The Virgil Hiatt Photograph Album was created to celebrate Hiatt's retirement from the position of Chief Chemist at the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Laboratory Services unit. The album primarily consists of images of Hiatt and his colleagues working in the Salem, Oregon-based laboratory, as taken by labmate Juan F. Muniz. Hiatt spent two years as a graduate student in Chemistry at Oregon State College before joining the Department of Agriculture in 1939. He retired in 1977.
More Extent Information
1 oversize box; 160 photographs
Biographical / Historical Notes
Virgil Gerald Hiatt was born in 1913 in Buttercreek, Oregon. As a child, he and his family moved to Portland and, a few years later, to Vernonia, Oregon, where Hiatt completed his high school years. After earning a bachelor's degree from Pacific College (now George Fox University) in 1936, Hiatt spent the 1937-38 and 1938-39 academic years working towards a master's degree in Chemistry at Oregon State College. While at Oregon State, Hiatt was employed by the Agricultural Chemistry Experiment Station and also worked as a teaching assistant in Agricultural Biochemistry.
Hiatt left OSC in June 1939 to accept a position with the Oregon Department of Agriculture as a feed chemist. In 1942 he was granted leave to serve in the United States Army during World War II, and he spent the next four years on active duty, primarily in the European theatre.
Upon his return to Oregon in 1946, Hiatt was named fertilizer chemist and assistant chief chemist within the state Department of Agriculture. He was later appointed economic poison chemist and, eventually, chief chemist within the department's Laboratory Services unit. During his career, Hiatt helped to organize the state's Committee on Synthetic Chemicals in the Environment, administered the Oregon Pesticide Use Clearinghouse, chaired the statewide Pesticide Review Board, and oversaw all Oregon laboratories credentialed to analyze milk shipped between states.
As a researcher, Hiatt made important contributions to the development of methods for determining organic materials in soils as well as ethylene produced as a resperation product by stored fruits. He also helped to develop improved techniques for analyzing copper naphthenate. In 1976, Hiatt was one of eight chemists honored by the Portland Section of the American Chemical Society for contributions made to chemistry in Oregon.
Virgil Hiatt retired from the Oregon Department of Agriculture in 1977. He passed away in Salem in 1993.
Author: Chris Petersen
Arrangement
The Virgil Hiatt Photograph Album is loosely arranged by theme, with images of Hiatt in the laboratory grouped together near the front. Similarly grouped are portraits of laboratory staff, images of staff working in the laboratory, and a series of photos from Hiatt's retirement party. The album's four composite photos are interspersed throughout.
