University of Portland Museum

Carolyn

Families Return

By

3 poster boards with photographs, letter jacket, university shirt, football, football helmet
UP Athletic and Spirit Memorabilia, University Museum display, February 19, 2022 (click on image to enlarge)

We use the words Family and Community easily and often as campus descriptors: our mission-goals and our values point directly to the people of UP belonging-together.  The annual Parents & Family Weekends have a long history going back to Campus Day picnics in the 1930s, with the current manifestation tracing back to 1973, or 1990, or the 2019-2020 academic year when we doubled the opportunity, inviting Families to campus for November and February weekends.

Nursing uniform, basketball jersey and engineers sweatshirt on display
University Museum display, February 19, 2022 (click on image to enlarge)

But putting the question of origins aside: after a long, unplanned hiatus lasting 734 days, Family Weekend returned to the Bluff over the weekend of 18-20 February 2022. Hosted by the office of Alumni and Parent Relations First-Year & Sophomore Family Weekend was the first big event for UP families since the start of the pandemic.

UP Mascot heads and spirit memorabilia on display
Wally Pilot Mascot Heads, University Museum Display, February 19, 2022 (click on image to enlarge)

Pilot families participated in campus tours, academic showcases and residence hall open houses, attended concerts (jazz, choir, orchestra), Comedy Sportz and trivia nights, watched baseball and basketball, a stage-drama, and more. Smiles from all were evident, even from behind face masks.

two people viewing memorabilia display
Family members view University Museum display, February 19, 2022 (click on image to enlarge)

The University Museum was invited and presented a colorful Pilot-spirited and academic memorabilia and photographs display in the Bauccio Commons on Saturday and Sunday for the Academic Presentations and Continental Breakfast.

Over 875 in attendance contributing to campus life throughout the weekend.

Parents Weekend program cover
University of Portland Parents & Families Weekend February 17-18.
Junior and Senior Family Weekend First-Year and Sophomore Family Weekend

Parents Weekend Program Cover, 1973; Parents & Family Weekend, 1990; Junior & Senior, First-year & Sophomore Family Weekends, 2019-2020

Related post:
https://sites.up.edu/museum/taste-of-up-for-families/

Benchmarks: Spanish flu 1918

By

The 1918 Spanish Influenza and Columbia University: what happened back then? Our long months of Covid-19 protocols and precautions has made the pandemic a century ago into a FAQ (frequently asked question) today. This arises in the context – at different points in recent semesters – of daily operations at the University of Portland experiencing MAJOR disruptions due to the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic: from remote teaching to cancelled events.  And so, as we move step-by-step towards new patterns of 21st century interaction, here is some data about how the Spanish Flu was felt in the University community back in 1918. The short answer turns out to be boring, lacking excitement, and, is maybe, reassuring? The very few mentions found in our sources propose the totally undramatic conclusion that the Spanish Flu had little to no impact on classes or campus life.

Now, the longer answer.  First, from 1901-1935 we operated under a different name and different circumstances.  During the years of the Spanish flu pandemic enrollment was low (and those staying for degrees even fewer), with a mix of Boarders and commuters (Day-Dodgers). Today, a century later, enrollment is 3990+, anticipating, many, many earned diplomas in May. The 1920s comparative numbers follow:

  • 1916-17 — — — 154 (26 diplomas)
  • 1917-18 — — — 193 (17 diplomas)
  • 1918-19 — — — 206 (15 diplomas)
  • 1919-20 — — — 260 (18 diplomas)

The aim was learning. The degree-program was secondary. Students pursued a course of studies that included high school and college course work, but the degrees earned during those years were limited to the high school division (until 1924).  College work and credit could be transferred, but often served simply as professional preparation; with students leaving campus and entering the work-force upon completing the course of commercial studies on campus.

William Allen Casey Obituary, Columbiad Oct 1918, XVII.1, p. 20 (click to enlarge)

Scouring the pages of The Columbiad, a monthly student publication, there is only one recorded death in the University family attributed to the Spanish Influenza; Wm. Allen Casey (died, October 17, 1918).  He received a Science Diploma, graduating in 1917; of the twenty-six graduates, five missed the ceremony having already entered military service.  Casey was the valedictorian and distinguished himself in debate while at school.  He enlisted the following year and contracted the Spanish flu when stationed at the military training camp in Fort Monroe, Virginia.  His name is on the Broken Wall Memorial commemorated there as one of three University World War I deaths.
An alumnus, but his death from the Spanish flu occurred a year later and across the continent.

