Intercollegiate Athletics Moving Images, 1936-2003

Title: Intercollegiate Athletics Moving Images, 1936-2003

Predominant Dates: 1940-1990

ID: FV 031

Primary Creator: Oregon State University. Office of Intercollegiate Athletics

Extent: 79.0 cubic feet. More info below.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Intercollegiate Athletics Moving Images consist of motion picture films, videotapes, and DVDs of Oregon State University athletics events, primarily football and men's basketball. The collection also includes film recordings of track and field events as well as videotapes of special events and commemorations. Most of the films were made by Athletic Department staff; several of the game films were produced by Sportvision, Inc. The collection consists of two major components: individually numbered motion picture films (primarily for 1936-1970) and a major 2002 accession of films and videotapes (primarily for 1975-1988) that are not individually numbered and are only described at the box-level in the container list. Many of these films, especially of football, were used for game review purposes by coaching staff and players.

The bulk of the football films are for 1936-1955 and 1970-1990; men's basketball games from the late 1970s represent the bulk of the footage of this sport. Films of special note include pre-game activities for the 1942 Rose Bowl, the 1949 Pineapple Bowl, and the 1939 trip to Hawaii; the 1955 NCAA Western Regional basketball playoff game between Oregon State and the University of San Francisco; and a 1981 NCAA basketball tournament game against Kansas State University. Videotapes commemorating the football coaching careers of Tommy Prothro and Dee Andros are part of the collection.

Most of the films are 16 mm b/w; several color films are included and these are indicated on the container list. Most of the videotapes are VHS format.

Duplication masters and use copies (DVD and VHS) are available for a small portion of the films. These are indicated on the preliminary container list.

An addition to the collection (Accession 2011:001) is made up of the DVD: "25th Anniversary DVD Commemorating the 1980/81 Men's Basketball Season."

Oregon State University teams have competed in intercollegiate athletics since the 1890s; Oregon State fielded its first football team in 1893. Men's basketball debuted at Oregon State in 1901.

James Thompson (Tommy) Prothro coached the Oregon State football team for ten seasons (1955-1964) and led the team to 3 bowl games (the 1957 and 1965 Rose Bowls and the 1962 Liberty Bowl). Dee Andros succeeded Prothro and was head football coach for Oregon State University for the 1965-1975 seasons. He served as Oregon State's athletic director from 1975 until his retirement in 1985.

Accruals: Additions to the collection are expected.

More Extent Information: 1264 film reels, 181 videotapes, and 3 DVDs; 65 boxes and 52 film cans

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: The bulk of the numbered motion picture films were received by the Archives prior to 1966. Additions to the collection were received in multiple accessions from 1994 through 2008, withh a major transfer in 2002.

Related Materials:

Motion picture films of athletic events in the 1920s are available in the Oregon State University Historical Motion Picture Films (FV 048). Additional moving images of sports events in the 1960s through 1980s are part of the News and Communications Services Motion Picture Films and Videotapes (FV 057). The Alumni Association Motion Picture Films and Videotapes (FV 017) includes football films, primarily from the 1950s.

See also: Oregon State Baseball: 100 Years to a National Championship, the story of OSU baseball, beginning with its first win in 1907 through it's back-to-back national championships one hundred years later.

Preferred Citation: Intercollegiate Athletics Moving Images (FV 031), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Processing Information:

This collection is not fully processed; this guide is preliminary.

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.

The archivist-prepared description of this collection uses the phrase “Civil War” to refer to the long-standing athletic rivalry between Oregon State University and the University of Oregon. A history of this athletic rivalry, and use of the phrase “Civil War” to describe it, is available online in The Origins of the "Civil War" Football Game blog post.

In June 2020, Oregon State University President Edward J. Ray announced that the term  “Civil War” will no longer be used by either university because it “represents a connection to a war fought to perpetuate slavery.”

We acknowledge the racism represented by the use of this phrase and the harm it may cause our users. In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collections, we have retained the use of this phrase in the collection description.

[Date of acknowledgement: November 2021]

Other URL: A preliminary container list was created for this collection on or before August 5, 2015.

Oregon State University. Office of Intercollegiate Athletics
Oregon State College. Athletic Department
Oregon State University. Athletics.

Andros, Dee G., 1924-2003.
Basketball--Oregon--Corvallis.
College students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Football--Oregon--Corvallis.
Oregon State College--Basketball.
Oregon State College--Football.
Oregon State College--Track and field.
Oregon State University--Basketball.
Oregon State University--Football.
Oregon State University--Track and field.
Oregon State University. Office of Intercollegiate Athletics
Rose Bowl (Football game) (1942 : Durham, N.C.)
Rose Bowl (Football game) (1965 : Pasadena, Calif.)
Track and field athletes--Oregon--Corvallis.

DVDs.
Motion pictures (visual works)
Silent films.
Video recordings (physical artifacts)