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.
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.
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.
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.
Fascinating! Thank you for sharing.