Category Archives: Finding Aids

Friday Feature: E. Dale Trout Papers

SCARC is pleased to announce a newly-released finding aid for the E. Dale Trout Papers.

This collection highlights the work of Dr. Edrie Dale Trout (1901-1977), a leader in the fields of radiology and radiation safety and the founder of OSU’s X-Ray Science and Engineering Laboratory. E. Dale Trout, a native of Indiana and a Franklin College graduate, began work at the Victor X-Ray Corporation in 1928 after a brief stint as a high school science teacher. Victor X-Ray later merged with General Electric and, during World War II, Trout managed GE’s Industrial Technical Department developing technologies for the war effort.  Following his retirement from GE in 1962, Trout accepted a position as Professor of Radiological Physics at Oregon State University. At OSU, he worked with his colleagues to establish the Radiation Center and founded the X-Ray Science and Engineering Laboratory in collaboration with the U.S. Bureau of Radiological Health. He served as Director of the laboratory until his retirement in 1976. With the help of John P. Kelley, his Assistant Director, Trout developed x-ray training courses for undergraduate and graduate students, conducted extensive testing of various x-ray instruments, and contributed to ongoing radiation safety research. A prolific researcher, Trout published more than 100 papers over the course of his life, many of which he co-authored with Kelley.

The E. Dale Trout Papers include extensive correspondence assembled by both Trout and John Kelley, administrative records relating to the X-Ray Science and Engineering Laboratory, x-ray course instruction materials, many of his published papers and seminars, materials dating from his position as Vice President of the National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement, and a significant body of collected research materials. The Papers belie Trout’s deep interest in the future of radiology and his drive to inspire, train, and ensure the safety of future generations of researchers.

This collection offers a rich look at the history of radiology as it developed through the second half of the 20th century. It details the advancement of radiological techniques, practices, and instrumentation and provides a unique understanding of the contributions by corporate, academic, and government entities to the field. The work of E. Dale Trout and John P. Kelley also serves as a wonderful record of the development of radiology instruction and the growth of the OSU Radiation Center, one of the top ranked institutional programs of its kind in the country.

The Trout Papers joins a growing body of work relating to radiation research and policy held at the OSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives Research Center. Related materials include the Barton C. Hacker Papers, the Barton C. and Sally L. Hacker Nuclear Affairs Collection, the OSU Radiation Center Records, the History of Atomic Energy Collection, and the Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers.

 

New finding aids from August to October

The following 10 guides (finding aids) for Special Collections & Archives Research Center collections were completed or updated in August thru October 2011. Most have been loaded to the NWDA finding aids database; all are available online through either the Archives’ or Special Collections’ website. MARC records for most of the collections are available through the OSU Libraries’ Catalog, Summit Navigator, and Worldcat. Five of the guides are for new collections acquired in 2011; one is for a collection received in 2010. Two of the guides are for collections for which we previously had no information available online [Admissions Office Records (RG 163) and Lora Lemon Scrapbook] .

At the end of October 2011, the OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center had 588 finding aids in NWDA.

SCARC finding aids : August – October 2011

Updates!

We left you hanging with new online exhibits, new collection guides, and some mountains in the Holy Lands — and yes, that was a long, long time ago …

So what has been going on in the Archives since then? New students have been hired and others have finished their internship projects, vacations have been taken, public school children have returned to their scholarly pursuits, and we are all jazzed up to start another great academic school year with Benny the Beaver finding historical materials and all those in Beaver Land lining up to do some research!

Benny Pointing to box

Elizabeth has continued to produce great collections guides, as we now fully expect that she will every month… You can read about them all in the August 2010 Finding Aid file.

We also added one last set, Rivers of the World, to the Take a Trip: Traveling and touring with the Visual Instruction Lantern Slides Collection.

