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Entomology Department Records, 1887-2003View associated digital content.

Predominant Dates: 1954-2002
The Entomology Department Records were generated and collected by the Entomology Department at Oregon State University and pertain to the development and administration of the department. They document policy formulation, compilation of departmental information, faculty research, committee activity, and interaction between the Extension Service and the department, and also reflect the department's acquisition and loan of entomological specimens. Entomology was first taught at Corvallis College in 1873; the Department of Zoology and Entomology was established in 1889.
ID: RG 027
Extent: 18.0 cubic feet
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Scope and Content Notes
Biographical / Historical Notes
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Statement on Description:

We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement online. SCARC describes the contents of its collections using the language and terminology of the collections themselves. Since culturally acceptable terminology shifts over time, some of the terms that appear in these materials are currently outdated or offensive. The term “gypsy” is considered derogatory by many Roma people. It comes from the word “Egyptian,” where many Europeans mistakenly believed the Romani came from. In 1971, at the First World Roma Congress, a majority of attendees voted to reject the use of the term “gypsy,” however some still use it to self-identify.

In this collection, the term “gypsy” refers to the “Asian gypsy moth” or “gypsy moth,” a group of invasive moth species that includes Lymantria dispar dispar, Lymantria dispar asiatica, L. d. japonica, L. albescens, L. umbrosa, and L. postalba. In 2021, the Entomological Society of America (ESA) voted to change the common names, and in 2022, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) announced new names for these species. Lymantria dispar dispar is now known as the “spongy moth,” and the rest are now the “flighted spongy moth complex.”

In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collections, we have retained the original wording in the collection descriptions. We acknowledge the racism represented by the term “gypsy” and the harm it may cause our users. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes or behavior depicted therein. For more information, please see our blog post.

[Date of Acknowledgement: November 2024]

Arrangement
Preferred Citation: Entomology Department Records (RG 027), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
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