Archives West Finding Aid

The William Budd Matlock Papers are comprised of materials generated and collected by Oregon State College alumnus William Budd Matlock, and reflect his student experience, work as an engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers, and military service during World War II.

Series 1, Academic Records, includes several papers Matlock completed in the course of his studies in Civil Engineering at Oregon State College. Of special note in this series is a paper Matlock wrote for his Hydraulic Machinery course in Spring 1938. The paper, entitled “The Tangential Wheel and the Reaction Turbine as Hydraulic Prime Movers,” is annotated by Professor Fred Merryfield, Oregon State engineering professor and a founding engineer of the CH2M consulting firm. This series also includes commencement programs and diplomas for both Tillamook High School and Oregon State College; two ROTC chevron patches and an OSC letterman’s patch; and fourteen dance cards.

Matlock’s association with the military, from participation in the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps while at Oregon State College, to retirement from the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station in 1976, is documented in Series 2. Materials in this series include correspondence regarding promotions and placements; documentation of enrollment in the U.S. Army’s Engineer School; and Matlock’s Officer’s Pay Data Card, Immunization Register, and Reports of Physical Examinations. Matlock’s World War II service is also documented in this series and includes a handwritten list of his wartime assignments, and Military Record and Report of Separations forms, which include information regarding his service in the Southern Philippines. Series 2 also includes oversize certificates documenting Matlock’s continuing military training and promotions, and wartime publications such as the Engineer Edition of the Sixth Army News Pictorial for August 1945, and an “I Corps in the Philippines” newsletter from June 1945.

The employment records in Series 2 illustrate Matlock’s pre- and post-World War II military career, and include correspondence to prospective employers regarding open positions, and offers of employment and promotions; personal history forms; and resumes and job applications. Of special note is an undated pamphlet entitled “Your Work in the Army Corps of Engineers,” in which duties, salary grades, entitlements, and advice (e.g. on “job adjustment,” transportation, and housing) are presented.

The 133 photographs in Series 3 (79 prints, 54 negatives) depict Matlock’s experience as a student at Oregon State College, and as an engineer, both before and after World War II. OSC-related photographs include images documenting the building of a pontoon bridge over American Lake (near Lakewood, Washington) while at a ROTC summer camp in July 1937; photographs of Matlock and his friends in their ROTC uniforms and, later, in their graduation caps and gowns; of “stream gaging” in canoes on the Willamette; and of a Gamma Phi picnic at Gellatley’s Grove. OSC alumni featured in these images include Frank Marks, Larry Metcalf, Dar Anderson, Al Aspaugh, and Shirley Stage.

Of particular interest are photographs documenting Matlock’s wartime service, both domestically and abroad. Several images document Matlock’s first domestic assignment, working in Bonneville, Washington as an engineer with the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers Seattle district. Also documented is his association with the construction of the Mud Mountain Dam near Enumclaw, Washington. This series also includes 19 black and white prints, and one panorama, documenting the construction of Moses Lake Air Field in 1942. All of these prints are marked “RESTRICTED,” and an index to the images is included.

Materials documenting Matlock’s service in the Philippines are primarily comprised of negatives, with only one black and white print. The caption on this print reads: “Baquio, 1945: Where Yamashita surrendered the Philippines to MacArthur. President’s summer palace?” Research suggests that it is actually a print of the American Residence in the Philippines. Series 3 also includes sixteen prints of sketches done by combat artist Edward J. Dollriehs, who served with the HQ Battery of the 37^th Infantry Division during World War II.