Calcutta, Delta of the Ganges

And to start off the month right (or to celebrate the middle of the month right?), we’re celebrating what was billed in 1910 to be “a frontier exhibition of picturesque pastimes, Indian and military spectacles, cowboy racing and bronco busting for the championship of the Northwest.” Oh yes, I’m talking about the 100th Anniversary of the Pendleton Round-Up.

Gorgeous images of women in their fullest regalia!
Indian women view ceremonial dance

Ladies in a line!
line horses

Men on bucking broncos!
Bucking

A man and his mule?

Man with donkey

There is something for everyone in this set. And for those who want even more — isn’t there always even more to be wanted?

Oregon Public Broadcasting has a new Oregon Experience piece entitled “Oregon Experience: The Wild West Way.”And yes, you can now watch it online!

OregonLive has a great group of blog posts pertaining to the Round-Up.

There is a nice Wikipedia article on the Round-Up for those who want a short synopsis, a few pictures, and lots of links to rodeo related articles.

And, as you might expect, the Round-Up site itself has a great history section

As they say “Let ‘er buck!” — oh, and enjoy the images!

Driven by curiosity?

Guide to the Oregon Community Surveys, 1925-1936

Another great collection level finding aid just waiting for a researcher interested in playing a history detective!

This very rich, albeit very small measuring in at a 1/2 cubic foot, collection has scads of data about 4 small communities in Oregon. The Oregon Community Surveys consist of data and narrative summaries documenting the schools, churches, social organizations, and economic status of the rural communities of Clatskanie, Condon, Cottage Grove, and Riddle, Oregon.

Why is this collection worth looking at? Data for the Oregon Community Surveys was compiled in 1925, 1930, and 1936, with the latter being done by C.S. Hoffman, Assistant State Supervisor of Rural Research, under the auspices of the Federal Emergency Relief Administration and the Works Progress Administration. But what makes this really great is the historical detail you get about these communities in the early part of the last century.

Each survey includes information about the demographics of the community. Predictably, this includes the total population, but it also provides incredible information about the number of individuals identified as “native born,” “foreign born,” and “negroes;” the number and type of farms and agricultural cooperatives; the types of industries and businesses; the names of influential individuals in the community; the medical services available; and information about charities, crime, social activities, and civic organizations.

You’ll also find extensive information about the community’s schools, including information about enrollment, facilities, the library and equipment, teachers, and school clubs and organizations. You’ll also find detailed information about each church in the community, with data on the church facilities, finances, membership, and religious education programs. Finally, the surveys also include narrative summaries and comments written by the surveyors.

The provenance and custodial history are unclear, hence the call for a sleuth, but we’d love you to dive into the box!

Curious about the images in this post? You’ll find many, many more of the great pictures of Oregon’s rural communities in our digital collections, especially the image-heavy and delightfully robust Gerald W. Williams Collection

And while we have your research interest piqued …

Make sure to check out the Rural Communities Explorer, an Oregon Explorer digital library portal that “provides public access to reliable and up-to-date social, demographic, economic, and environmental information about Oregon’s rural counties and communities.”

Horner Museum Oral History Collection

Fabulous new collection guide now available online! Horner Museum Oral History Collection 1964-1992

We love it when Elizabeth N. describes something as the “granddaddy of them all” for our oral history collections … not one to use superlatives lightly, when Elizabeth does use one, she means it!

So why is this so special?

The Horner Museum Oral History Collection consists of approximately 290 oral history interviews conducted or assembled by the Horner Museum. The run the gamut, covering a variety of topics including the OSU campus community and development of academic departments, Corvallis and Benton County, the diversification of a “resource-based economy” in Bend and Deschutes County, Native Americans and other ethnic minorities in the region, and the establishment of the CH2M Hill engineering firm.

For those of you who like the numbers, this collection is 17.75 cubic feet, including 681 audiocassettes and 200 photographs — yes, that’s 34 boxes worth. And for those of you who delight in details, there is a preliminary container list available (linked from the collection guide).

