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Portland Rose Festival Association photographs collection, 1904-1995

Overview of the Collection

Title
Portland Rose Festival Association photographs collection
Dates
1904-1995 (inclusive)
Quantity
6.32 cubic feet (5,077 photographic prints, 16 lantern slides, 257 black-and-white negatives, 16 color negatives, 427 positive color transparencies, and printed material in 14 boxes and 2 oversized boxes)
Collection Number
Org. Lot 850
Summary
Ranging in date from 1904 to 1995, the Portland Rose Festival Association Photographs Collection consists of photographic materials and a small amount of printed materials created and collected by Portland, Oregon's Rose Festival Association, a non-profit group that organizes and finances the city's annual Rose Festival. Subjects include the festival's Rose Courts, Rose Queens, parades, Waterfront Fun Center, association staff and directors, Royal Rosarians, and city and state political officials.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English.
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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Historical Note

The Portland Rose Festival Association is a non-profit civic group that organizes the Rose Festival, held each June in Portland, Oregon. With a mission to promote Portland and the state of Oregon culturally, socially, and economically, the association hosts a multitude of events during the festival, including the Grand Floral and Starlight Parades, concerts, coronation of the Rose Queen, foot and boat races, carnival rides, fireworks displays, an arts festival, Fleet Week, and a CHAMP car race at the Portland International Speedway. The festival is attended by over 2 million people and generates approximately $80 million each year for the region's economy.

The idea for an annual festival in the city dates to 1905, when Portland's then-mayor, Harry Lane, proposed a festival of roses after the conclusion of the city's successful Lewis and Clark Exposition. The first Rose Festival and Carnival took place in 1907, and shortly after, a group of 10 businessmen started a non-profit group to help finance and organize the event. In 1932, the non-profit group achieved legal incorporation as the Portland Rose Festival Association. Since then, the association has steadily grown in size; currently, it consists of a 75-member board of directors, a small professional year-round staff, and several thousand seasonal volunteers. The association is funded by corporate sponsorships, event admission, and donations.

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Content Description

Ranging in date from 1904 to 1995, the Portland Rose Festival Association Photographs Collection consists of 5,077 color and black-and-white photographic prints, 257 black-and-white negatives, 16 color negatives, 16 lantern slides, 427 mounted and unmounted positive color transparencies, and a small amount of printed materials created and collected by Portland, Oregon's Rose Festival Association, a non-profit group that organizes and finances the city's annual Rose Festival. A number of well-known Portland-area photographers and photography studios are represented in the collection, including Allen J. De Lay, David Kennerly, Arthur M. Prentiss, Kiser Studios, Photo-art Commercial Studios, Walters Studio, Gladys Gilbert Studio, and Marquam Photo Studio.

The bulk of images document the festival's Rose Courts, Rose Queens, and Grand Floral Parades from the 1920s through the 1990s, but the collection additionally includes images of the Waterfront Fun Center, association staff and directors, the Royal Rosarians, Fleet Week, the children's parade, the Merrykhana Parade, and city and state political officials such as Oregon governor and Portland mayor Neil Goldschmidt and Portland mayor Vera Katz. Coverage of the festival's queens is especially extensive; queens from Carrie Chamberlain, the first Rose Queen, through the queens of the early 1990s are shown at parades, portrait sittings, coronations, and promotional events.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library before any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Portland Rose Festival Association Photographs Collection, Org. Lot 850, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following series:

  • Series A: Rose Festival courts and parades, 1904-1993
  • Series B: Other Rose Festival activities and people, circa 1920-1993
  • Series C: Oversize Rose Festival photographs, circa 1925-1995
  • Series D: Rose Festival lantern slides and transparencies, circa 1920-1990
  • Series E: Background materials, circa 1940-1995

Location of Collection

Negatives and lantern slides are located at remote storage facility. Contact library staff to make an appointment to view.

Acquisition Information

Library accession nos. 16734, 22149, 22434, 22597, 22125, and 20466

Processing Note

Prior to the current processing of the archive, Org. Lots 249 and 762 were vacated to Org. Lot 850 (see collection holding record for more information). During the latest arrangement and description of the archive, the collection's basic arrangement structure by subject and chronology was maintained with minor exceptions; divisions by decade were added to the chronological files, printed materials were separated from photographic materials and placed in their own series, and miscellaneous photographic materials were interfiled in existing series.

Separated Materials

Portland Rose Festival Association Records, Mss. 1528-1, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

Related Materials

Portland Rose Festival Association Records, Mss. 1528-1, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

Rose Festival Collection, Org. Lot 431, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Collection arranged and described by Carl McCreary in 1997 and Amy Bowman and Abigail Bromick in July 2006
2006

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