Showing 82 results

Collections
Only top-level descriptions Oregon
Print preview View:

Joel Palmer Papers, 1783-1982

  • Mss 114
  • Collection
  • 1783-1982

The papers consist of four groups of materials acquired by the Oregon Historical Society at various times. The first group, designated Mss 114, consists of correspondence (1848-1869) concerning the conduct of Indian affairs in Oregon, enlistment of a state militia, and efforts to establish a Union League Council. Correspondents include Benjamin Alvord, Jesse Applegate, Benjamin Bonneville, Samuel Culver, Addison C. Gibbs, and Joseph Lane. Also included is a diary (1857) kept by Palmer while on a voyage from Oregon City to Washington, D.C. via Panama; typescript copies of diaries (1854, 1856, 1860-1861) recording his travels throughout the Pacific Northwest; hand written copy of an agreement (1854) between the United States, represented by superintendent of Indian Affairs, Joel Palmer, and the Calipooia Indian tribe; and articles of incorporation (1862) of the Columbia River Railroad Company.

The second group of materials, designated Mss 114-1, consists of letters sent to Sarah Ann Palmer from various relatives, and receipts and other ephemera of Joel Palmer. Among these are hand written copies of poems dated 1783, possibly from one of Palmer's ancestors.

The third group within the collection, designated Mss 114-2, contains mostly biographical information about Palmer, along with letters written by his descendants and letters relating to the dedication of a statue of Palmer in 1971.

A fourth group of papers, designated Mss 114-3, consists of general correspondence, primarily political and military in nature, legal papers, and a survey of an unidentified Indian reservation.

The final group of materials, designated Mss 114-4, includes a manuscript poem, Bristol, England, 1784; letters from Palmer to General Joseph Lane and others; manuscript copy of report to the U.S. Secretary of War or the Commissioner of Indian Affairs from General Joseph Lane, ca. 1849; a letter from W. B. Bonney to Joel Palmer, 1850 Jan. 17; letter to Joel Palmer from Lieutenant Colonel Benjamin Bonneville, 1855 Mar. 27; printed copy of the treaty between the United States and the Rogue River Indians, 1855; manuscript extracts from "Articles of treatry made at Port Orford," 1857 Sept. 20; hand drawn map of the Columbia River and its tributaries, undated; and a pamphlet titled "History of the Grand Ronde Military Block House," 1911.

Palmer, Joel, 1810-1881

Jason Lee papers

  • Mss 1212
  • Collection
  • 1834-1845

Collection consists of the personal and professional papers of Reverend Jason Lee. The papers date from 1834 to 1845. Included are Lee’s diary of his overland journey to Oregon and the construction of his mission with entries dating from 1834 to 1838; an 1844 report Lee made to the Methodist Missionary Board; miscellaneous papers related to the illness and death of Lee in 1845; and fragments of an undated biography of Jason Lee likely written by Harvey Kimball Hines. The collection also contains a folder of Anna Maria Pittman Lee's correspondence dated from 1834 to 1835.

Jason Lee was born on June 28, 1803, in Stanstead, Quebec. After his ordination in 1834, Lee and his nephew, Daniel Lee, journeyed overland to Oregon with the intention to establish a mission to minister to the Flathead Indians. He instead established his mission in the Willamette Valley near present-Day Salem, Oregon, in territory that was home to bands of the Kalapuyan people. Lee returned east in 1838 to justify his decision and recruit reinforcements for the Willamette mission, as well as missions at The Dalles and Clatsop plains. In 1840, The Great Reinforcement, a group of 51 men, women, and children, arrived in Oregon on the ship Lausanne in response to Lee’s promotion in the East. In 1843, Jason Lee participated in the founding of Oregon's provisional government and Willamette University. Lee was relieved of his missionary post in 1844. Lee married Anna Maria Pittman, who died in 1838, and then Lucy Lee who died in 1842. Jason Lee died on March 12, 1845.

