbian organizations in Douglas, Coos, Curry, and Josephine counties from the mid-1980s to the 2000s. The collection primarily documents the work of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance, Ruby House, the Harm Reduction Center, and HIV resource center.

Thomas Brues Neuhausen papers, Ax 084

Thomas Brues Neuhausen (1872-1944) was a newspaper correspondent and editor, an agent and inspector for US government agencies, a real estate broker in Oregon, and a leader in the Oregon Progressive Party. The collection contains Neuhausen family records, general, business and political correspondence (about 15,000 letters), U.S. Land office files, scrapbooks on early Oregon politics, Oregon Progressive Party files and scrapbooks, normal school information, and timber files.

John A. Rademaker papers, Coll 513

John Adrian Rademaker (1905–1985) was a distinguished sociologist. This collection contains material documenting Rademaker’s career as a professor and sociologist, primarily dating to the 1930s-1970s.

In addition to his work with Japanese Americans, Rademaker also researched and wrote on issues related to marriage and the family, agriculture and migrant labor, and religion, particularly “moral rearmament.” He was involved in a variety of political movements and causes including the Oregon Governor’s State Committee on Children and Youth, Oregon Legislative Conference Group, Oregon Committee to Abolish the House Committee on Un-American Activities, the Democratic Party of Oregon, the Progressive Party, and the Socialist Party.

Richard Etulain papers, Coll 908

Richard Etulain is a researcher and professor that produced works on many different factors including people from the Pacific Northwest and Abraham Lincoln. The collection focuses on the research and manuscripts of the people that Etulain has studied.

Stadden family papers, Ax 200

The Stadden and Hawthorne families were from Sunnyside, Virginia. John Hawthorne Stadden was born in Pennsylvania in 1873. He traveled west to Oregon for his health. In 1907-1909 he was an itinerant photographer in Washington and Oregon. He opened the Stadden Photographic Studio in Marshfield, OR (now Coos Bay) in 1909, which remained in operation until the 1950s. Stadden photographed the commercial activities of the area: shipping, logging, agriculture, and transportation. J.H. Stadden died November 8, 1961 in Coos Bay.

Coos Bay Harbor records of Arch Whisnant, B 018

Coos Bay Harbor was owned by Archibald Whisnant from 1907-1909. This collection includes ledgers, cash books, and an advertising accounts book.

Portland Women’s Club scrapbook, Coll 995

The Portland Woman’s Club is a club of women that strive to do community service with an open mind. They focus on scholarships and other classes free of charge for women and girls across Portland.

Edward W. Scott correspondence, Coll 998

Edward W. Scott (from Sandy Spring, Maryland) was a gold prospector in Oregon in the late nineteenth century. The collection includes 78 letters by Edward W. Scott, a gold prospector in Oregon, to his brother Dr. Samuel I. Scott in Washington, D.C.

Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church minutes of meetings and sessional records, B 004

The Pleasant Grove Presbyterian Church traces its beginnings to the arrival of Reverend Philip Condit in September 1854. The congregation was officially organized on January 1, 1855, and the church building was completed in 1858, making it the oldest Presbyterian church structure on the Pacific Coast. Construction began in 1857, carried out by Cyrenius and Silvanus Condit, who planned the design as they worked. The lumber used to build the church was hauled from Oregon City.

Samuel Sanford letters, A 302

Collection includes five letters to Mrs. George Sanford and one letter to Mrs. Daniel Edmonds and one list of family member’s birth and death dates.

Cornelia Marvin Pierce papers, Coll 433

Cornelia Marvin Pierce was the first Oregon State Librarian and a member of the Oregon State Board of Higher Education. This collection contains the correspondence of personal papers, State Board of Higher Education, and Oregon Normal School

Asia

Roland and Esther Schaefer papers, Coll 651

Roland and Esther Schaefer were American missionaries who served in Kiukiang from 1914-1919 and Yenping from 1924-1927.

Kalidas Nag correspondence, Coll 816

Dr. Kalidas Nag (1892-1966) was an Indian professor, historian, and author from Calcutta. Nag was also a parliamentarian in the Rajya Sabha from 1952-54. Paulette Beall of Eugene, Oregon was a long time friend of Nag.

Frank McMurray letters from the Philippines, A 300

Frank G. McMurry (1877-1973) lived in Oregon and served in the Philippines in the Spanish-American War of 1898. This collection contains letters written by McMurry to friends and family during his time in the war.

Environment and Activism

Bill Devall papers, Coll 375

Bill Devall (1938-2009) was a professor of sociology at Humboldt State University and a well-known environmental author and activist. The collection (1963-2006) contains environmental and ecological related subject and research files, course and teaching related files, correspondence, publications, photographs, and video.

Lawrence Williams papers, Coll 883

Lawrence Williams (1937-), is an author and environmentalist who served as a policy analyst and director of environmental organizations including the Sierra Club and the Oregon Environmental Council. The Lawrence Williams papers document his work on environmental issues in the Pacific Northwest and environmental action taken by the Oregon Environmental Council and the Sierra Club International Program.

Mary O’Brien papers, Coll 637

Dr. Mary O’Brien (1945-) is a botanist, environmental advocate, and citizen activist who works on pesticide reform, environmental law, and conservation-based public lands management. This collection features digital and physical material on pesticides, environmental law and governance (Right To Know), and national and international perspectives on climate change and climate activism.

Military History

Lavern Carter and Fred Voss letters, A 141

The collection consists of a single folder of letters from Fred Voss and Lavern Carter describing their military experience.