As to disruptions of classes or activities.  The 1918 fall football season was delayed and shortened because our league opponents cancelled school for a period of six weeks. It does not appear that classes were interrupted on the Bluff.

23 members of the 1917 class; Wm. Allen Casey in the second column, left
Columbiad XV.8, p. 220 (click to enlarge)

Then there is this poem, found in the Columbiad (January 1919, p. 45)

A Boarder’s Lament

The ‘flu’ may come and ‘flu’ may go.
But we go on forever.
The dance may stop and the picture slow,
We struggle on forever.
Day Dodgers loaf and make big dough,
We bone and bone forever
–Charles Lake, Diploma in English, 1920

p.s. Day-Dodgers refers to commuter students, used as a Boarder’s derisive / affectionate term of on-going envy and rivalry.  Here the word ‘flu’ cannot be taken as a secure connection between the poem and the 1918 global epidemic.  The poet may simply have found the word more amenable to versification than, say, mononucleosis or measles.

In an earlier post we showed that, from 1907-1934, the University advertised the campus as a wholesome and healthy garden spot outside Portland’s urban sprawl.
https://sites.up.edu/museum/spires-of-learning-reach-up-to-the-sky/

Citations:
The Columbiad, vol. XV.8 (June 1917), vol. XVII.1 (October 1918), vol. XVII.2 (January 1919).

 

Erosion and Re-shaping: Using Primary Sources in Teaching

By

Dr. Robert Butler, Emeritus Professor in Environmental Sciences, arrived on the Bluff in 2004, and immediately saw that the physical Bluff itself—our green campus overhanging the Willamette River—could be an object-lesson in his science classes. 

But, how to create a learning-module about our patch of land?  In his first days on the Bluff, Dr. Butler visited the Archives and came away with a “treasure chest that I used in my teaching of Earth Science courses from 2004 through 2016!” Pulling some 25 or more historical photos of the campus that could be used as classroom and lecture exhibits. “To the eyes of a geologist, these photos demonstrate landscape changes, some natural but most from alterations by humans.”  

Dr. Butler selected these three photos to illustrate.

1914 Aerial Landslide below Waldschmidt Hall and Christie Hall

1) The 1914 aerial photo shows landslides/erosion on the edge of the Bluff east of Waldschmidt.  This land subsidence / rapid erosion was almost certainly precipitated by an oversteepening of the slope by construction of the road leading down to the rail line at the base of the slope.  

Swan Island in 1922 (top) and 1935 (bottom)

2) The comparison of Swan Island between 1922 and 1935 is a case study in major landscape modification by humans.  Prior to dredging, the main channel of the Willamette River passed along the north bank of what is now Swan Island.  On the south side of Swan Island and down-stream toward the city center, the river was impassible to large vessels.  When the main channel was opened by dredging, the dredge spoils created a landfill all-but closing the Swan Island channel. 

1969 Landfill below Mehling Hall

3) The 1969 aerial photo shows surface landfill into the gulch on the slope of the bluff below Mehling Hall. This landfill was an attempt to stop that gulch from advancing northwards and further eroding the upper campus. The current Physical Plant building rests on the landfill area. 

Dr. Butler recently sent us word about how these primary-source images “mined out of the Archives became critical resources in my teaching of Earth Science on the Bluff.  Students were quite engaged by these views of the campus over the past century.” 

Readers, do you have an Archives or Museum success story?  We invite you to share your own experiences using Archives and Museum resources.   Drop us a note at archives@up.edu and museum@up.edu about your discoveries in the Archives and Museum.

For additional historical views of the campus property see the Clark Library Digital Collection through this link, which provides more information about the 1964 aerial view accompanying this post on our home page.

Find it in the Archives!

By

Color collage representing education and social life at University of Portland
Admissions poster, part of the Archives collection

Hidden within Shipstad Hall, along the underground east corridor, is the home of the University of Portland Archives, adjacent to the Heritage Room which houses the University Museum. The contents of the Archives and Museum are the story of the University — its history, people, and events. On shelves– yearbooks, graduate theses, catalogs & bulletins, student guides & handbooks, student publications such as issues of the Log, The Beacon, Writers Magazine (yearbook, newspaper, creative writing annual). In file drawers– photographs of people, buildings, events, maps and blueprints; arranged by subject topics. On office computers– databases of archival holdings; recorded in files & finding-lists; ready reference information for questions both obscure and for frequently asked questions.