Want to know more? Elizabeth has written a wonderful background history for the collection, including more about on the physical details and other related collections for companion research projects.

Interested in where the physical artifacts found their home?

You can find the contents of the Horner Museum in Philomath at the Benton County Historical Society and Museum.

Great Cities and Gobs of Glaciers!

Great cities, gobs of glaciers, and a whole bunch of new collection guides? Must be another busy couple of weeks of work in the OSU Archives.

Since we always start with Flickr, this week we’ll kick off with fabulous finding aids. Lots of fun collections you can now read about online, including the Oregon State University Historical Motion Picture Films from 1921 to 1969, a Put Up the Gates Campaign Scrapbook from 1940, and 60 fabulous images added to the Women’s Athletics Photograph Collection from 1899 to 1958. See them all here.

And what about our tremendous travels? Two opposite extremes over the past couple of weeks, from Great Cities of the World to Great Gobs of Glaciers of the Globe.

In the Great Cities of the World set you can see the streets of Cairo, Chicago, and Calcutta.

And are you curious to see the Androssy Strasse in Budapest at the turn of the last century? Or the beautiful bridges in Osaka and the Danube Canal in Vienna?

And Prague, glorious Prague

And Leningrad, lovely Leningrad

And, of course, Paris!

And if you want an assignment, can you figure out which cities have changed their names since the early part of the 20th century? And why didn’t the Visual Instruction Department instructors include Corvallis, Oregon?

Not content sticking to a continent, the Gosh Golly — Gobs of Glaciers! set travels around the globe showing off shots of glaciers!

From floating icebergs to glacial scratches, maps of yore to cave-like crevasses?

And what about those lovely colorful pictures of picaresque lodges or stately train stations?

And a big bump?

Enjoy them all!

Don’t just sit there!

Want to watch a movie? Take a trip? Do some research? There are plenty of things going on in the OSU Archives this month! In addition to the general buzz around exciting summer projects, we’re all a flutter over lazy, gorgeous summer days … Check out what we’ve been up to!

More new sets in Flickr Commons! We’ve been to Australia & Ireland over the past couple of weeks (care of the Visual Instruction Lantern Slide Collection, of course), with lots of gorgeous historical shots from both sides of the equator.

We’ve also had several films transferred to DVD for your viewing pleasure!

  • Gotta Start Somewhere: Minorities in Mass Media; An OSU Workshop, 1973 (FV P 119) This film was part of a program to train minority students for jobs in radio, television, or print media. It included in-class training at OSU, as well as off-site internships.
  • Nothin’ Comes Easy, 1974 (FV P 119) This film looks at services for minority students at OSU in the early 1970s, including the Educational Opportunities Program. It features footage of minority students describing their experiences and academic programs at OSU (engineering, forestry, pharmacy, etc.).
  • Hail to OSC, circa 1945 (FV P048:030) This is a 37-minute color silent film, which includes footage of academic programs as well as various student activities. The date in the finding aid dates it at 1960 … but it is much earlier than that – probably 1940s.You can listen online to a 1953 version by the Oregon State College Glee Club or a 1950 version by the Oregon State College Mens’ Choir.

Finally, we can’t ignore our 12 fabulous new finding aids for June! Included are another collection of moving images in the Media Services Moving Images, 1957-2002 (FV P 119) records; the Records of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Corvallis Branch, 1971-1974; the Pacific Northwest Seed and Nursery Catalog Collection, 1992-2009; the President’s Office Photographs, 1923-1998 (P 092); and the Voices of Oregon State University Oral History Collection, 1995-2010 (OH 09).

March Finding Aids

Rain, rain, go away — and bring us some new finding aids!

Click here to read about the new collection guides created in March. Of special note this month are the early student records included in the Administrative Council Records, oral histories conducted in the 1950s with students and faculty affiliated with Oregon State as early as the 1890s is the History of Oregon State University Oral Histories and Sound Recordings, and the Long-Range Planning Conference Reports for Oregon counties.