Alumni Association Records, 1888-2008

The Class Records include constitutions and bylaws, meeting minutes, class wills and prophesies, financial records, lists of members, and scrapbooks for individual classes from the Class of 1902 through the Class of 1967. The Class of 1922 records include eight lapel pins donated by Claude F. Palmer. Of special note are the two scrapbooks for the Class of 1902.

Series II documents class reunions for the Class of 1888 through the Class of 1967. Most of the records pertain to reunions from the 1920s through 1970s. The records include correspondence, newspaper clippings, postcards, brochures, and photographs, primarily of reunion groups. These materials document the activities of Oregon State alumni after their graduation.

Series III consists of records of the Association Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, and other committees. The materials are from various years and do not represent a continuous or complete record.

The homecoming records consist of detailed annual reports of the homecoming weekend activities and programs that include clippings and ephemera. Scrapbooks documenting the 1961, 1962, and 1964 homecoming weekends are also included in the series.

Series VI consists of reports, correspondence, clippings, and ephemera documenting the Portland Information Center and its activities for current Oregon State student, prospective students, alumni, and friends. The Center participated in recruitment activities and provided information and activities to incoming students the summer before they enrolled at Oregon State.

Series VII includes correspondence, clippings, and related materials pertaining to the alma mater, fight song, and other school songs. The clippings primarily document the publication of song books by the Alumni Association in the 1920s.

Series VIII consists of materials documenting several special projects of the Alumni Association including fundraising for a new football stadium, proposals for a World War II memorial chapel, and materials pertaining to the carillon bell system in the Memorial Union, which was installed in 1959. This carillon was dismantled in the mid 1990s and replaced by a digital sound system.

The Centennial Celebration records include agendas, minutes, and memoranda of the university-wide Centennial Committee as well as materials pertaining to selection of the Alumni Centennial Award recipients.

Series XI includes the first annual report of the Oregon State University Fund, which was established by the Alumni Association in 1959 to receive annual tax-deductible contributions from alumni and friends of OSU. The Comparison Report provides information about the number of donors and dollars received in 1976-1977 and 1977-1978.

Series XII consists of several pieces of correspondence, primarily incoming, written by or about alumni. Some of the correspondence addresses positions of the Alumni Association on issues at Oregon State.

The Fiscal Records include a few items documenting the income of the organization in the 1920s and 1930s and the Association budgets in the mid-1970s.

The sound recordings include 18 vinyl sound disks, 12 reel-to-reel tapes, and 1 cassette tape. Of special note are recordings of the 1949 OSC vs University of Oregon football game; an OSC vs University or Oregon basketball game in about 1957; a speech by Fred Shideler; an interview with Dean of Men Emeritus Dan Poling in 1991 about Oregon State College and Corvallis during World War II; and two sets of recordings of Oregon State songs produced by the Alumni Association in the early 1950s.

The Alumni Magazine series consists of materials documenting the preparation and distribution of the Association's alumni magazine, the OAC Alumnus, Oregon State Monthly, and Oregon Stater. The records include extensive subject files on prominent alumni, faculty and staff, and special events; letters to the editor; and editorial materials for individual issues. The letters to the editor include letters and photocopies of diaries and family histories sent by alumni who are descendants of Oregon Trial pioneers. Information from the letters was used in a December 1992 Oregon Stater article commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Oregon Trail.