Archives West Finding Aid

The Oregon Historical Records Survey collection is arranged according to its original order, and most of the documents are in excellent condition. It is valuable because it contains detailed documentation of Oregon history and records, and because it provides insight into H.R.S. administrative and editorial processes. It is arranged by series, and is composed primarily of historical essays, standardized forms, transcriptions of documents, interviews, research notes, and W.P.A. instructions and correspondence. Some photographs, floor plans, and pamphlets are also included. The series are: County Records Inventory Survey, Individual Manuscripts Survey, Historic Buildings Survey, Maps and Photographs Survey, State Boards of Commission, Out of State Files, County Commissioners' Journals, Education Survey, Oregon Church History Survey, American Imprints Survey, Manuscripts Survey, Radio Scripts, Letters of Famous Oregon Pioneers, WPA Historical Records Survey Administrative Documents, Oregon State Survey, Miscellaneous Documents, Oregon Imprints, and Photographs. Note that the last arrangement of records ("Oversize Materials", Boxes 87-88) is not a separate series but a flat box and a flat file drawer created during rehousing to protect and preserve large documents.

The Oregon H.R.S. was the most comprehensive documentary project of Oregon history and related records of its time. The territorial and pioneer periods of the mid- to late nineteenth century receive the greatest attention, with an emphasis on the growth of state government and infrastructure, business and agriculture, transportation, education, biography, and relations between social groups. Native Americans figure prominently in this collection. Historical essays introduce some of this information, but most information is supplied by standardized forms. The usefulness of the forms varies significantly, as some provide only a document's general description, location (circa 1942), and physical condition, while others include a full transcription of the document.

This collection also reveals a great deal about H.R.S. administrative and editorial processes, as most series contain project-specific administrative correspondence and instructions. H.R.S. Director Luther Evans implemented strict procedural guidelines and assembly line techniques to facilitate uniform project results across the nation. To this end H.R.S. workers received detailed instruction manuals and standardized forms such as the Individual Record Form and the Church History Form. Editors subjected H.R.S. work to rigorous editorial standards, which included checking and double-checking facts, requesting more information, and correcting and reorganizing prose. Questions in the margins of Oregon H.R.S. forms and essay drafts reflect these procedures. In spite of federal attempts at uniformity, however, the quality, precision, and extent of information provided by essays and standardized forms varied from worker to worker.

Researchers may compare the (circa) 1940s locations of county records referred to in this collection (in standardized forms or transcriptions) with their current depositories by consulting the Oregon County Records Inventories (Oregon State Archives: Oregon Historical Records Project, 1995). These four volumes are located in the reference section of the University of Oregon's Special Collections department. Among the county records series that appear in the Oregon H.R.S. collection that can be cross-referenced with the 1995 inventories are, among others, birth, death, marriage, and divorce records, County Commissioners' Journals, and Married Women's Property Registers.

It is likely that some Oregon Federal Writers Project (another W.P.A. program) records were combined with the H.R.S. records in our collection. The Radio Scripts Series provides the clearest example of this likelihood. Researchers interested in H.R.S. records for counties not listed here should contact the Oregon State Library (Salem), with whom the Oregon H.R.S. records collection was divided in late 1942.