Lee, Jason, 1803-1845

Early Oregon census and tax records, 1842-1880

  • Mss 1
  • Collection
  • 1842-1880

This collection consists of early census and tax records from the Oregon provisional and territorial governments and early Oregon statehood. The materials in this collection were gathered from early, mostly pre-1958, Oregon Historical Society Research Library accessions of census and tax related records. The early census and tax records document demographic and economic data for what are now portions of Oregon and California. Original census records include Elijah White's 1842 census; a census (1849) of males over the age of 21; Jackson County census rolls (ca. 1854-1855, 1858); a Washington County census (1856); a Washington County tax roll (1852); and an agricultural census for Clackamas County (1870). Typescript and photostat reproductions of census records include Joseph Meek's Census of Oregon (1845); Charles Wells’ Benton County census (1854); the United States Census roll for Coos County (1860); and a partial typescript of the 1880 United States Census for Wasco County. The collection also includes reports of the 1850 census for Butte and Calaveras counties in California.

Oregon Black History Project records

  • Mss 2854
  • Collection
  • 1844-1981

The Oregon Black History Project was a grant-funded project that conducted research on the history of African-Americans in Oregon up to the beginning of World War II. The project was directed by Elizabeth McLagan and culminated in her book "A Peculiar Paradise: A History of Blacks in Oregon, 1788-1940," which was published by the Georgian Press of Portland, Oregon, in 1980.

The collection consists of administrative records, research files, and photographs gathered or created by the Oregon Black History Project. Most of the research files consist of notes and quotes, photocopies, or excerpts from primary and secondary resources concerning the history of African-Americans in Oregon from the late 18th century to the mid-20th century. Most of these source excerpts were assembled between 1976 and 1979. Topics include early African-American emigrants to Oregon; the slavery debate in Oregon; exclusion laws and other forms of discrimination or violence against African-Americans; African-American business, social, and activist organizations; and early 20th-century African-American newspapers such as The Advocate, the New Age, and the Portland Times.

Photographs include portraits of African-American Oregonians; African-American social groups and activities; residences; and businesses operated by African-Americans in Portland, Oregon. Some of the photographs are copies of images originally published in newspapers such as Portland Times and The Advocate.

McLagan, Elizabeth, 1947-

Oregon elections collection, 1846-1888

  • Mss 1231
  • Collection
  • 1846 - 1912

Collection assembled by the Oregon Historical Society regarding elections in Oregon. Included are Poll Books for Sauvie Island (1859), Astoria Precinct (1857), Elkton Precinct (1856), Santiam Precinct (1860), and Butte Creek (1872); contributors to the 1873 election fund; certified documents of electors, president and vice-president, U.S. (1876, 1880, 1888); and newspaper clippings and list of contributors to the 1888 election. Additional materials include oversize ballots and tally sheets (in 2 flat boxes), and 1860-1862 election materials (1 reel of microfilm).

Oregon. Constitutional Convention (1857)

Monteith family photograph collection, 1847-1854

  • Org. Lot 1388
  • Collection
  • 1847 - 1854

This collection is comprised of two (2) daguerreotypes showing portraits of brothers Thomas and Walter Monteith, who founded the town of Albany, Oregon, circa 1849. They traveled to Oregon from New York in 1847 and settled adjacent land claims, sharing a house which straddled the two claims.

Oregonian glass negatives

  • Org Lot 139
  • Collection
  • 1850-1930

This collection consists of glass negatives taken by photographers for the Portland, Oregon based newspaper, The Oregonian. Most of the photographs in this collection are undated but the bulk of the photographs are believed to be taken between 1890 and 1920.