Three University of Portland brochures
Fast-Facts brochures, part of the Archives collection

In recent years, some areas of the Archives collections are now within reach for seekers and users from anywhere in the world thanks to the efforts of digitization staff at the Clark Library combined with metadata and historical information from the archives and museum. The Log, The Beacon, (and the earlier The Columbiad) can be searched via full-text through the Digital Collections hub. Admirers of the visual arts can view the Art on Campus collection online. UP history buffs will enjoy browsing through the University History section. Those interested in campus landscape and its buildings will appreciate these collections: Campus Aerial Views and Maps and University Buildings.

Four round tokens
ROTC participation tokens, part of the Archives collection

Archives and Museum staff use in-house and online archives and museum resources and memorabilia to research and write the posts which appear on these pages. Our most interesting or frequently asked questions serve as the basis for some post topics.

What would you like to know about UP?

Send us your questions and we’ll find the answers in the Archives.

Yesterday’s New Faculty, 2021

By

Each year the campus community is ever renewed with new members, about whom established faculty and staff forever sigh: so young.  Even the senior class envies the fresh-faces of the First-Years. The Faculty and Staff population too is ever renewing. Our previous entry on this topic was five years ago so we thought it was time to take a timely re-look at our 25 year and 20 year classes of new faculty and staff from 1996 and 2001.

Beginners from 20 years ago (2001) include —  Osiel Bonfim, physics; Kevin Cantrell, chemistry; Brian Dezzani, director of recreational services; Diane Sotak, library. Our 25 year class of new faculty and staff from 1996 includes — Mark Kennedy, engineering; Steven Vegdahl, computer science/engineering; Mary Scroggins, director of printing and mailing services.  Joining the 25 year club since our previous post are: Carolyn Connolly, museum; Sr. Carol Dempsey, theology; Terence Favero, biology; Jeffrey Gauthier, philosophy; Steven Kolmes, environmental studies; Lawrence Larsen, theater; Bohn Lattin, communication studies; Norah Martin, philosophy and environmental studies; Martin Monto, sociology; John Orr, English. Each contribute to and enrich our common enterprise.  People whose continuing influence benefits UP student life and learning today. 

Click on image for slideshow

  • Dr. Osiel Bonfim, 2001
  • Dr. Kevin Cantrell, 2001
  • Sr. Carol Dempsey, 1994
  • Dr. Terence Favero, 1997
  • Dr. Jeffrey Gauthier, ca1992
  • Dr. Mark Kennedy, 1997
  • Dr. Steven Kolmes, 1995
  • Dr. Lawrence Larsen, 2002
  • Dr. Bohn Lattin, 2002
  • Dr. Norah Martin, 1994
  • Dr. Martin Monto, 1992
  • Dr. John Orr, 1993
  • Diane Sotak, 2001
  • Dr. Steven Vegdahl, 1997

Silly Hats, Masks, a palimpsest

By

Four University of Portland Face Masks. Class of 2021, Shipstad Hall, UP, Portland
University of Portland Face Masks, 2021

In the new circumstances, as vaccinations and other mitigations make Covid-19 a lesser anxiety, a new generation of students and staff at UP may find donning face masks as colorful, various, and incongruous a fashion choice as the Freshmen Beanies once sported by an earlier generation of our citizenry.

two students wearing freshmen beanie caps
Two freshmen students wearing beanie caps, 1963

Readers paging or scrolling through the Log yearbooks from the 1950’s and 60’s will likely spot individuals or groups of students wearing UP-colored beanie caps. The captions and descriptions beneath the photos identify these capped students as freshmen.

black and white photo of freshman students buying beanie caps
Students buying beanie caps, 1960

This not-entirely-voluntary student life tradition begun around 1949 (running until circa 1970), REQUIRED incoming freshman students to purchase and wear a beanie cap during their first weeks on campus. Throughout this period freshman were to be seen with beanies on their heads for classes and events. And being caught without a beanie would result in the offender paying a minor fine, either a small cash amount or performing public-service (i.e. scrubbing the exterior of Early Hall).

Cover page of Meet Mr. SPU autograph book
Meet Mr. SPU Autograph Book, 1967

Beanie caps went through design and style changes over the years. Some simple purple and white beanies (1949-1954), other years, solid purple caps with or without a white pom and Portland or Pilots branded across the front (1955-1960). The last generation (1962-1969) beanies returned to alternating panels bearing the University colors, with or without the designation “FROSH” across the front.

