Jack Williams Slides, 1954-1960

Title: Jack Williams Slides, 1954-1960

ID: P 315

Primary Creator: Williams, Jack (1908-)

Extent: 0.3 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The Jack Williams Slides are arranged in 4 series:  1.  Oregon, 1945-1958; 2. Native Americans Fishing at Celilo Falls, 1956; 3. Landscapes and Wildlife, 1954-1960; and 4.  Olympic Games and Marineland, 1960.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Jack Williams Slides consist of color slides made by the father of Gerald W. Williams, Jack Williams, during the mid-to-late 1950s.  The images depict landscapes in Oregon, California, and Washington; birds and wildlife; and dams and other water projects in the Pacific Northwest.  Of special note are photographs of Native Americans fishing at Celilo Falls on the Columbia River.  Jack Williams became interested in photography in the 1930s.  He moved to Oregon in the late 1930s and lived in Eugene, Oregon, in the 1940s and 1950s.

Images from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.

The Jack Williams Slides consist of color slides made by the father of Gerald W. Williams, Jack Williams, during the mid-to-late 1950s.  The images depict landscapes in Oregon, California, and Washington; birds and wildlife; and dams and other water projects in the Pacific Northwest.  The photographs include views of the Oregon coast, Crater Lake, the McKenzie River, and other lakes and rivers of the Oregon Cascades.  Several dams and water projects in Oregon and Washington are depicted, including the Pelton Dam, Clearwater Power Project, Tokatee Falls aquaduct, The Dalles Dam, Detroit Dam, Bonneville Dam, the Celilo Canal, Ice Harbor Dam, and Yale Dam.

Of special note are 20 color slides of Native Americans fishing at Celilo Falls on the Columbia River before the area was flooded by The Dalles Dam.  These images depict fishing platforms, fishermen netting salmon, a water-powered fish wheel, and a fishermen’s camp.

Images from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.

Jack Williams was “taken with photography in the 1930s”, in the words of his son Gerald W. Williams.  Jack Williams’ eldest son, Jack A. Williams, purchased cameras and lenses on behalf of his father when he was stationed with the U.S. Air Force in Germany.  Jack Williams was an opportunistic photographer, according to his son Gerald; he didn’t set stages or use a flash or tripod.  However, he did use a special shoulder mount for his cameras.  Williams enjoyed photographing waterfowl, wildlife, and landscapes.  He also took his camera with him to construction sites for dams and highways throughout the Pacific Northwest.  Jack Williams rarely photographed people, except for occasional snapshots.

John Francis (known as Jack) Williams was born in Iowa on August 7, 1908.  He worked in Indiana and Minnesota as a young man.  After two marriages ended in divorce, Jack moved to Oregon in 1938, settling first in Klamath Falls with his third wife Gladys Norgard.  In about 1940, the Williams moved to Eugene, Oregon, where their sons Gerald W. and James were born.  Jack worked as a mechanic throughout his life and established, with partners, an auto-electric business in Springfield, Oregon, in the 1950s.  Jack moved to California  in about 1959.

More Extent Information: 735 slides; 1 box

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: These materials were acquired by the former University Archives in 2007.  They were originally described as a component of the Gerald W. Williams Collection (MSS WilliamsG) and were separated for description as this collection in 2016.

Related Materials:

The Eugene Starr Papers include extensive materials documenting dams and hydroelectric power generation in the Pacific Northwest.

The core of Gerald Williams' research materials are maintained as the Gerald W. Williams Papers (MSS WilliamsG).  Other materials that were collected by Williams have been described as separate collections:  Gerald W. Williams Slides (P 314); Gerald W. Williams Regional Albums (P 303); Gerald W. Williams Collection of Forestry and Northwest History Publications (MSS WilliamsPubs); Gerald W. Williams Collection on the Civilian Conservation Corps (MSS CCC); Gerald W. Williams Moving Image and Sound Recordings Collection (FV 320); Gerald W. Williams Collection on Smokey Bear (MSS Smokey);  Gerald W. Wiliams Prints Collection (MSS WilliamsPrints); Jason S. Elder Forest Service Diary (MSS Elder); C.C. Hall Photograph Album (P 301); J.F. Ford Photographs (P 308); Forest Service Equipment Development Center Photograph Album (P 311); Mount Hood Area Excursion Photograph Album (P 310); Frank Patterson Photographic Postcards (P 312) and Gerald W. Williams Lantern Slides Collection (P 319).

Preferred Citation: Jack Williams Slides (P 315), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries.

Processing Information:

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.

Historically, "squaw" has been used as a misogynist and racist slur to disparage indigenous American women. Within this historic usage, it has been applied to place names, and scientific or colloquial names for plants. In this collection, the term "squaw" is used the context of Squaw Valley, California, a geographical location. This location appears to have been renamed Olympic Valley.

In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collecctions, we have retained the use of this phrase in the collection description. We acknowledge the racism represented by this language and the harm it may cause our users. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitidues or behavior depicted therein. For more information on impacted collections, see the blog post.

[Date of Acknowledgement: December 2023]

Williams, Jack (1908-)

Cascade Range
Celilo Falls (Wash.)
Columbia River Gorge (Or. and Wash.)
Crater Lake (Or.)
Dams--Oregon.
Dams--Washington (State)
Indians of North America--Fishing--Oregon--Celilo.
McKenzie River (Or.)
Natural Resources
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Pacific Coast (Or.)

Slides (photographs).