Blog featuring news and updates about collections, discoveries, exhibitions, and public programs of the University of Oregon Special Collections & University Archives
Series LIX: Watzek House, Portland, OR, 1937, Coll 333, University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, OR.
Yeon was an Oregon architect, landscape architect, and conservationist best known for his role in developing the Northwest regional architectural style. The collection consists of architectural drawings for projects, both built and unrealized, including plans, sections, elevations, details, tracings, and blueprints.
Vanport, Oregon was a wartime public housing project built to shelter Kaiser Shipyard employees working in Portland and Vancouver, Washington. The city was destroyed in May 1948 when a 200-foot section of the dike holding back the Columbia River collapsed during a flood, killing 15 and leaving its population of largely African-American inhabitants homeless.
Two photo albums regarding the history of Vanport have recently been made available in Special Collections and University Archives. The Vanport, Oregon construction photograph album (PH203_064) and the Vanport, Oregon flood photograph album (PH203_025) document the city before and after the disaster.
Political poster, Oregon Women’s Political Caucus Records, Coll 369, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon
In honor of Women’s History Month, Special Collections and University Archives is highlighting the Oregon Women’s Political History Collection.
The Oregon Women’s Political History Collection comprises over a dozen individual manuscript collections. These collections constitute over 200 linear feet of manuscript material and represent women’s political and activist work in Oregon in the latter half of the twentieth century. The collection was started in the 1990s as a collaborative collection development effort among UO Libraries, the Center for the Study of Women in Society (CSWS), and the Friends of the Oregon Women’s Political History Collection.
The collections include:
Anderson, Jean Fuller Papers (Coll 312) 1978-1990, Finding aid
Davis, Eleanor Papers (Coll 351) 1963-1989 Finding aid
Dost, Jeanne Papers (Coll 366) 1972-1988 Finding aid
Dunn, Nancy Papers (Coll 362) 1986-1990 Finding aid
Eugene Women’s Crisis Center Records (Coll 313) 1977-1991 Finding aid
Fadeley, Nancy Papers (Coll 349) 1971-1989 Finding aid
Frye, Helen Papers (Coll 348) 1971-2011 Finding aid
Hendriksen, Margie Papers (Coll 365) 1971-1992 Finding aid
Kafoury, Gretchen Papers (Coll 353) 1971-1983 Finding aid
Milligan, Marian Papers (Coll 370) 1974-1983 Finding aid
Novick, Jane Papers (Coll 368) 1968-1990 Finding aid
Oregon Now Records (Coll 371) 1971-2006 Finding aid
Oregon Women’s Political Caucus Records (Coll 369) 1971-1999 Finding aid
Ryles, Nancy Papers (Coll 364) 1972-1990 Finding aid
The activist women represented in these collections worked to increase women’s political engagement in Oregon and empower women to fully participate in elective politics and government agencies at the local, county, and state levels. The story of women’s political work in Oregon in the mid-to-late twentieth century has not been fully told; these primary documents–the sources necessary for the writing of history–are essential to that process. Through support by LSTA funding administered by the Oregon State Library, grant project staff were able to process, catalog, and publish finding aids for these collections and provide access to these collections.
Researchers can find out more about related SCUA collections documenting Women, Gender, and Sexuality in our research guides.
Photograph from “Standoff” portfolio by Shawn Records. PH365, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.
Special Collections & University Archives is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of “Standoff,” a portfolio of photographs by Portland-based photographer Shawn Records. The photographs document the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January of 2016. Included are portraits of the militant Ammon Bundy and his family, as well as images of the media circus and protests that surrounded the occupation. This was a pivotal moment in Oregon and US history, when a group of armed men were able to occupy a government building without significant legal repercussion. The photographs are quiet and subtle, exploring the complex and fraught history of land use and cowboy culture in the American West. The portfolio is now available for viewing within the Special Collections & University Archives reading room.
Photograph from “Standoff” portfolio by Shawn Records. PH365, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.Photograph from “Standoff” portfolio by Shawn Records. PH365, Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.
By Danielle Mericle, Curator of Photography Collections
Special Collections and University Archives is currently processing and writing a finding aid for the Quincy Scott collection of twentieth century political cartoons (GA Sc 85). This project was generously supported through an LSTA grant and will also include digitization of a selection of cartoons through the assistance of UO Libraries’ Digital Scholarship Services. This archival and digital collection will provide access to Oregonian political and social perspectives during the Great Depression and World War II through the humor and wit of political caricature. A future blog post will announce when the collection is fully processed and available to the public.
Quincy Scott for The Oregonian, “Has he bitten off more than he can chew?,” 1934 June 24. GA Sc 85. Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.
Portland resident Quincy Scott (1882-1965) was the editorial cartoonist for The Oregonian from 1931-1949 and this collection includes original artwork produced during his tenure at the newspaper, comprised of over 4,600 almost daily political cartoons. Scott was a faithful member of the Republican Party and his cartoons strongly reflect his personal stance on local, national, and international political topics, though Scott’s son/biographer notes that these opinions did not always fully align with those of the newspaper’s general editorial team. These cartoons illustrate early twentieth century life and politics in Oregon and will be particularly of interest to those researching the history of critical or conservative receptions of Depression-era legislation. Some of Scott’s frequently illustrated subjects will be highlighted in this post.