Thomas Rothschild, ’71, recalls “Freshmen had to wear the beanie for at least one month. During that month freshman were required to get fifty upper classmen signatures in a small notebook entitled Meet Mr. SPU The Spirit of University of Portland” and signatures of two student body officers. The length of time for wearing a beanie could be shortened if freshmen emerged as victors in the annual freshman-sophomore tug-of-war. Some 50+ years later, beanie caps are still spotted at University alumni reunions.

Click on image for slideshow

white beanie cap with purple band
Freshman Beanie Cap, ca1950s
purple and white wool beanie cap
Freshman Beanie, ca1950s
purple beanie cap with white pom
Freshman Beanie, 1958
purple and white panel beanie cap
Freshman Beanie, 1967
Freshmen students wearing beanie caps
Freshmen wearing beanie caps, 1963
four girls sitting on the grass, one is wearing a beanie cap
Students sitting on the grass, 1953
rectangle sign with picture of face mask
One of the “Mask Required” signs on the UP campus, August 2020
sign posted at entrance to campus with limited access and mask requirement information
Pilots Prevent sign posted at main entrance to campus, August 2020

View some of our vintage beanie caps on display in Buckley Center in the first floor display case across from the Studies Abroad office.

Additional beanie photos from the LOG
https://digital.up.edu/collections/list/collections/3?search=beanie&applyState=true

In Memory: Richard Hines, June 22, 1946 – May 11, 2021

By

University Librarian Emeritus and former Dean of Information Resources, Richard (Rich) Hines passed away on May 11, 2021 in St. Augustine, Florida, at the age of 74.

Rich Hines
Rich Hines, 1997

Dean Rich Hines, M.S. arrived at UP in 1997 as interim director of the Clark Library and served as permanent director from 1998-2006. During those years he provided oversight for the library and Instructional Media Center. In fact, from 2002-2006, Hines assumed dual roles as Library Director and Dean of Information Resources. And was called back from retirement to continue as Chief Information Officer for five months in 2007-08.

During his years as Library Director, the main book collection was reorganized by subject with some sections reclassified by call number to the Library of Congress classification system. The library organization was restructured to meet new needs with the redesign of an access services department combining circulation, periodicals services, interlibrary loan, reference, and outreach services and user education. Additional patron-use computer workstations were increased throughout the library, and access to electronic databases and library consortium resources improved for on- and off-campus use. Dean Hines is also credited for laying the groundwork for the successful library instruction program in place today.

Rich Hines
Rich Hines, September 2001

As Dean of Information Resources, Hines was responsible for extending the reach of technology services across campus. His team introduced the UP community to the first version of the campus portal, Campus Pipeline (the precursor to today’s PilotsUP), and brought computer-lines and modem-lines to each residence hall (bringing email to the reach of every corner of campus– in the long-ago time when computers and phones need wall-connections!). Leading Information Resources, Dean Hines reorganized Computer and Telecommunication Services from audio-visual equipment services into a technical support unit of experts for infrastructure, information systems, and web services bringing on high-quality integrated technology-based services to faculty, staff, and students.

As service was the hallmark of Dean Hines’ work ethic, it seems fitting to share these words from him in an email to the library staff as he was closing up his office to begin retirement in 2006: “As I sit here doing my final cleanup before Drew [Harrington] arrives, I want to take this chance to say thanks to each and every one of you. Without a doubt, the library stands out as THE service unit on campus. There is only one reason why this is so, and that’s YOU! Your efforts have made this a far better place than it was when I arrived in 1997. Your commitment to service is known throughout campus, so much so that the Northwest Commission [on Colleges and Universities] doing the University’s 10 year review [in 2001] specifically commended us on our service ethic.”

Rich Hines and members of the Clark Library Staff in 1999
Rich Hines and members of the Library Staff, 1999

Rich Hines with Library Staff and Instructional Media Staff in 1998 https://digital.up.edu/Documents/Detail/1998-the-log/1132?item=11717

Rich Hines and Library Staff in 2001
https://digital.up.edu/Documents/Detail/2001-the-log/1144?item=14396

2021 Retiring Faculty

By

At the end of the 2020-21 academic year, eight members of the University of Portland faculty will retire after many years of service to this institution and making a difference in the lives of untold numbers of students.  The University gives thanks to our retiring faculty for their dedication and commitment to teaching and learning and wishes them all the best.

