Frederick V. Betts attended Oregon Agricultural College for the 1926/1927 and 1927/1928 academic years as a student in commerce. He was a member of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity.
A native of Seattle, Betts was born on June 8, 1908 and graduated from Queen Ann High School in Seattle. Betts earned a law degree from the University of Washington in 1933 and co-founded the Seattle law firm, Betts, Patterson, and Mines. He died in Seattle on July 4, 2002.
The Frederick V. Betts Scrapbook consists of photographs and ephemera created and assembled by Betts during his student years at Oregon Agricultural College in 1926-1928. Most of the photographs are snapshots depicting students and student activities. Interior and exterior views of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house are included as well as images of fraternity activities and rituals, such as "bowing before the ghost". The scrapbook includes photographs of campus buildings, snow on campus, a flood in downtown Corvallis, and recreation on the Willamette and Marys Rivers. Student outings; campus events such as homecoming; various athletic events, including football, track, and rowing; and military cadets are depicted. Snapshots of college president William Jasper Kerr are also included.
Ephemeral items include decals, dance cards, event programs, greeting cards, newspaper clippings, receipts, grade reports, and student election materials. Sigma Phi Epsilon newsletters and materials from the Sigma Phi Epsilon conclave in Seattle in August 1928 are included.
The collection also includes several loose photographs that are not affixed into the scrapbook. Two of these are of Sigma Phi Epsilon members in 1958 and 1964.
Collection is open for research.
Frederick V. Betts Scrapbook, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.
The scrapbook was donated to the Archives by the alumni of the Oregon State chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon in 2009.
Other photographs of the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity from the 1920s
are part of the
The Archives' holdings include many scrapbooks and photograph albums assembled by students that document the student experience at Oregon State.