The Vane G. Gibson Collection consists of two photograph albums, a clippings scrapbook, and related materials documenting the student years of Gibson and his wife, Fern Loughridge Gibson, at Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) and their activities during the 1920s and 1930s.
One of the photograph albums was assembled by Vane Gibson and covers the period 1910-1912. It includes photographs of the OAC campus and many OAC students, especially on outings and a 1911 excursion to Newport on the Oregon coast. The album includes photographic postcards of cadets and military inspections; the Class of 1910; and a campus work day in May 1910. One of the images of the work day depicts "pulling trees over" on the west side of Agriculture (now Strand) Hall. The album includes several dance cards and the autographs of classmates and the cast of Strongheart, a play performed by the Zetagathean and Utopian Literary Societies in 1912. Loose items that have been separated from the album consist of various ephemeral OAC items, including programs and broadsides for the Strongheart production; clippings; and a speech by Gibson given at the Oregon State Horticultural Society Meeting in 1911.
The second photograph album (1909-1913), an OAC Stunt Book was apparently assembled by Fern Loughridge and includes images of Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) students, including the DB Club (Society), an initiation for the Utopian Literary Society, cadets and military formations, and class football teams. The album includes several images of campus views and buildings, the Kappa Sigma Nu fraternity house in 1913, and homes in Corvallis. Most of the images in the album are of student outings, picnics, and trips to Newport. It also includes images of Loughridge's travels to Seattle and Canada (Canadian Rockies). Snapshots of circus animals; families and children; and scenes of Hedrick, Iowa are also included. The album includes dance cards and clippings announcing the marriage of Gibson and Loughridge in 1913.
The clippings scrapbook, Articles of the Day, includes clippings from newspapers and magazines from 1908 thru 1936 on a variety of topics including Oregon Agricultural College; Vane Gibson and his family; horticulture; and national and international events during this time period. Ephemeral items pertaining to the Masonic Lodge in Corvallis from 1925 to 1933 have been separated from the scrapbook.
The collection also includes a 1937 letter from Hugh Smith and Hortense Epply Smith, members of the Class of 1912, with several photographs.
An addition was made to the Vane G. Gibson Collection (Accession 2012:065) that consists of correspondence, grade reports, a newsletter, newspaper clippings, notes, a photograph, receipts, and reports. About half of this accession pertains to Fem Gibson's involvement in reunion planning for the 50th anniversary gathering of the class of 1911. Other items reflect Vane Gibson's academic record as an OAC student, his work in writing reports for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Bureau of Agricultural Economis, and penning of an article on loganberries for a local newspaper. The photograph is a 1934 snapshot of C.L. Rulerson and an unidentified man (Vane?) in Cuba.
