Helen Marie Lepper, from Portland, Oregon, enrolled at Oregon State College in the fall of 1927 and studied music. Lepper was active in the Oregon State chapter of Euterpe, the honorary society for women in music. She withdrew in April 1930 and did not complete a degree at Oregon State. During her sophomore year, she met fellow student Clarence Lovin. They were married in 1931. Helen Marie Lepper was born in San Francisco on March 6, 1909; she attended St. Mary's Academy in Portland, where she graduated in 1927. Helen Lepper Lovin died in Portland, Oregon on August 31, 2000.
The Helen Lepper Diary is a photocopy of a 5-year diary created by Lepper during her student years at Oregon State College. Daily entries begin in January 1928 and continue through June 1931. Lepper devotes much of the diary to describing her daily activities as a student, including dates with her future husband, Clarence Lovin; classwork; her musical performances and practices; social outings with other students; attendance at campus events; interactions with Music Department instructors; and living with her aunt and uncle in Corvallis. Lillian Petri, a piano instructor, and Helen Plinkiewisch, a fellow music student, are both mentioned in the diary. The end of the diary contains a "character sketch of me"; a list of the names cited in the daily entries; "important" events in 1928-1931; and a list of friends to whom Lepper sent Christmas cards.
The diary is a 5-year diary with a separate page labeled for each day of the year (such as January 1) and spaces for entries on that page for five years.
Collection is open for research.
Helen Lepper Diary (MSS Lepper), Oregon State University Special Collections & Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
This photocopy was donated to the Special Collections & Archives Research Center in 2012 by James Marsh, the son of Helen Lepper Lovin.
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