Engineering Experiment Station Records, 1904-1989

Subgroup 1 has been divided into two series: I. Engineering Experiment Station, 1914-1951 and II. Annual Reports and Budgets, 1915-1930. Series I contains documents describing the history of the Experiment Station and papers associated with its projects. The historical materials include a paper written by Samuel Graf in 1926 concerning the possible establishment of an Experiment Station at the College and a 1942 radio discussion describing the Experiment Station. Also contained within this series are correspondence, reports, and data associated with Western Pine Association cooperative research on dry kiln fans; the project "Expanded Shale Aggregate in Structural Concrete," completed by D. D. Ritchie and S. H. Graf; and engineering lab experiments completed in the 1914-1915 school year.

Series II provides administrative information about the Departments of Experimental Engineering and Mechanics and Materials specifically pertaining to planning and activities. These materials include biographical and salary information for engineering professors as well as details about the classes they taught. The series also includes correspondence, budgets, and other materials related to the activities of and planning for the Experiment Station including room efficiency records, course planning materials, and drawings of the proposed location and floor plan of a new engineering building.

Materials in Subgroup 2 were created and assembled by Samuel H. Graf. They were arranged into four series prior to microfilming: I. Correspondence, Mechanical Engineering and Experiment Station (S. H. Graf), 1912-1953; II. Pacific Coast Gas Association, 1918-1929; III. Publications, Manuscripts and Speeches, 1904-1964; and IV. Experiments and Experimental Engineering Course, 1909-1956. These materials contain Graf's departmental, instructional, and personal correspondence from 1912, the year of his appointment to head of the Department of Experimental Engineering, until 1953, one year before his retirement. Materials also include manuscripts of speeches and radio talks and notebooks containing essays with various topics unrelated to science.

One of Graf's many appointments was Chairman of the Committee on Pipe Protection, a subcommittee within the Pacific Coast Gas Association. Subgroup 2 contains materials pertaining to research completed by the Pacific Coast Gas Association. It also contains reports, publications, and testing data for projects and research completed by the Experiment Station between 1904 and 1964. A portion of these research documents were produced by students participating in experimental engineering lab courses.

Subgroup 3 has been divided into six series: I. Technical Services Act, 1965; II. Committee Correspondence, 1965-1970; III. Proposals, 1965-1968; IV. Annual Reports, 1966-1968; V. Progress Report; 1969-1970, and VI. Department of Commerce Bulletins, 1966. The documents in this subgroup were produced or collected by the chairman of the Committee, J. G. Knudsen. They provide a summary of the Technical Services Act of 1965 and discussions of its implementation at Oregon State University. A large portion of the materials describe projects completed under the Act, mainly by the fishing and food processing industries. This subgroup also contains extensive documentation of the Technical Services Information Center Project.

Subgroup 4 consists of 4 series: I. Engineering Publications Lists, 1972-1980; II. Engineering Experiment Station Circulars, 1929-1989; III. Engineering Experiment Station Bulletins, 1929-1979; and IV. Engineering Experiment Station Reprints, 1927-1966. These publications were prepared by Engineering faculty and administrators to disseminate research and provide information about research accomplishments in engineering at Oregon State. Of special note are the proceedings of the Northwest Road Building (later Roads and Streets) Conference from 1953 to 1972; annual and biennial reports of research activities from the late 1950s through 1980s; reports and surveys on pollution in Oregon streams and the Willamette River in the 1920s through 1940s; annual progress reports of fence post preservation treatments conducted by T.J. Starker at the Oregon State post farm; and reports of studies on wood waste disposal. Many of the publications are available online in ScholarsArchive; some are available in paper form and a few only on microfilm.