Oregon State University Alumni Oral History Collection, 2005-2014

Title: Oregon State University Alumni Oral History Collection, 2005-2014

ID: OH 013

Primary Creator: Oregon State University. University Archives

Extent: 0.15 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The materials described in this collection have been arranged chronologically in one series.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The bulk of the Oregon State University Alumni Oral History Collection documents an oral history project coordinated by the Oregon State University Archives. The collection includes interviews conducted with three OSU alumni -- Richard Gilkey, Robert Mace, and Jean Starker Roth -- in 2005-2007. The materials consist of digital sound recordings, transcripts, release agreements, and related documentation. Some of the digital sound recordings were captured to CD, others were born digital. The sound files were originally created in *.msv and *.cda formats; preservation *.wav files and *.mp3 use files have been created since.

The Richard Gilkey and 2005 Jean Starker Roth interviews were conducted by Wade Houck. Warren Aney conducted the 2005 interview of Robert Mace. The 2007 interviews of Jean Starker Roth, conducted by Maia Fischler of LifeWriter Personal Histories, are available online.

The interviews of Richard Gilkey address his student years at Oregon State College, his work as a student photographer, and his career as an educator. Gilkey talks in detail about some of the photographs he took as well as the technical details of taking photographs and making photographic prints. The collection includes digital sound files of the interviews and a transcript.

Robert Mace was interviewed on October 25, 2005. Mace describes his work in game management from the late 1940s until the early 1980s for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, especially his work with bighorn sheep and in developing the Watchable Wildlife program. The collection includes sound recordings on CD of the interviews, a summary of the interview, and photographs of Mace at his home in Central Point, Oregon.

The interviews of Jean Starker Roth were conducted in 2005 and 2007 and address a wide range of topics including her childhood in Corvallis and her relationship with her father, T.J. Starker; her student years at Oregon State; her work in Blue River, Oregon, and Clatsop County after graduation; life on the homefront during World War II; her husband, children, and grandchildren; her real estate and business ventures; and her many volunteer and philanthropic activities in Corvallis and at Oregon State University. The 2007 interviews formed the basis of Do Unto Others: Memories from a Lifetime of Active Involvement by Jean Starker Roth and published by LifeWriter. The collection includes digital sound files for the 2005 interviews; sound recordings on CD of the 2007 interviews; and transcripts of the interviews.

An addition to the collection, donated in 2015, consists of a cd with a recording of a 2014 interview between Alice Rampton and Whitney Ball about his father and alumnus Waldo Ball. Topics addressed on the recording include: Waldo's medical practice in Corvallis, his father William's photograph studio (Ball Studios), the meeting of Waldo and his wife Mabel, and Waldo's military service in World War I. Included with the cd is a biographical sketch of Ball, two photocopied images, and a letter from Rampton with background details about the interview. The Ball interview was originally created in *.cda format; an access *.mp3 file was created by the Special Collections & Archives Research Center.

The University Archives was established at Oregon State University in 1961 as a department of the Library. From the early 1970s until 2000, the Archives was part of the OSU central administration. In 2000, the Archives became a department of the University Libraries and moved into the Valley Library in 2003. The Archives had a short-lived oral history program in 1980 and acquired recordings and transcripts of oral history interviews conducted by Oregon State students and faculty beginning in the 1970s. This and several other oral history projects were undertaken by the Archives beginning in 2004 in an effort to revive the oral history program.

Waldo Ball (1896-1994) came with his family to Corvallis at the age of 16. After studying pharmacy at Oregon Agricultural College and subsequent service in the Navy during World War I, Ball went on to complete a medical degree from the University of Oregon Medical School in 1923. Ball returned to Corvallis in 1936 and established a doctor's office, practicing medicine in town for 63 years until the age of 90. In addition to his private practice, Ball also served as a team doctor for OSU athletics for nearly 30 years. He was also one of the founders of the Benton County Foundation.

Whitney Ball was one of Waldo Ball's sons and also an alumnus of OSU. He passed away two weeks after recording the interview held in this collection.

Richard W. Gilkey attended Oregon State College from 1948 to 1953 and earned his BS in Science Education in 1951 and MS in Education in 1953. He was one of the first student photographers to document campus life; many of his photographs were published in the Oregon Stater alumni magazine. Gilkey was Supervisor of Audiovisual Education for the Portland Public Schools beginning in 1966 and Director of Educational Media from 1972 until his retirement in 1993. Gilkey donated photographs he made during his student years to the Archives in 2004 and 2005. An exhibit of his work was held on campus in 2005.

Robert U. Mace graduated from Oregon State College in 1942 with a degree in Game Management and a minor in Range Management. He served in the Navy in World War II and then began his career with the Oregon State Game Commission as a biologist. He served as Chief of the Big Game Division for 12 years, Chief of the Upland Game Division, and also headed the Wildlife Habitat Program. In 1969, he became Chief of the Wildlife Division and was appointed Deputy Director in 1976, a position he held until his retirement in 1981. Mace coined the term "Watchable Wildlife" and championed funding for research and conservation of non-game species.

Jean Starker earned a BS in Home Economics Education from Oregon State College in 1942. She taught for two years after graduation at Blue River High School and then worked for the OSU Extension Service's Clatsop County Office for four years. Jean is the daughter of T.J. Starker, Oregon State forestry alumnus, faculty member, and timberman. She married Kermit Roth in 1948 and is an active Corvallis community volunteer, philanthropist, and Oregon State University supporter. Jean Starker Roth received the E.B. Lemon Distinguished Alumni Award in 2001.

Warren Aney earned a BS in Fish and Game Management in 1958 and an MA in Ecological Statistics in 1971 from Oregon State. He worked for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and as a consultant.

Accruals: Additions to the collection are expected.

More Extent Information: 22 photographs; 1 box; 13 compact discs, 7 sound files and 5 document files; 47 Mbytes

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Related Materials:

Oral histories of other Oregon State alumni are included with other oral history collections in the Special Collections & Archives Research Center's holdings. The Alumni Association Records (RG 035), Alumni Relations Photographs (P 017), and the Alumni Association Motion Picture Films and Videotapes(FV 017) provide extensive documentation of Oregon State alumni.

The Richard W. Gilkey Photographs (P 252) consist of images taken by Gilkey during his student years that were donated to the University Archives in 2005.

Jean Starker Roth's memoir, Do Unto Others: Memories from a Lifetime of Active Involvement, is available in the Oregon State University Libraries' collection. SCARC holdings also include the T.J. Starker Collection.

Four oral history interviews with Waldo Ball, conducted in 1979 and 1985, are held in the Horner Museum Oral History Collection (OH 010).

Preferred Citation: Oregon State University Alumni Oral History Collection (OH 013), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Oregon State University. University Archives
Aney, Warren W.
Fischler, Maia
Houck, Wade

Ball, W. Waldo.
Ball, W. Whitney.
Benton County (Or.)--History.
Bighorn sheep--Oregon.
College environment--Oregon--Corvallis.
Corvallis (Or.)
Gilkey, Richard William, 1930-
Local History
Mace, Robert U.
Natural Resources
Oregon. Department of Fish and Wildlife
Oregon State College--Alumni and alumnae.
Oregon State College--Students.
Oregon State University--Alumni and alumnae.
Oregon State University. University Archives
Photography--Oregon--Corvallis.
Roth, Jean Starker
Starker, T. J. (Thurman James), 1890-1983
Student activities--Oregon--Corvallis.
University History
Wildlife management--Oregon.
Wildlife watching--Oregon.
Women philanthropists--Oregon--Biography.

Born digital.
Compact discs.
Digital photographs.
Oral histories (literary genre)