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Oregon Roadside Council records, 1960-2002

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Oregon Roadside Council
Title
Oregon Roadside Council records
Dates
1960-2002 (inclusive)
1975-1995 (bulk)
Quantity
2 cubic ft., (4 document cases)
39 photographic prints  :  b&w and color
Collection Number
Coll 22
Summary
Records of a private organization founded in 1932 and dedicated to the protection of Oregon's natural scenery through community efforts and the influencing of legislation. The records were largely created by one of the organization's active members and officers, Alexander Bolton Pierce, Jr. (1924-2003), a Portland architect. Included are board of director's minutes, position papers, correspondence, as well as some of Pierce's personal papers.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
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 Oregon Roadside Council (ORC) is “… an organization dedicated to the preservation of Natural Scenic Beauty along Oregon’s highways and beautification where such is needed.” [Oregon Roadside Council brochure, 1973] The Council was founded in October, 1932, with Mrs. Jessie M. Honeyman as president.

The goals and objectives of the ORC are: to maintain a central organization for individual and group effort toward the preservation and conservation of Oregon’s great asset, her scenic beauty; and to affect such legislation as will permanently protect the natural scene along the highways of Oregon and to cooperate with other agencies that have similar objectives.

Some of the Council’s achievements include the preservation of roadside forests and scenic areas (for example, the Van Duzer and Larch Mountain forest corridors); the creation of more State and County parks; helping to create the Columbia Gorge Commission; passage of the Billboard Control Act of 1955 which regulated to a degree the spacing and size of signs; aiding in the passage of state bills to regulate billboards according to the National Standards on sections of the Federal Interstate System; creating the Oregon Scenic Area Board which establishes scenic areas; supporting billboard removal under the Federal Highway Beautification Act; and advocacy for stricter billboard and outdoor signage ordinances for the City of Portland and Multnomah County.

The ORC also cooperated with the Oregon Federation of Garden Clubs in the building and the location of more than 5,000 bird houses on public lands; planted wildflower seed in the Columbia River Gorge; and provided grants to garden clubs for roadside improvements. The Oregon Roadside Council has continuously taken a lead in being vigilant in challenging illegal advertising along the public right-of-way and acts as an “alert” switchboard for roadside desecration.

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Content Description

The present collection of records of the Oregon Roadside Council came principally from the files of one of its most active members, Alexander Bolton Pierce, Jr., a Portland area architect. Pierce (March 22, 1924 - July 14, 2003) held several offices on the Council , including that of President and Secretary. It appears that Pierce was the unofficial community “watchdog” when it came to issues of outdoor advertising, signage, and other forms of “visual blight” in Oregon, particularly in the Portland metropolitan area.

The collection contains a considerable amount of the Council’s incoming and outgoing correspondence, 1974-2002, plus correspondence from Pierce as an individual, usually relating to topics consistent with the activities and positions of the ORC. An effort was made, in the processing of the collection, to keep Pierce’s non-organization correspondence separate. However, a researcher must read both to get the full sense of the council’s activities and the dedication of its key members.

The minutes of the ORC’s Board of Director’s, although incomplete, from 1980 to 1998, offer a good look at the organization’s continuing vigilance and activities concerning outdoor signage and other key issues of interest to the council. Of particular interest are the position papers and reports generated by the ORC regarding billboards and outdoor signage in Portland and Multnomah County (particularly in the 1970s and 1980s), as well as copies of various drafts of sign ordinances, regional, state and federal legislation, copies of letters and articles regarding outdoor signage, and the work and position papers of Alex Pierce.

The collection, at times, is spotty, with some gaps in the board minutes, correspondence, and newsletters of the council. The records are most complete in the documentation of the Multnomah County outdoor signage ordinance debate in the mid-1970s and again in 1981-1983, and the City of Portland’s sign code revisions in the early 1980s. Pierce’s papers, especially his correspondence and position papers of the 1990s, are also significant to any research on the recent history of outdoor signage in the Portland metropolitan area.

Series 6 contains 39 photographic prints of billboards and murals in the Portland area in color and black-and-white. Some black-and-white prints are identified as to specific locations of illegal billboards and most other locations could be identified by landmarks.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

Oregon Roadside Council Records, Coll 22, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is organized into the following 12 series:

  • Series 1: General Correspondence, 1974-2002
  • Series 2: Robert Ellis Hale, Jr., Materials, 1982-1992
  • Series 3: Lists, 1981-200; undated
  • Series 4: Meeting Files, 1981-1998
  • Series 5: Newsletters, 1979-2003
  • Series 6: Photographs, circa 1980-circa 1990
  • Series 7: Position papers, 1980-1986, undated
  • Series 8: Reports, 1979, 2001
  • Series 9: Billboards and outdoor sign files, 1960-2001
  • Series 10: Lloyd Keefe files, 1981-1986
  • Series 11: Alexander Pierce files, 1981-2002
  • Series 12: General files, circa 1981-1988

Acquisition Information

Gift of Betty and Keith Claycomb, 2004 May 20, Library Accession 25440.

Related Materials

Additional records of the Oregon Roadside Council can be found in Mss 2254 and 2254-1; Mss 1108, Oregon Council for the Protection of Roadside Beauty; and the David Charlton papers, Mss 1900; all in the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Manuscript Collection.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Billboards--Law and legislation--Oregon
  • Environmentalism--Oregon
  • Environmentalists--Oregon
  • Roadside improvement--Oregon

Personal Names

  • Ellis, Robert H.

Corporate Names

  • Oregon Roadside Council

Geographical Names

  • Multnomah County (Or.)--Environmental conditions
  • Oregon--Environmental conditions

Form or Genre Terms

  • Correspondence
  • Minutes
  • Photographic prints

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Pierce, Alexander Bolton--Archives (creator)

Finding aid prepared by Judith and Glenn Mason
2004

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