Dr. Ellyn Arwood, Professor of Education, at UP since 1986
Dr. Ronda Bard, Lecturer, Chemistry, at UP since 2006
Dr. Elena Bernard, Associate Professor of Business, at UP since 2007
Dr. Barbara Braband, Associate Professor of Nursing, at UP since 2010
Dr. Todd Easton, Associate Professor of Business, at UP since 1981
Dr. Gary Malecha, Professor of Political Science and Global Affairs, at UP since 1992
Dr. Peter Osterberg, Associate Professor of Engineering, at UP since 1996
Dr. Dann Pierce, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, at UP since 1987

[Click on image to begin slide show]

(Photos from the University Archives, Clark Library Digital Collections, Marketing and Communications, School of Education, The Beacon)

Baseball-Fever every Spring

By

A game of catch, a ball & bat, a chalk diamond.  Baseball has proved a perennial pastime for UP students from the earliest boarders ‘til today.  The Shipstad quad– since before we built Shipstad– was the site for campus baseball-field(s) from the 1920s forward.  And still today, the green space invites students onto the lawn to toss a baseball back and forth playing catch, combining at times into a half-organized pick-up game setting up one tangle of students to guard the bases and fields in competition against a batter who tries mightily to hit-in a run for the team.

right-handed leather baseball glove
Reach Company right-handed fielders glove, ca1908

Displayed alongside other items of athletic memorabilia in the University Museum is a vintage, well-worn right-handed leather baseball glove used by Columbia University student athlete, William Grussi, class of 1908.

The use of baseball gloves dates back to the 1860s with some fielders wanting to have protection for their hands. At first it was just a work glove, or a modified glove without finger tips. By the 1890s leather padded gloves and mitts were standard issue for regular play.

right-handed leather baseball glove
Reach Company baseball glove with full web, ca1908

The circa 1908 glove used by Grussi features a full, solid web between thumb and forefinger to create a pocket for catching a baseball. Webbing was a new feature for baseball gloves between 1900-1910 and is the precursor to the see-through web style that is still in use today.

Grussi’s glove was made by the A. J. Reach Company, a U.S. manufacturer of sporting goods in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Founded in 1874 by former major league baseball player, Alfred James Reach, the Reach company made its name manufacturing its own baseballs and branching out to other athletic equipment including baseball bats, mitts and gloves. Reach later sold his business to one of his competitors, A.G. Spalding Bros., which manufactured the Reach gloves under the original name before transitioning to the Spalding brand.

Baseball Glove in Clark Library Digital collections:
https://digital.up.edu/Documents/Detail/baseball-glove-circa-1908/106118

References:
A.J. Reach Company:
http://www.antiquefootball.com/a_j_reach.htm

Baseball glove dating guide:
http://keymancollectibles.com/glovesmitts/fullwebgloves.htm

A Canopy of Blossoms

By

Academic Quad, 2012, Marketing and Communications photo

Springtime on the Bluff is a colorful season. Sunshine. Students repurposing freshly cut lawns for study. Flowering trees blossoming across campus!

For about three or four weeks each spring, a vibrant canopy display of flowering cherry trees decorates the campus – bursting forth from Waldschmidt to Tyson, Orrico to Shipstad Halls.

Haggerty Hall, April 5, 2021, University Museum photo

A visitor might think these cherry trees formed UP’s landscape since its beginnings (we welcome many, many admissions visitors in the spring), each visitor greeted at the University’s entrance with a splash of color and seeing the same pink blossoms forming a natural boundary for the Quad. The first picture we’ve found is given as a detail of campus life in the 1960 Log. There is a reference in Dr. James Covert’s, A Point of Pride: The University of Portland Story, to the flowering trees adorning the new main drive at the time of Shipstad Hall’s construction (1967). The back cover of the Spring 1996 Portland Magazine claims 1965 for the planting of these trees.

Between Mago Hunt Center and Franz Hall, 2020, Marketing and Communications photo

The flowering trees at the statuary group by the performing arts building likely arrived around 1973 or 1974 with the completion of Mago Hunt Center. The Campus Gardens: A Self-Guided Tour of the University of Portland Collections lists Kwanzan cherry trees at just Mago Hunt Center and the main entrance by Shipstad Hall in 1989.

But then in 1995 we commit to cherry trees in a big way, with an August 31 Beacon article about the landscaping plan for the Academic Quad announcing rows of cherry trees along the sidewalks framing the lawn from Franz Hall to the Chapel, the Commons to the Library.

View of the Quad from Franz Hall, date unknown, Marketing and Communications photo

These flowering trees, carefully maintained by dedicated grounds crew, appear to the delight of viewers after winter months, and most especially this year, in the midst of a pandemic.