Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections & Archives Research Center
University
Archives
121 The Valley
Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis, OR 97331-4501
Phone:
541-737-2165
Email:
archives@oregonstate.edu
Web:
http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/archives
MSS
McDole
McDole, Robert E.
Robert E. McDole Papers
1949-1998
1949-1992
1.35 cubic feet, including 19
photographs
2 boxes
The Robert E. McDole Papers consist of
materials created or assembled by McDole during his undergraduate student
years at Oregon State College, as a graduate student in soil science at
the University of Idaho, and in the course of his work as a soil scientist
for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the University of Idaho. McDole
earned a BS in soils from Oregon State College in 1952 and MS and Ph.D.
degrees from the University of Idaho in 1968 and 1969.
Materials in
English.
Biographical Note:
Robert E. McDole entered Oregon State College (OSC) in fall 1948 and
attended OSC until 1952, when he earned a BS in Soils. From 1952 until
1965, he conducted soil and range surveys in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho
as a soil scientist with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. In 1964, he entered
graduate school at the University of Idaho and earned MS (1968) and Ph.D.
(1969) degrees in soil science. He also was employed by the University of
Idaho as a research fellow and Extension Soils Specialist. McDole was
responsible for all Extension Service soils programs in Idaho, including
soil fertility, soil surveys, soil conservation, soil management, and
youth programs. He also served as Chair of the Soils Science Division of
the Department of Plant, Soil, and Entomological Sciences at the
University of Idaho from 1986 until his retirement in 1990.
A native Oregonian, McDole was born in Eugene, Oregon, and lived in
Ontario, Oregon from 1933 until he graduated from high school. McDole
lived in the Campus Club men's cooperative during his student years at
Oregon State College.
The Robert E. McDole Papers consists of materials created or assembled
by McDole during his undergraduate years at Oregon State College, as a
graduate student at the University of Idaho, and in the course of his work
as a soil scientist and Extension Soils Specialist. The collection
documents McDole's undergraduate and graduate education, research and
publications, and involvement in professional organizations. The Papers
include biographical materials and a curriculum vitae, student materials,
publications, reference materials, and books.
The materials from McDole's undergraduate student years at Oregon State
College include records of the Oregon Chapter of the Alpha Zeta
agricultural honorary society at Oregon State and class notebooks,
examinations, laboratory and field notebooks, and term papers for courses
taken by McDole. These include several soils and horticulture courses,
introduction to journalism, a geology of Oregon course in spring 1952
taught by William Taubeneck, and an introductory photography course taught
by John C. Garman. The notebook for the photography course includes
photographs taken by McDole for the class, primarily of campus buildings.
The geology notebook includes several maps. The student materials also
include the 1951-1952
Fussers Guide (campus directory) and a
program for the 1954 Oregon State versus University of Idaho football
game.
The publications include McDole's thesis and dissertation,
Some Properties of Loess in the Bannock Peak
Transect in Southeastern Idaho (1968) and Loess Deposits Adjacent to the Snake River Flood Plain in
the Vicinity of Pocatello, Idaho (1969); publications, primarily
on Idaho soils, written by McDole; Oregon State Soils Department
newsletters; and conference abstracts, programs, and proceedings.
Loess Auger, the Oregon State Soils Club
newsletter for 1958-1965 is included as well as the Soils Department
alumni newsletters for 1979-1992. Conference abstracts, programs, and
proceedings for the Western Society of Soil Science and the Pacific
Division of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
are part of the collection. A short report on the 1988 Natural Resources
for the 21st Century conference is also included.
The reference materials include publications and reports on soils and
irrigation in Oregon prepared in the late 1930s through early 1950s.
Several of these were written by W.L. Powers. The collection also includes
two sets of soil color charts.
The books include textbooks for geology (
Rocks and Rock Minerals by Louis V.
Pirsson), soils (The Nature and Properties of
Soils by T. Lyttleton Lyon and Harry O. Buckman), and bacteriology
(Introduction to the Bacteria by C.E.
Clifton) used by McDole at Oregon State College. The bacteriology text is
covered with an Oregon State College Bookstore bookcover. A 1949
Handbook of Water Control and
The Golden Mountain by Easurk Emsen Charr
are also part of the collection.
Collection is open for research.
Robert E. McDole Papers, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis,
Oregon.
The papers were donated to the Archives by McDole in 2010.
The
Campus
Club Alumni Collection consists of materials assembled by McDole
documenting the men's cooperative at Oregon State. The OSU Archives'
holdings also include the Soil Science Department (RG 115) and Crop and
Soil Science Department (RG 095) Records as well as the papers of Oregon
State Extension Soils Specialist,
Arthur S.
King. The University of Idaho Special Collections and Archives
have a complementary collection of McDole materials reflecting his work in
Idaho. The
Robert
Elroy McDole Papers at the University of Idaho include
publications, presentations, and other materials pertaining to McDole's
research and professional activities as a soil scientist.
Garman, John C. (John Clifton)
Powers, W. L.
(Wilbur Louis), b. 1887.
Oregon State
University--Alumni and alumnae.
Oregon State
College. Dept. of Geology.
American
Association for the Advancement of Science. Pacific Division.
Oregon State
College. Dept. of Soils.
Oregon State
University. Dept. of Crop and Soil Science.
Oregon State
University. Dept. of Soils.
Agricultural extension
work--Idaho.
Agriculture--Study and
teaching (Higher)--Oregon--Corvallis.
College
students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Geology--Study and teaching
(Higher)--Oregon--Corvallis.
Irrigation--Oregon.
Journalism--Study and teaching
(Higher)--Oregon--Corvallis.
Photography--Study and
teaching--Oregon--Corvallis.
Soil
scientists--Idaho.
Soil
scientists--Oregon.
Soils--Idaho.
Soils--Oregon.
Film
negatives.
Maps.
Photographic
prints.
Agriculture
Colleges and
Universities
Student Life
Water and Water
Rights
Oregon
Corvallis
Idaho
Maps
Photographs