Oregonian (Firm)

Abigail Scott Duniway papers

  • Mss 432
  • Collection
  • 1852-1915

Writer, pioneer, editor, and champion of women's suffrage, Abigail Scott Duniway was born in Groveland, Illinois, in 1834. One of her brothers, Harvey Scott, would become the editor of the Oregonian. The Scott family traveled overland to Oregon in 1852, a trip on which Abigail's mother and youngest brother died. The family came first to Oregon City, then settled in Lafayette. Abigail taught school at Eola, and in 1853 she married Benjamin C. Duniway, with whom she had four children. After her husband was incapacitated in an 1862 accident, Duniway supported her family through teaching and a millinery business in Albany, Oregon. After moving to Portland in 1871 she published and edited The new northwest and became Oregon's leading advocate of women's suffrage. She moved to Idaho in 1887 and helped to achieve women's voting rights there in 1896. After returning to Oregon she was instrumental in the passage of Oregon's own women's suffrage bill in 1912. Her writings include the autobiography Path Breaking (1914) and the novel Captain Gray's Company.

The collection, which represents only a small portion of Duniway's papers, includes: the records of the Oregon State Equal Suffrage Association, including minute book, membership and account books, constitutions, a small amount of correspondence, and a copy of a letter from Susan B. Anthony regarding the woman's suffrage movement; and records of the Duniway Publishing Company, consisting of cash, mailing and advertising ledgers (1880-1886) of the publication The new northwest. Also included in the collection is a copy of a typed transcript of Duniway's journal kept during her family's overland trek from Illinois (1852 April 2) to Oregon City, Oregon (1852 September 28), on which her mother and younger brother died. The transcript contains an introduction by Leslie M. Scott. A subscription list from the Oregon State Secular Union from 1891 can also be found in the collection.

Duniway, Abigail Scott, 1834-1915

Oregon Constitutional Convention records, 1857-1859

  • Mss 1227
  • Collection
  • 1857 - 1859

Documents created during the Oregon Constitutional Convention of 1857. Includes: committee reports, drafts of articles and schedules, general notes, corrections, and other materials. Sections of the constitution represented include: preamble and bill of rights; suffrage and elections; distribution of powers; Legislative Department; Executive Department; education and school lands; finance; militia; corporations and internal improvements; seat of government; general provisions; boundaries; schedules, and related papers. Also includes printed speech of James Hughes of Indiana, on the admission of Oregon, delivered in the House of Representatives, 1859 February 10.

Oregon. Constitutional Convention (1857)

Lorenzo Lorain photographs

  • Org. Lot 1416
  • Collection
  • 1857-1860

Collection consists of salt paper photographic prints attributed to Lorenzo Lorain. The photographs depict scenes around Fort Umpqua and Camp Day during the forced removal of Native peoples from the western region of the Oregon Territory onto the Coast Reservation between 1857 and 1861. The photographs of Fort Umpqua, in Douglas County, Oregon, include the block house, barracks, and support buildings as well as portraits of soldiers and their families. Also included are exterior photographs of plank houses and portraits of unidentified Native American people who were likely members of the Coos, Lower Umpqua, Siuslaw, or Siletz peoples housed near Fort Umpqua on the southern portion of the Coast Reservation. The collection also includes photographs taken by Lorain at Camp Day, a temporary military encampment established in the Klamath Basin in Southern Oregon during the summer and fall of 1860. These photographs depict the camp site, the troops stationed at the camp, and a group photograph of unidentified members of the Klamath and Modoc people at or near the camp. The collection also includes photographs of Portland, Oregon City, and The Dalles, Oregon, which are believed to have been taken by Lorain during his travel from Fort Walla Walla to Fort Umpqua in 1857.

Also included in the collection are two salt paper prints depicting Fort Crook in Shasta County, California, which are attributed to Dr. Edward Perry Vollum. Vollum was stationed at Fort Umpqua during a portion of Lorain’s assignment at the fort.

