Archives West Finding Aid
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Ross McElroy Washington State College Photographs, 1909-1913
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- McElroy, Ross B. (Ross Bernard), 1890-1972.
- Title
- Ross McElroy Washington State College Photographs
- Dates
- 1909-1913 (inclusive)19091913
- Quantity
- 0.5 Linear feet of shelf space, (1 Box), (364 images)
- Collection Number
- PC 187 (collection)
- Summary
- 364 black and white photographs of Washington State College during 1909-1913, primarily related to the Kappa Sigma fraternity.
- Repository
-
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu - Access Restrictions
-
This collection is open and available for research use.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Ross Bernard “Mac” McElroy, 1890-1972, graduated from high school in Spokane, WA in 1909 and enrolled at Washington State College that fall. He graduated from WSC in 1913 with a B.S. in Engineering. While at WSC, he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity, the Crimson Circle, the student branch of AIEE, the baseball team (he played third base and was captain his senior year), and was on the Evergreen staff.
While on campus, McElroy dated Harriet Elizabeth Taylor, 1891-1974, of Waitsburg, also WSC class of 1913 (though it appears she did not attend her final year and so never graduated), who was a member of the Theta Kappa sorority. Ross and Harriet were married on October 22nd, 1913.
Historical NoteReturn to Top
Washington State College’s Kappa Sigma fraternity dates to 1906 under the name Kappa Theta, and became affiliated with Kappa Sigma in 1909 as the college’s first nationally affiliated fraternity. It occupied the former Walter Davis home in Pullman until a newly built house opened for the 1911 school year.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
The photographs primarily document fraternity (specifically Kappa Sigma) life on the Washington State College campus during the years 1909-1913. They were collected by student Ross McElroy.
Images tend to be either postcards printed by Pullman area studios, notably Artopho, Robert Burns, and Monroe Studios, or self-developed photographs.
Photographs are often unidentified and/or undated. One telltale date indicator is the fraternity’s move from a residential home to a newly built chapter house, which occurred in 1911.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Restrictions on Use
Copyright restrictions may apply.
Preferred Citation
[Item description]
Ross McElroy Washington State College Photographs, 1909-1913 (PC 187)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Arrangement
The materials are arranged in an alphabetical subject-based order.
Acquisition Information
The materials in this collection were purchased by the Washington State university Libraries’ Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections from a Wilder, ID resident in November, 2019 and retained as UPC2019-08. The provenance is unclear, but it appears that the seller purchased the materials in scrapbook form and then dismantled it so as to sell the individual images on EBay, cutting off the image edges where the scrapbook paper remained attached. As a result, this collection does not includes sports-related images (or other images that the seller thought would sell individually) which were part of the original scrapbook.
Processing Note
The collection was reorganized into a subject-based organizational system during processing, as no apparent original order remained.
Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top
| Container(s) | Description | |
|---|---|---|
| Box | Folder | |
| 1 | 1 | Athletics |
| 1 | 2 | Automobiles |
| 1 | 3 | Boardwalks (sidewalks) |
| 1 | 4 | Cadets |
| 1 | 5 | Cadets, Camp Hay |
| 1 | 6 | Campus buildings |
| 1 | 7 | Campus Day, 1913 |
| 1 | 8 | Campus events |
| 1 | 9 | Class competitions |
| 1 | 10 | College Bell |
| 1 | 11 | Dogs |
| 1 | 12 | Foundation Day, March 28, 1911 |
| 1 | 13 | Grouped headshots |
| 1 | 14 | Gymnastics |
| 1 | 15 | Individuals, men |
| 1 | 16 | Individuals, women |
| 1 | 17 | Individuals, with monkey |
| 1 | 18 | Interiors |
| 1 | 19 | Kappa Sigma (original house, 1909-1911) |
| 1 | 20 | Kappa Sigma (newer house, 1911-) |
| 1 | 21 | May Fete, May 21, 1913 |
| 1 | 22 | Oscar Osthoff and Doc Bohler |
| 1 | 23 | Other schools and off campus |
| 1 | 24 | Picnic |
| 1 | 25 | President Bryan |
| 1 | 26 | Pullman |
| 1 | 27 | Scrapbook pages: Kappa Sigma, 1909-1911 |
| 1 | 28 | Scrapbook pages: Women, 1909-1911 |
| 1 | 29 | Sororities |
| 1 | 30 | "Sword fight" |
| 1 | 31 | Teddy Roosevelt, Moscow, ID, April 10, 1911 |
| 1 | 32 | Thanksgiving, 1912 |
| 1 | 33 | Unidentified |
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Greek letter societies -- Washington (State) -- Pullman.
Personal Names
- McElroy, Ross B. (Ross Bernard), 1890-1972 -- Photographs.
Corporate Names
- Kappa Sigma Fraternity.
- State College of Washington -- Students.
Finding aid prepared by Mark O’English
2020
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
