Lucy Lewis Scrapbook, 1914-1915

Predominant Dates: 1915

The Lucy Lewis Scrapbook humorously documents a twelve-day hiking excursion taken by Lewis and six companions in 1915 to Mount Jefferson, a peak in Oregon's Cascade Range. The scrapbook contains an extensive narrative, a list of previous climbers successful in summiting Mount Jefferson, a full accounting of provisions, a Santiam National Forest brochure, a small ink and watercolor painting, and more than 100 photographs. In 1911 Lucy Lewis began her career at Oregon Agricultural College as an assistant librarian and, in 1920, was appointed College Librarian. She retired in 1944.

Creators

ID: MSS Lewis

Extent: 0.06 cubic feet

More Extent Information

Scope and Content Notes

The Lucy Lewis Scrapbook documents the activities of Lewis and her companions during a hiking and camping trip to Mount Jefferson, a peak in Oregon's Cascade Range. The twelve-day excursion spanned late July through early August 1915 and involved seven individuals, including at least four members of the Oregon Agricultural College faculty, referred to in the scrapbook's narrative as the "Happy Gang". Participants were each assigned a moniker and included A. J. Stover (Captain), George Calvin (First Mate, Billy the Goat), Alice Edwards (The Jaunty One), Lillian M. George (Hungry Georgie), Myra Bartlett (The Dodger), Lucy Lewis (Lucifer), and Hilda Miller (Sophrone, Nanny the Goatee).

The party began in Corvallis, Oregon and travelled through Albany to Detroit, Oregon by train. From Detroit, they followed what is now Oregon Route 22 to Hoover (now Idanha) and hiked the Whitewater Trail to Jefferson Park. The majority of the trip's activities took place in Jefferson Park and surrounding area (now the Mount Jefferson Wilderness). Members of the group made several partial climbs of Mount Jefferson and, on August 1, Stover, Calvin, Edwards, and Miller attempted to summit the mountain in hopes of entering their names in its Mazama register (a record box placed at the summit by Mazama Club members in 1897). However, an unfamiliarity with the terrain caused the party to scale one of the mountain's lesser peaks and they were forced to abandon the attempt.

The scrapbook includes a twenty page typed narrative humorously detailing the events of each day. Included are descriptions of the local scenery, the activities of each member, and several minor mishaps involving forgotten and misplaced supplies, equipment failures, lost party members, and an incident in which several of the climbers were caught on the moutainside after nightfall. Also included is a two-page typescript detailing the first successful summitting of Mount Jefferson by a woman; an informational brochure and map of the Santiam National Forest (now part of the Willamette National Forest); a 1.5" x 3.5" ink and watercolor painting of Mount Jefferson; and more than 100 photographs from the trip. The photos, most of which are pasted into the scrapbook, include numerous images of Mount Jefferson, the Jefferson Park landscape, and members of the "Happy Gang". Also included are several real photo postcards featuring scenes of Milk Creek and Mount Jefferson with annotations dated July 1914.

Reference scans of the scrapbook and the loose materials associated with the scrapbook have been made into two PDFs and are available upon request.

Biographical / Historical Notes

Lucy Lewis began her career at Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) in 1911 as an assistant librarian. In 1920, she was promoted to librarian and, in 1932 proposed and oversaw the development of a unified library system for the Oregon State System of Higher Education, for which she was named director. Lewis was born in Traer, Iowa. She attended Pomona College for three years before transfering to the University of Illinois in Urbana where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in 1905 and Bachelor of Library Science in 1906. She accepted a position as a librarian at the New Mexico College of Agriculture and Mechanical Arts in 1906, where she remained until her transition to OAC. Lewis retired from Oregon State College in 1944. She remained unmarried until her death in 1951.

Alice Edwards, born 1882 in Monroe, Oregon, graduated from OAC in 1906. She joined the College's faculty in 1909 as an instructor in Zoology and Entomology. In 1917, she transitioned to the University of Minnesota and, later, to the University of Illinois. Later, Edwards earned Master and Doctor of Education degrees from Columbia University, served as Executive Secretary of the American Home Economics Association, and worked as the Head of Home Economics at Rhode Island State College and at Mary Washington College. She died in 1962 in Salem, Oregon.

Lillian Mabel George joined the OAC faculty in 1913 as a cataloger in the OAC library. A native of Amesbury, Massachusetts, she earned a Bachelor of Science from the Rhode Island State College, a Bachelor of Arts in Library Science from the University of Illinois, and a Bachelor of Library Science from the New York State Library School. Before joining the OAC staff, she had experience as a library cataloger and a scientific assistant. In 1913 she accepted a position as head of the OAC Continuations Department, where she remained until 1921 when she transitioned to the Washington State Normal School.

Hilda Miller was born in 1886 in Tobias, Nebraska. After earning a Bachelor of Science from the University of Chicago, she worked as a high school science teacher in Nebraska. In 1912, she joined the OAC faculty as an instructor in Chemistry. Miller resigned from OAC in June 1916.

Statement on Access: The collection is open for research.

Preferred Citation: Lucy Lewis Scrapbook (MSS Lewis), Oregon State University Special Collections Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Acquisition Note: The Lucy Lewis Scrapbook was donated to the Oregon State University Library by the estate of Lucy Lewis. The scrapbook now resides in the Special Collections & Archives Research Center.

Languages of Materials

English

Other

People, Places, and Topics

Forms of Material

Related Materials

The Mt. Jefferson excursion party, 1915.

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