June D. Drake photographs

  • Org. Lot 678
  • Collection
  • 1860-1955

Collection consists of approximately 2,918 original photographic prints and 3,800 original glass and acetate negatives taken by photographer June D. Drake of Silverton, Oregon, as well as 3,042 copy prints made by the Oregon Historical Society from the original negatives. The bulk of the collection consists of photographs that Drake took of various towns in Oregon, including Silverton, Mount Angel (including Mount Angel Abbey), and Salem, Oregon, from approximately 1900-1953. These photographs depict street scenes, businesses, schools, churches, and other town buildings, as well as significant events and celebrations. There are also a number of photographs that Drake took of the area that became Silver Falls State Park, as well as a large number of portrait photographs taken by Drake from about 1900-1952, including both studio and informal portraits.

Other subjects represented in the collection include transportation and agriculture in Oregon; the lumber industry around Silverton, including the Silver Falls Timber Company and the Silverton Lumber Company; Homer Davenport and his family in Silverton; the Chemawa Indian School near Silverton, and other portraits of Native Americans from the area; the military in Oregon, including the Oregon State Militia during World War I and World War II; and photographs of animals. The collection also includes five photograph albums; of note is an album titled "A History of Silverton, Oregon, and its environs," which contains detailed descriptions from 1863 to the 1930s, and includes places of business, worship, and study, among other scenes. There are also a number of photographs of various artifacts and other objects collected by Drake to document the history of Silverton.

Photographs in this collection that date prior to 1900 were originally taken by other photographers, including Silverton photographer William L. Jones, and reprinted by June D. Drake, who owned many of Jones's negatives.

Drake, June D., 1880-1969

Steamship Oneonta Plans

  • Mss 4044
  • Collection
  • Circa 1863 - Circa 1950

Plans of a sidewheel steamer, Oneonta. The plans may be a depiction of the steamer Oneonta built in 1863 and operated by the Oregon Steam Navigation Company, but features in the plans differ from contemporary photographs of that steamboat. It is unknown whether the drawings are originals or later reproductions. The drawings consist of 3 plans on 1 sheet: a top view, a side view, and a plan of the pilot house and rooms. Sheet is stamped: "Oregon Historical Society - Portland, Oregon / from collection of L. C. Hosford."

Camp Watson, Oregon sketch, 1865

  • Mss 5279
  • Collection
  • 1865

A single pencil sketch of Camp Watson, Oregon dated to 1865. The First Regiment Oregon volunteer Cavalry maintained Camp Watson from 1864 to 1869 during the conflict with members of the Bannock, Shoshoni, and Paiute peoples known as the Snake War.

Adalbert G. Bettman photographs

  • Org. Lot 4
  • Collection
  • 1880-1920

The collection contains 64 glass negatives, 44 sheet film negatives, and 39 photographic prints taken by or attributed to the Bettman family between approximately 1880 and 1920. Thirty-five of the prints have corresponding negatives in the collection. Negative numbers are noted on the back of prints when known. The collection includes individual and family portraits, views of the interior and displays of the Bettman drugstore, photographs depicting medical equipment and practice, including a neck brace and Adalbert G. Bettman’s sanitary measuring sugar bowl, and scenes throughout Oregon, including Portland, Eugene, and Corvallis. This collection may be of interest to individuals researching the history of medicine, pharmacy, and plastic surgery in Oregon.

Bettman, Adalbert G., 1883-1964

Portland General Electric Photograph Collection

  • Org. Lot 151
  • Collection
  • 1880 - 1965

Negatives documenting company activities, including electrical infrastructure, employees, power generation and distribution throughout Portland, the Willamette Valley and the Oregon Cascade Range. Additional general images include streetcars and trains, street lighting, power line installation, Rose Festival floats, office buildings, car barns and bridges. Of particular note are dam building projects at Bull Run and along the Clackamas River (1910-1930), and early electric stations in Oregon City at Willamette Falls.

