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://archives.library.oregonstate.edu
MSS
Macpherson
Macpherson, Hector, Jr., 1918-
Macpherson Family History
2010
0.05 cubic foot
1 box
This family history consists of the
monograph, The Macpherson Family Through Four
Generations, written by Hector Macpherson, Jr. Macpherson
graduated from Oregon State College in 1940 and, as an Oregon State
Senator, was instrumental in development of Oregon's land use planning
system with passage of Senate Bill 100 in 1973.
Materials in
English.
Biographical Note:
The author of this family history, Hector Macpherson (referred to as
Hector Junior in the monograph), graduated from Oregon State College in
1940 with a BS in Agriculture. After serving in World War II, Macpherson
returned to Oregon in 1945 and took over his family's farm southwest of
Albany, Oregon. He became active in county planning efforts and was
elected to the Oregon Senate in 1970. Macpherson was a co-sponsor of
Senate Bill (SB) 100 which established Oregon's land use planning system
when it was passed in 1973. Macpherson served only one term in the Senate,
but served 10 years on the Land Conservation and Development Commission
which was established by SB 100.
Hector Junior was born in 1918, the son of Hector (referrred to as
Hector Senior in the monograph) and Margaret Macpherson. Hector Senior was
a faculty member in economics and sociology at Oregon Agricultural College
from 1911 until 1926, when he resigned to offer his services to the
movement for reorganization of higher education in Oregon. He was elected
to the State Legislature in 1927, 1929, and 1939. Hector Senior lead an
intiative petition on the November 1932 general election ballot, known as
the Zorn-Macpherson School Moving Bill, that provided for the
consolidation of the University of Oregon and Oregon State College and
moving of other higher education campuses. Hector Senior's parents (who
had been born in Scotland) emigrated to Canada prior to 1875. Hector
Senior was born in in 1875 in Dufferin County, Ontario, Canada. He died in
1970 in Corvallis, Oregon.
Hector Junior's great-grandfather was also named Hector Macpherson; he
lived in Scotland from 1828 until his death in 1908.
This family history consists of the monograph,
The Macpherson Family Through Four
Generations, written by Hector Macpherson, Jr. and edited by his
daughter, Janet Macpherson Wershow, and granddaughters, Eleanor Wershow
and Kate Rosson. The book describes the author's childhood in Corvallis
and growing up on the family's farm; his student years at Oregon State
College and service in World War II; farming in the Willamette Valley near
Albany and Corvallis; his public service in county planning and the
development of Oregon's land use planning system; and his work as an
Oregon state senator and member of the Land Conservation and Development
Commission. Also of note are descriptions of his father's education and
career as a faculty member at Oregon Agricultural College and his
participation during the 1920s and 1930s in the re-organization of higher
education in Oregon and establishment of the Oregon State System of Higher
Education.
The monograph also describes the activities and family of of Hector's
great-grandfather, Hector Macpherson, who lived in Scotland, as well as
his own children. Others included are Hector Junior's sister Miriam
Macpherson Holman and his mother Margaret Dupee Macpherson.
Recollections and remembrances written by Hector Junior's wife, Katharine
(Kitty Brownell Smith Macpherson) are also part of the volume.
Collection is open for research.
Macpherson Family History, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis,
Oregon.
This publication was donated to the Archives by the author in 2010.
Additional materials documenting efforts at consolidation of campuses
and reorganization of higher education in Oregon are available in the
Zorn-Macpherson
Bill Collection. The
Florence
L. Kohlhagen Notebook consists of class notes for a course in
rural sociology taught by Hector Macpherson (Senior) in 1923. The Archives
holdings include a variety of collections that document the application of
land use planning in Oregon, including records of the
Environmental
Remote Sensing Applications Laboratory (RG 218),
Extension
Service (RG 111), and
Rockefeller
Project (RG 161). The
Oregon
Counties Long-Range Planning Reports (PUB 006-16) document
planning by Oregon counties prior to Senate Bill 100.
Macpherson,
Hector, 1875-1970.
Macpherson,
Katharine Smith.
McPherson family.
Oregon
Agricultural College--Faculty.
Oregon State
College--Students.
Oregon State
System of Higher Education.
Education,
Higher--Oregon.
Farm life--Oregon--Willamette
River Valley.
Land
use--Oregon--Planning.
World War, 1939-1945--Personal
narratives, American.
Oregon--Politics and government--1951-
Agriculture
Colleges and
Universities
Home and Family
Military
Political Campaigns
Women
Oregon
Corvallis