Lewis & Clark College library records, 1920-2010

This collection consists of records created by and pertaining to the library at Lewis & Clark College, with some earlier materials from Albany College. Items date from 1920 to 2010, with the bulk of materials from 1960s through 1980s.

Albany Collegiate Institute opened in 1867, and by 1900 the library collection had over 5,000 volumes. In 1928 Albany College hired Alice C. Graham as its first full-time librarian. In 1942 Albany College moved from Albany, Oregon to the Fir Acres estate in Portland, Oregon and was renamed Lewis & Clark College. The Wallace Howe Lee Library was established in the Albany Quadrangle (Smith Hall) a year later. By 1960 the library collection had grown to 50,000 volumes. In 1967 the Aubrey R. Watzek Library opened, designed by architect Paul Thiry, and named for Portland lumber executive and philanthropist Aubrey R. Watzek. The college renovated Watzek Library in 1994-95 to more than twice its previous size, moving the main entrance, adding the south wing, and enclosing the atrium. Architect Thomas Hacker retained important elements of Paul Thiry's original design for the building in the renovation, highlighting the library's strategic location on campus with windows overlooking the gardens and reflecting pool.