Portland General Electric Company

Gerry Frank scrapbooks and memorabilia

  • Coll 855
  • Collection
  • Circa 1880-2018

Scrapbooks, photograph albums, photographs, papers, and ephemera compiled by or relating to Gerald W. "Gerry" Frank (1923-). Frank is a businessman from Oregon who worked at the department store Meier & Frank; opened a dessert shop in Salem, Oregon, named Gerry Frank's Konditerei; and was U.S. Senator Mark Hatfield's chief of staff.

Tabor family photographs

  • Org. Lot 968
  • Collection
  • 1885 - 1895

Collection consists of photographs collected by the Tabor family. Most of the photographs are believed to have been taken or acquired by J. W. Tabor and Margaret Tabor during a trip to Portland, Oregon in 1895. Subjects include various views of Portland, including City Park (now Washington Park) gardens and bear pit, Mount Tabor reservoir, the Portland Heights cable car line, the Willamette River waterfront, and the Morrison Bridge; Celilo Falls; photographs of James Waucop Tabor, Margaret S. McNulty Tabor and her cousin, Alice Bachman Bettner; and a coroner's investigation of a body found in a mining camp near Granite, Oregon. None of the photographers are identified.

Mount Tabor Villa broadside

  • Coll 101
  • Collection
  • 1889

Advertising broadside for the Mount Tabor Villa subdivision of Portland, Oregon, sold by the Hart-Royal Company, including a colored plat map. Mount Tabor Villa is today part of the Montavilla neighborhood.

A. Anderson & Co. Lithography (Portland, Or.)

J.H. Horner Papers, 1889-1985

  • Mss 6031
  • Collection
  • 1889 - 1985

The collection consists principally of the typescript (with corrections in hand) of Horner's work, Wallowa River and Valley, dealing with regional history, as well as the Nez Percé Indians. Other papers include correspondence (ca. 1889-1985); legal documents (1898-1931); patents for window construction (1921-1922); and manuscript materials (undated). Horner's main correspondent is Otis Halfmoon, a Catholic Nez Percé who assisted with the author's manuscript. The collection also includes a list of other contributors that assisted Horner in his research

Horner, J. H., 1870-1953

Alice E. Wilson sketchbook

  • Mss 5286
  • Collection
  • 1898 - 1899

Sketchbook, 1 vol., August 1898-August 1899, filled with charcoal sketches of houses and scenery on the Oregon Coast including: Garibaldi, Tillamook and Seaside.

Wilson, Alice E.

William L. Finley Papers, 1899-1946

  • MSS Finley
  • Collection
  • 1899 - 1946

William L. Finley's papers primarily document his work as a wildlife conservationist, author, lecturer, photographer, and filmmaker from about 1900 to 1940. The collection also documents the work his wife Irene Finley and photography partner Herman Bohlman. The collection consists of published and unpublished manuscripts, lecture and field notes, reports, correspondence, photographs and motion picture films.

An addition to the collection (Accession 2014:062) is made up of correspondence and newspaper clippings documenting the wildlife conservation work of William and Irene Finley. Among the topics addressed in the correspondence include: song bird protection laws in Oregon, requests to Finley for use of his photographs, the forming of an Oregon Fish and Game Commission, biological surveys conducted by Finley, legislation in California repealing meadowlark protection, and letters by Finley to various organizations regarding the presentation of one of his lectures. A highlight among the correspondence is a thank you letter from Finley to President Theodore Roosevelt for his establishment of wild bird reservations. The clippings are newspaper articles written by Irene and William Finley about encounters with wildlife, nocturnal bird sounds, and their filming of wildlife at Paulina Lake. The four articles all appeared in editions of the "Oregon Sunday Journal."

Finley, William L. (William Lovell), 1876-1953

Lily E. White photographs

  • Org. Lot 662
  • Collection
  • 1900-1905

Collection consists of 43 photographs taken by Lily E. White and other members of the Oregon Camera Club between 1900 and 1905. The photographs depict landscape scenes of the Columbia River Gorge, the Pacific coast, and Mount Hood. Also included are posed portraits of members of the Klikitat and other Columbia River tribes. The photographs are mounted platinum prints and all but two of the prints are signed by the artist. 38 of the photographs are part of a tooled suede leather portfolio. The portfolio also contains prints signed by Sarah Hall Ladd, Will H. Walker, and Maud Ainsworth. In addition to the portfolio, the collection also contains five prints signed by Lily E. White from a separate accession.

