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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.

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.

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.

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.

The Library’s Digital Services, Archives, and Museum work together helping to preserve and display the history and traditions of life on the Bluff, to celebrate the University from 1901 and onward into the future. 

From yearbooks and student newspapers to letter-sweaters, the impressive results of this collaboration include our online The Log yearbook, The Beacon and The Columbiad student newspapers, A Point of Pride: The University of Portland Story, School Songs (audio!), and the Digital Museum. These resources and more are right at your fingertips to explore from anywhere in the world through your own devices.

We invite you to be part of our ongoing efforts to bring the University’s history to you. Please support the Clark Library by making a PilotsGive gift now or on April 7-8, 2021, from noon to noon. The direct link is: https://giving.up.edu/pglibrary

Those who give $100 or more will receive a beautiful vintage Clark Library bookplate, placed in a newly purchased book for our collection to commemorate the donation.

This Spirit of Portland U pennant (circa 1948 or 1949) is one item in the Student Life collection of the University Museum. Dr. Manuel Macias was the donor, a 1951 alumnus, long-time professor of Spanish (1958-1995), and faithful student scholarship donor — a true Pilot.

The colorful pennant design logo prominently features then-new University mascot, Spirit of Portland U (SPU) – a river pilot with rain gear and spyglass – created in 1948 by Nolan Drurey, class of 1949, winner of a Beacon-sponsored mascot design contest. One of the early items for sale in the University Bookstore with the new mascot design.

SPU’s image spread to spirit and campus swag and publications — 1948 Homecoming (napkins and coasters), student book covers, Pilot Student Guides, student body ID cards, t-shirts and more, as pictured in this photo from the University Bookstore.

The SPU rally-squad mascot (a student inside animating the heavy costume) evolved through the years and embraced a name change to become Wally Pilot in the 1970s. Our earlier post about Wally Pilot tells the backstory.

Additional References:
Spirit of Portland U (SPU): https://up.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16472coll10/id/414/rec/27

Wally Pilot:
https://sites.up.edu/museum/?s=wally+pilot

Deep in the museum basement storage room in Shipstad Hall is a very large World War II-era Autoclave Sterilizer manufactured by the American Sterilizer Company. The hand-made sign reads: Sterilizer Used at the Swan Island Shipyards in World War Two

The curious-minded might wonder the part a sanitizer might play in industrial shipbuilding, during World War II, or even before, or after. How does it fit?

Swan Island names the area below the Bluff. During World War II the Portland airport and the Henry J. Kaiser shipyard were both located on the island. The shipyard operated under the authority of the U.S. Maritime Commission’s Emergency Shipbuilding program. They built war-ships there for the Navy; big ships, armored ships, ships for offense and attack. Rather urgently. The work and workers did not stop but had three-shifts for 24-hour production.

A sterilizer autoclave is not used for industrial battleship production (examination gives no evidence of that sort of wear and tear). However, Kaiser furnished a Child Service Center to provide 24-hour child care while parents (women filled the gaps in the labor shortage) worked at the shipyard. Children using the center were inspected upon arrival and sent immediately to the infirmary for additional care if any signs of illness appeared. An autoclave does sanitize medical instruments. These Child Service Centers operated from November 1943-September 1945.

When the war ended, shipyards declined, and the Child Service Center shuttered its doors; much of their production material was repurposed as well. The University acquired a number of War Surplus items for use in the classrooms, and even as classrooms. The biology department and science programs received quantities of supplies and equipment, the sterilizer a prime specimen, a first-rate industrial-grade laboratory upgrade for biology and science instruction.

References:
“Child Care for Swan Island Shipyard Workers.” Oregon History Project, https://oregonhistoryproject.org/child-care-for-swan-island-shipyard-workers/. Accessed 3 June 2020.

Curd, Mary Bryan. “Child Service Centers, Swan Island Shipyards.” Oregon History Project, 19 Nov. 2019, https://oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/child-service-centers-swan-island-shipyards/

Willingham, William F. “Swan Island.” The Oregon Encyclopedia, 1 June 2018, https://oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/swan_island/#.XtaA9zpKjI

Clark Library Digital Collections

Once upon a time in a quiet corner of the campus, UP had a Starr Observatory.  That is, an actual astronomical observatory with a twenty-inch computer-operated telescope for looking at stars in the night sky.  The all-too-appropriate name was bestowed in 1985, honoring Professor Merle Starr at his retirement after years of teaching astronomy in the observatory shed.

The Observatory was the 1952 Class Gift; and in actual fact, members of the graduating class worked together with faculty to build it after Br. Godfrey Vassallo, C.S.C., secured the gift of the 20-inch instrument for campus (see, Dr. James Covert, A Point of Pride.) The 1952 installation of the telescope is documented as a campus-highlight page-filler in the 1959 Log.

