About the Collections
The OSU Archives acquires, organizes, and makes available the personal and professional papers that document the internal life and culture of the OSU community. These collections illustrate individual interests, opinions, and activities, revealing a more personal side to the University's academic life than can be established solely through official administrative records. In this way, these papers allow for a richer, more complete historical record and better understanding of the University.
The manuscript collections include personal papers of faculty, administrators, and alumni, as well as the records of OSU organizations and societies. They include correspondence, speeches, manuscripts of publications, diaries, teaching materials, research files, photographs, and scrapbooks.
Scrapbooks may include photographs, clippings, correspondence, and ephemeral items.
They are organized by the name of the individual or organization who created and/or assembled the materials.
Drawing by Martin Van Couvering, 1912. Van Couvering, from Riverside, California, graduated from Oregon Agricultural College (now OSU) in 1916 with a B.S. degree in Mining Engineering. Line drawings were used extensively in yearbooks and other publications of the 1910s. This drawing was published in the 1913 Orange yearbook (P 197).
Contact Us
For more information about how to contact the OSU Archives, please visit our Location, Hours, & Staff Information page.
Manuscript Collections
Searching
There are several ways to search our manuscript collections and various levels of description for those collections. We have information and guides for many collections online; however, not all collections are processed and/or described on this site. You may still need to use the materials housed on-site in the Archives Reference Room or to contact the Archives' staff for resarch assistance.
When in doubt, please ask!
How to Search Online
You can do a full text search of the online guides to the collections by using the search box below.
You can browse a list of all manuscript collections or manuscript collections organized by donor type and subject.
Online finding aids to nearly 200 manuscripts collections may be searched in the Northwest Digital Archives, a database of finding aids for archives and manuscripts collections in Pacific Northwest repositories.
How to Search in the Archives Reference Room
Printed guides to all processed Manuscript Collections are available on the Archives Reference shelf. These binders also contain accession records for accessions that have not been included in the finding aids.
Additional descriptions will be made available as they are formatted for the Web. Printed guides to all of the Manuscript Collections are available in the Archives.
Donating to Our Collections
