Collection is open for research.
Gift of Martha Sprague Hurley, August 1976 (Lib. Acc. 13671, Photo Acc. 000D002).
Charles Arthur Sprague (1887-1969) was born in Lawrence, Kansas, and studied to be a teacher. In 1912, he married Blanche Chamberlain (1887-1976), and the couple had two children, Wallace and Martha. By the 1920s, Sprague was working in journalism, and in 1929, he acquired a two-thirds ownership interest in the Oregon Statesman newspaper in Salem, Oregon.
Sprague was elected governor of Oregon in 1938 as Republican. His administration was noted for its progressive forestry policies and for Oregon's civil defense preparation during World War II. In 1942, Sprague lost the Republican nomination for governor to Earl Snell.
Sprague maintained his interest in forest management as a member of the Oregon and California (O & C) Advisory Board of the Bureau of Land Management, which administered land that the federal government had taken over from the 19th-century Oregon and California Railroad land grant, and which distributed a portion of timber sale proceeds to Oregon counties in which the land was located. Sprague also was interested in many civic and educational groups throughout his life, including the Community Chest, the Salvation Army, the YMCA, and Willamette University.
Researcher access to negatives in the collection is limited for preservation purposes. Corresponding prints or contact sheets for each negative are available in the collection for research use.
Charles A. Sprague photographs collection, Org. Lot 3, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Oversize photograph album in the collection was designated Album 499 by the Oregon Historical Society Research Library. An electronic collection guide was created by Megan K. Friedel in 2006. Minor revisions were made in November 2024 to conform to current standard.
Additional collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library that relate to Charles A. Sprague include an oral history interview with Sprague, SR 155, which is available online in OHS Digital Collections at
This collection consists of images relating to Charles A. Sprague (1887-1969), governor of Oregon from 1938-1942, and his family. It contains 260 photographic prints, 1 color contact sheet, 19 safety film negatives, 9 photomechanical prints, 2 letterpress mats, and 1 letterpress plate. Most of the images date from 1911-1972, though many were taken in the 1940s.
The images include studio portraits of Sprague and of his wife, Blanche Chamberlain Sprague, as well as images of their official activities and their private and family lives. The photographs also include images of their children, Wallace Sprague and Martha Sprague Hurley, and the Sprague family homes; prominent political and public figures; Charles A. Sprague's involvement in Oregon's civil defense effort during World War II, including shipbuilding; and his activities with the O & C Advisory Board of the Bureau of Land Management. An oversize presentation album in the collection features the Spragues' participation in the 1941 launching ceremony for the S.S. Star of Oregon.
Manuscript materials that the Oregon Historical Society Research Library received with the photographs in this collection were separated and cataloged as the Charles A. Sprague papers, Mss 2407.
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.
Includes photographs taken with Martha Sprague; Governor Goodwin J. Knight at Golden Gate Exposition in San Francisco, 1939; and at groundbreaking for C. A. Sprague High School and at Nelscott, Oregon, among other subjects.
Includes studio portraits, as well as photographs taken at various events.
Includes photographs taken at various events, including the Pendleton Round-Up and the Portland Rose Festival, as well as with Governor Arthur Langlie of Washington, Colonel Ann M. Schmeer of the Oregon Women's Ambulance Corps, and the O & C Advisory Board to the Bureau of Land Management, among other subjects.
Includes studio portraits, as well as photographs taken at various events, including O & C Advisory Board field trips. Corresponding negatives for 2 of the prints are in Folder 19.
Includes photographs taken at the Portland Rose Festival, Camp Clatsop, and James R. Linn's 80th birthday in Salem, Oregon, among other subjects.
Includes photographs taken on a camping trip, possibly in the Grand Canyon. Corresponding negatives for 4 of the prints are in Folder 19.
Photographs of trip to Mt. Hood with people identified as Mr. and Mrs. Paul Jackson and Mr. and Mrs. Scellars.
Includes studio portrait of the Sprague family, photographs of Wallace Sprague, and the Sprague home in Salem, Oregon.
Includes photographs of Wallace Sprague, Martha Sprague Hurley, and other members of the Sprague family, as well as the Sprague Brothers warehouse in Columbus Junction, Iowa. Corresponding negatives for 6 of the prints are in Folder 19.
Includes photographs of Franklin D. Roosevelt at Oregon Shipbuilding Corp. yard in Portland, Oregon, 1942; Wendell Wilkie, 1940; and Tom McCall.
Corresponding negative for 1 print is in Folder 19.
Includes views of Elk Lake, Seaside, and the Oregon Statesmanbuilding in Salem, Oregon, among other unidentified places. Corresponding negative for 1 print is in Folder 19.
Includes views of Thetford Hill, Vermont, as well as a a contact sheet of eight images taken in an unidentified location in the Southwest. Corresponding negatives for the images on the contact sheet are in Folder 19.
Includes photographs of waterfowl taken by William L. Finley and others.
Includes photograph of Oregon Newspaper Roll of Honor plaque.
Includes postcards, lithographs, and etchings.
Corresponding negatives for black and white prints in Folder 4, Folder 6, Folder 9, Folder 11, and Folder 12, and for the color contact sheet in Folder 13.