White, Lily E.

Lily E. White negatives

  • Org. Lot 1415
  • Collection
  • 1900-1915

Collection consists of negatives from the estate of Lily E. White. They are attributed to White but some of the photographs were possibly taken by Sarah Hall Ladd. The photographs date from approximately 1900-1915. Topical highlights in the collection include landscape views of the Columbia River Gorge, Garden scenes and flower photographs taken at the home of Charles Elliott Ladd and Sarah Hall Ladd, and interior and exterior views of Lily E. Whites’ houseboat, The Raysark. Also included in the collection are photographs and scrapbook pages taken during trips to Yellowstone National Park, Yosemite National Park, and along the coast near Carmel, California.

White, Lily E.

Rev. Lee Owen Stone Collection

  • Org. Lot 651
  • Collection
  • 1903 - 1977

Photographs documenting the career of Rev. Lee Owen Stone, (4/24/1903-3/10/1977), at St. Philips Episcopal Church, 120 N. E. Knott St., Portland. Rev. Stone was Vicar of St. Philips from 1936 until his retirement in 1972. He was active in community agencies and the Episcopal Diocese of Oregon. Rev. Stone was a founder of the Portland Urban League. In addition, he established the St. Philips Church Cooperative (Lee Owen Stone) Preschool. Rev. Stone was Portland's first black Episcopal priest, and hist first wife, Leota A. Stone, was one of Portland's first black public school teachers.

Stone, Lee Owen, 1903-1977

Cracker Eagle Gold Mining Company records

  • Mss 55
  • Collection
  • 1903-1905

Collection consists of corporate records for the Cracker Eagle Gold Mining Company, operating in Baker County, Oregon. Records date from 1903 to 1905 and include expense accounts, business transactions, and stockholders' correspondence.

Cracker Eagle Gold Mining Company

Yasui Brothers business records

  • Mss 2949
  • Collection
  • 1904 - 1990

The Yasui Brothers records primarily document the business, personal, and community-related activities of the Yasui family in Hood River, Oregon, from the start of the 20th century until World War II, when they were among the more than 120,000 Japanese Americans incarcerated by the U.S. government.

The bulk of the collection consists of correspondence and records relating to the business activities of Masuo Yasui (1886-1957). These include the general store, Yasui Bros., that he ran with his brother Renichi Fujimoto; and orchards in the Hood River Valley and surrounding areas that the firm operated. Store records include a variety of advertising materials, while farming records include packing lists, crop reports, and records of local farming associations Masuo Yasui was involved with. The collection also reflects Yasui’s involvement in the local community, including his work assisting other Japanese immigrants to the United States. A small quantity of materials relates to the Yasui Bros. store’s forced closure and the management of the family’s property and assets while they were incarcerated during World War II.

The collection also includes personal papers of Masuo Yasui; his wife, Shidzuyo Yasui; his brother Renichi Fujimoto; and his children. These consist of correspondence, ephemera, and a personal history that Masuo Yasui wrote at the request of the Japanese consulate. Other materials in the collection include records from the 1970s and 1980s of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), in which Masuo Yasui’s son Homer Yasui and his wife, Miyuki Yasui, were active, and magazines and newspapers the family received in both Japanese and English.

A substantial amount of this collection is in a pre-World War II Japanese script that is distinct from modern Japanese. Some of these materials, particularly those in Series 1 (Business correspondence and related materials) and Series 6 (Personal papers) have been reviewed and summarized by translators. Selected documents have been translated into English and modern Japanese.

Yasui family

Results 1 to 28 of 82