By Finding aid prepared by Lauren Bratslavsky and Elizabeth Nielsen.
Title: Bertha Herse Collection, 1905-1960
Predominant Dates: 1905-1929
ID: MSS Herse
Primary Creator: Herse, Bertha
Extent: 0.4 cubic feet
Arrangement: The Bertha Herse Collection is arranged in 4 series: I. Diplomas and certificates, 1905-1960; II. Memorabilia and Correspondence, 1905-1930; III. Postcards, 1907-1914; and IV. Photographs, 1909-1950.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Bertha Herse Collection consists of materials assembled by Herse and includes diplomas and certificates, student memorabilia, postcards, and photographs. Herse graduated from Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) in 1910 and worked in the OAC Library from 1910 until her retirement in 1957, with a 2-year break to complete a BS in Library Science at the New York State Library School.
Items from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.
The Bertha Herse Collection consists of materials assembled by Herse and includes diplomas and certificates, student memorabilia, postcards, and photographs. The collection documents her student years at Oregon Agricultural College, the activities of the Class of 1910, and her early years as a librarian in the Oregon Agricultural College Library. The diplomas and certificates include her high school and college diplomas. Student memorabilia includes her grade reports, registration cards, commencement programs, and a student handbook. A letter to Herse from Ellen Crawford in 1913 describes Crawford's plans to attend library school and her teaching experience in Laidlaw, Oregon.
The bulk of the collection is comprised of postcards received and assembled by Herse. Many of them are greetings cards for Christmas or other holidays and special events. Picture postcards depicting Oregon scenes are included; images of buildings in Corvallis, Eugene, and Portland are part of the collection. Postcards from Nebraska were sent by family and friends in West Point, Albion, and York.
The collection also includes photographs of family and friends, Oregon Agricultural College classmates, and other library staff. Of special note is a 1910 photograph of the library when it was in the Administration Building (now Community Hall).
Items from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.
Bertha Herse graduated from Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) in 1910 and began working in the OAC Library's circulation department that year. She worked as a Loan Desk Assistant from 1910 to 1920 and was head of the Periodical Department in 1920-1922. In 1922 she took a 2-year leave-of-absence and enrolled in the New York State Library School in Albany, New York, where she earned a BS in library science in 1924. Herse then returned to the OAC Library as a Reference Librarian and Head of the Reference Department, a position she held until her retirement in 1957. When she retired in 1957, her 45 years of service at Oregon State was the longest of anyone on campus.
Herse continued to take courses at Oregon Agricultural during the 1910s and 1920s and earned a BS in Home Economics in 1928.
Bertha Emma Herse was born in West Point, Nebraska, on July 26, 1891; she died in Corvallis, Oregon, on November 5, 1966. Herse graduated from Corvallis High School in 1906.
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: The bulk of the collection was transferred from the Horner Museum Collection to the Archives in 1996. The letter from Ellen Crawford to Herse was donated to the Archives in 2003 by Carol Chin, who found it in a Corvallis house.
Related Materials: The Library Records (RG 009), Library Photograph Collection (P 083), and the Libraries Moving Images (FV 083) provide extensive documentation of the Oregon State University Libraries. The Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center holdings also include the collections of several librarians including the William H. Carlson Papers (MSS Carlson) and the Rodney Waldron Papers (MSS Waldron). Additional photographs of library staff are part of Harriet's Photograph Collection (P HC) HC0635. Materials pertaining to the Oregon Agricultural College Class of 1910 are also available in the Frances Alva Aitken Collection (MSS Aitken), Bertha Andresen Photographs (P 026), F. Ross Brown Papers (MSS BrownFRoss), and Beulah Gilkey Collection (MSS GilkeyB).
Preferred Citation: Bertha Herse Collection (MSS Herse), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Herse, Bertha
College students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Corvallis (Or.)
Herse, Bertha
Librarians--Oregon--Corvallis.
Library employees--Oregon--Corvallis.
Oregon Agricultural College--Students.
Oregon Agricultural College. Class of 1910
Oregon Agricultural College. Library
Oregon State College. Library
University History
West Point (Neb.)
Photograph albums.
Photographic postcards.
Photographic prints.
Picture postcards.
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