Through its first twenty-five years stories labelling the Observatory as a hidden-treasure-on-campus featured as an almost annual feature in the pages of The Beacon (14 stories and notices).  The building came down in 2009, making room for the addition of the Quiet-Side of the expanded Bauccio Commons.  The real doom of the observatory, however, was urban growth and the increased ambient light which washes out the night sky.

The building was not indicated on campus maps until 1958 (number 15).  The lens and refractor (which was created as a prototype for the 200-inch Mt. Palomar Observatory in California) is currently in the care of the Environment Studies faculty.

The tonsillectomy (tonsil-removal surgery) has been a rite of passage for many children (especially children from classic family television from the 60s and 70s). After-care always promising ice-cream treats!

In real life, discharge instructions suggest applying cold-therapy externally in order to reduce swelling and inflammation. Today’s therapies might favor using a bag of frozen vegetables or a sealed bag of ice. Before ziploc, the Davol Company (maker of rubber medical supplies) produced this ugly, but functional item. A brown, rubber circular bag for cold water or ice and wrapped around the neck to secure in place. Estimates place its manufacture in the 1940s or 50s.

University Museum, Nursing Collection, M2009.9.4

From its inception in 1951, the Associated Women’s Students sponsored awareness events. One such popular event was a Women’s Week to mark women’s accomplishments and activities. They capped off the week with a Sadie Hawkins-type dance — The TWIRP Dance (which was also a fundraiser). The woman partner arranged the date and purchased the dance ticket = TWIRP (see our header); at the end of the evening the attendees voted (by bid) to select a King of the event.

The dances begin in 1954 and were held at various venues, both on-campus and downtown. 1965 appears to be the last in the series.

The dashing king of the Dance is First-Year Student Benny Dean (right).  Mr. Benjamin Dean, BA ’60 is the brother of Kay Frances Dean,  BA ’64.  Ms. Kay Dean Toran (PhD., Honorary, 2012) has served on the University’s Board of Regents since 2006, and helps support both the Class of 1964 Endowed Scholarship and the Class of 1964 Leadership in Ethics or Diversity Endowed Scholarship. Part of the UP family. Defining a legacy of commitment.

The yearbook page from 1960– sixty years ago– prompted this fact-check: in that year women constituted 35% of the undergraduate population at UP. The education school had not yet been separated, but we do find certain stereotypes fulfilled: women dominated the nursing enrollment (124-0), and they were over-matched in Engineering (1-188). Today the undergraduate ratio of women is approaching 60%. The picture constantly changing, and different doors constantly opened (there are even male students in the School of Nursing, the first of whom graduated in 1973.)

Photo & article credits:
top, 1960 LOG, p. 109
middle, 1957 LOG, p. 162
bottom, The BEACON, Oct. 22, 1954

For Kay Toran, see Portland Magazine, Winter 2020

American society seemed to fracture and unravel in the late 1960s; a time of social revolution and mutual distrust characterized by the generation-gap, Nixon’s Southern strategy, tense race relations, anti-war and draft protests. Many of these protest movements found natural outlets on college campuses. But the University of Portland was not much disturbed or disrupted by the larger social unrest. As reflected on in this retrospective piece from the July 1971 UP Alumni Bulletin:

During the time of unrest and splintering, UP practiced a measure of ‘Social Distancing’ seen appropriate to the circumstances.

(looking out from the Bluff over a not-yet-developed industrial Swan Island, and Mt. Hood, circa 1968)

However, some assembly of persons was allowed—and even encouraged—to move towards healing divisions, expressing grievances, and valuing the free exercise of speech and opinion. Though students were expected to observe the ‘5-minute rule’ (the context for this directive is found in the exhibit at the bottom).

Gatherings and communication were expected in that moment of national stress; however, the Administration anticipated that after people had their say, then dispersal would follow, all students would return to studies and the work of education would resume. Asking for continuity-determinedly so—in unsettled times. So that, despite not being able to see the future clearly, the academic community continued to watch and prepare whatever the future would bring.

(this image cheats a little, grainy; The Columbiad October 1923, p.17; another old view of Swan Island)

This last exhibit is spliced and edited from the Alumni Bulletin, January 1969, pp. 6, 11.

At the end of the 2019-20 academic year, nine 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. Robert J. Albright, Professor of Electrical Engineering, at UP since 1970
Dr. Robin D. Anderson, Dean of Pamplin School of Business and Franz Endowed Professor of Entrepreneurship, at UP since 1998
Dr. James B. Carroll, Professor of Education, at UP since 1994
Dr. Willoughby Deming, Professor of Theology, at UP since 1992
Dr. Mark Eifler, Associate Professor of History, at UP since 2000
Dr. Richard Gritta, Professor of Business, at UP since 1976
Dr. Pamela Potter, Associate Professor of Nursing, at UP since 2007
Frances Simmons, Instructor, School of Nursing, at UP since 1989
Dr. Thomas G. Greene, Provost and Professor of Education, at UP since 1983

(Photos from the University Archives, School of Nursing, School of Education, Pamplin School of Business, Marketing & Communications; Click on image to enlarge)