Bertha Herse graduated from Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) in 1910 and began working in the OAC Library's circulation department that year. She worked as a Loan Desk Assistant from 1910 to 1920 and was head of the Periodical Department in 1920-1922. In 1922 she took a 2-year leave-of-absence and enrolled in the New York State Library School in Albany, New York, where she earned a BS in library science in 1924. Herse then returned to the OAC Library as a Reference Librarian and Head of the Reference Department, a position she held until her retirement in 1957. When she retired in 1957, her 45 years of service at Oregon State was the longest of anyone on campus.
Herse continued to take courses at Oregon Agricultural during the 1910s and 1920s and earned a BS in Home Economics in 1928.
Bertha Emma Herse was born in West Point, Nebraska, on July 26, 1891; she died in Corvallis, Oregon, on November 5, 1966. Herse graduated from Corvallis High School in 1906.
The Bertha Herse Collection consists of materials assembled by Herse and includes diplomas and certificates, student memorabilia, postcards, and photographs. The collection documents her student years at Oregon Agricultural College, the activities of the Class of 1910, and her early years as a librarian in the Oregon Agricultural College Library. The diplomas and certificates include her high school and college diplomas. Student memorabilia includes her grade reports, registration cards, commencement programs, and a student handbook. A letter to Herse from Ellen Crawford in 1913 describes Crawford's plans to attend library school and her teaching experience in Laidlaw, Oregon.
The bulk of the collection is comprised of postcards received and assembled by Herse. Many of them are greetings cards for Christmas or other holidays and special events. Picture postcards depicting Oregon scenes are included; images of buildings in Corvallis, Eugene, and Portland are part of the collection. Postcards from Nebraska were sent by family and friends in West Point, Albion, and York.
The collection also includes photographs of family and friends, Oregon Agricultural College classmates, and other library staff. Of special note is a 1910 photograph of the library when it was in the Administration Building (now Benton Hall).
Collection is open for research.
The Bertha Herse Collection is arranged in 4 series: I. Diplomas and certificates, 1905-1960; II. Memorabilia and Correspondence, 1905-1930; III. Postcards, 1907-1914; and IV. Photographs, 1909-1950.
Bertha Herse Collection, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.
Most of the materials were donated to the Horner Museum by Herse's estate in 1967 and 1971 or by the Oregon State University Library.
The bulk of the collection was transferred from the Horner Museum Collection to the Archives in 1996. The letter from Ellen Crawford to Herse was donated to the Archives in 2003 by Carol Chin, who found it in a Corvallis house.
The
Series I consists of diplomas and certificates received by Herse and documenting her high school graduation, degrees from Oregon Agricultural College, and library science degree from the University of the State of New York.
Issued by the State of Oregon Department of Public Schools.
From New York State Library School.
Series II primarily documents Herse's student years at Oregon Agricultural College and the years immediately following. Registration cards, lab receipts, grade reports, commencement programs and a student handbook are included. The 1905 commencement program may be from Corvallis High School. Of special note is a letter to Herse from Ellen Crawford describing her plans to attend library school and her work as a teacher in Laidlaw, Oregon.
Perhaps for Corvallis High School.
Crawford describes her plans to attend library school and her work as a teacher in Laidlaw, Oregon.
Series III consists of a postcard album and loose postcards; these include picture postcards and photographic postcards received and assembled by Herse. Some of the postcards include correspondence from family and friends, especially from Bertha's cousin in Nebraska, who encourages Bertha to write her more frequently. Many of the postcards have no writing and were not mailed. About a quarter of the postcards commemorate Christmas, the New Year, birthdays, and other holidays and special events. Another quarter depict Oregon scenes, including Portland, Corvallis, Eugene as well as views of the Oregon coast, the Columbia River Gorge, and other Oregon scenes. Of special note is a card featuring an Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) pennant. The remainder depict scenes of Nebraska, including West Point, Albion, Omaha, Lincoln, and York; Washington; and California. Several of the California postcards have images of San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake. Several of the postcards are in German. The album includes several postcards made from leather. The album is in marginal condition and needs to be handled with caution.
Series IV consists of photographic prints assembled by Herse depicting her family and friends and documenting her student years at Oregon Agricultural College and career as a librarian at Oregon State. Of special note are several images of Oregon Agricultural College Library staff in the 1920s and an interior view of the library in 1910 when it was located in the Administration Building (now Benton Hall).
Portrait photograph on postcards with notes to Bertha.
Portrait photograph on postcard with note to Bertha.
Portrait photograph on postcard with note to Bertha.
Photograph of store interior on postcard from Otto to his brother Ludwig Herse in Corvallis, Oregon. Includes pianos, framed artwork, mirrors, chairs, and baby carriages.
Unidentified; perhaps in Nebraska.
Images of the women and men participants in the Class of 1910 Junior Flunk Day activities.
Library staff at a costume party in the apartment of Lewis and Branch.
Both images are available online:
Back row: Bertha Herse; Evangeline Thurber; Lucy Lewis; Elzie V. Herbert; and Elizabeth Ritchie. Second row: Helen Treat; Louis Klock; Vina Mueller; Irma Nielson; and Josephine Morton. Front row: Lucia Haley; Fay Stahl; Marie Malmgren; Rose Robinson; and Helen Hotson.
Back row: Minnie White; Marie Jackson; Nellie Harvey; Louise Wheeler; Lucy Lewis; Elzie Herbert; Elizabeth Ritchie; and Bertha Herse. Front row: Lucia Haley; Rose Robinson; Evangeline Thurber; Gertrude M. Suess; Gertrude Yunker; Marjorie Wertman; and Josephine Morton.
Library in Benton Hall.
Library staff for 1920-1921 (from left to right): Elzie Herbert; Josephine Abbot; Ethel Goudy; Nell Branch; Bertha Herse; Laurel Ganning; Lucy Lewis; Edith Hague; Lillian George; and Elizabeth Ritchie.
One of the women may be Helen Gilkey.
Interior group portrait; perhaps other students at New York State Library School?