Collection is open for research.
Gift of Maurine Neuberger, April 1960 (Lib. Acc. 8735).
Harry Lane was born in 1855 in Corvallis, Oregon; his grandfather was Oregon territorial governor and U.S. senator Joseph Lane. He graduated from Willamette University Medical School in Salem, Oregon. After studying further in New York and in Europe, Lane established a medical practice in San Francisco, California, and then in Portland, Oregon. He was a member of the Oregon State Medical Society, director of the Oregon State Insane Asylum (later Oregon State Hospital) from 1887 to 1891, and served on the Oregon state board of health from 1903 to 1906. Lane married Lola Bailey in 1882; the couple had two daughters and adopted a third daughter.
In 1905, Lane was elected mayor of Portland, and was reelected in 1907. As mayor, he supported public health measures, regulation of railroads and public utilities, and effective city planning and services. He also called for the creation of the Portland Rose Festival. Lane supported women's suffrage, and appointed Esther Pohl Lovejoy as Portland's city health officer, and Lola G. Baldwin as the first policewoman in the United States. In 1912, Lane was elected to the U.S. Senate as a Democrat. As a senator, Lane supported government control of utilities and the breakup of monopolies. In 1917, he was one of six senators who opposed the United States' entry into World War I. This, along with his earlier opposition to a bill to arm U.S. merchant vessels, spurred harsh criticism and led to calls that he either resign or be recalled from office. Lane's health worsened, and he died on May 23, 1917, while recuperating in San Francisco.
Sources: "Harry Lane (1855-1917)," by Kimberly Jensen, Oregon Encyclopedia,
Originals of some correspondence in the collection are held at the University Of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives, Eugene, Oregon.
Harry Lane papers, Mss 536, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Other papers of and relating to Harry Lane at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library include Coll 930, a statement by Lane about the armed neutrality bill; materials in the George Earle Chamberlain papers, Mss 1025, and the the Frank S. Myers papers, Mss 1403; and a vertical file, Biography - Lane, Harry.
This collection consists of papers of and relating to Harry Lane. The materials include a small amount of original correspondence from and to Lane, as well as copies of correspondence held at the University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives; drafts and research materials for a biography by the Federal Writers' Project, circa 1940; and news clippings about Lane, primarily relating to his death. Among the original correspondence are two letters from William ("Big Bill") Haywood, head of the International Workers of the World. The collection also includes political writings and notes by Harry Lane's daughter Nina Lane McBride (later Nina Lane Faubion), who was active in the Socialist Party around 1912-1920.
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.