Alexander K. Chapman Photograph Collection, 1908-1910

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The Alexander K. Chapman Photograph Collection is comprised of photographs assembled by Alexander Kesterson Chapman between 1905 and 1909, when he was a student at Oregon Agricultural College. The collection includes photographs of student groups on campus, but is primarily comprised of individual portraits, both identified and not identified. Chapman graduated in 1909 with a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering.

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

Creators

ID: P 235

Extent: 0.3 cubic feet

More Extent Information

Scope and Content Notes

Biographical / Historical Notes

Alexander Kesterson (alternately written as Kester, Kesterton, or Kesterin) Chapman was born December 21, 1884 in Mayview, Washington. His father, Zenas Haines Chapman, served as a private in the Union army (Company K, 147^th Regiment Illinois), and received a commendation for Distinguished Service. In February 1884, Zenas married Martha Jane Mark Chapman in Pomeroy, Washington.

By 1900, the Chapman family was living in Grants Pass, Oregon, where Zenas had found work as a carpenter. Zenas passed away two years later, when Alexander was just 18. Martha would never remarry, and raised the couple’s five children – Alexander, Zena, Electa, Susie May, and William – alone. For her husband’s military service she received an “Army widow’s” pension which, in 1908, amounted to $12 per month, with an additional $2 per minor residing in the household.

Alexander began his studies at Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) in 1905. He studied electrical engineering and was very involved on campus as a student. Among other things, he was the treasurer of his senior class, track team captain, a member of the Zetegathian Literary Society and, by his senior year, had risen to the rank of Captain of the First battalion, Company C of the OAC Cadets. Of particular note is his status as a charter member of the Sphinx Society, a somewhat enigmatic honor society for select men of the senior class. Of Chapman, the Sphinx membership yearbook states: “He was always sincere in his convictions and lived up to them to the best of his ability…He was a worker and always ready.” Interestingly, his sister Zena also attended classes at OAC in 1905 as a “special,” non-degree-seeking student.

Chapman graduated from OAC in 1909. He moved back in with his mother and siblings still living in Grants Pass, and began work in the Plant Department of the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company. On November 9, 1913, Alexander married Jeritza Margaret Turk, an emigre from what is now Slovenia. Jeritza, who went by Margaret, had one child, Alphonse, from a previous marriage; the couple have one child, Lena Margaret, together.

By 1920, Alexander, Margaret, their children, and Alexander’s mother Martha had moved to Portland, Oregon, where Alexander worked as an electrical engineer for the telephone company, and Margaret as a cook in a delicatessen. In 1939 Margaret passed away; four years later, on September 25, 1943, Alexander married Arlie Belle Dorathy. Alexander K. Chapman died July 16, 1968 in Santa Clara, California.

Author: Rachel Lilley

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Arrangement

Preferred Citation: Alexander K. Chapman Photograph Collection (P 235), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Acquisition Note: The photographs were donated to the Archives in 1999 by Chapman's daughter, Evelyn Chapman Back.

Acquired: 1999.

Languages of Materials

English

Other

Container List

Series 1: Photographs, circa 1908-1910 Add to Shelf

The images in the Alexander K. Chapman Photograph Collection consist primarily of individual portraits of OAC students (many made by Gardner) of the Classes of 1909 and 1910. Many of these images were published in the 1909 or 1910 Orange yearbook. The Collection also includes several campus views and images of student groups and unidentified portraits by photographers in Grants Pass, Oregon. Of particular note is an image of an OAC cadet parade in downtown Corvallis.

Item P235:01: View to west From Lower Campus, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Waldo Hall, Agriculture Hall [Furman Hall], Administration Building [Community Hall], and Apperson Hall [Kearney Hall] can all be seen
Item P235:02: Administration Building [Community Hall], circa 1909 Add to Shelf
Item P235:03: View of Italianate house, circa 1909 Add to Shelf
Item P235:04: Military review on Lower Campus, circa 1909 Add to Shelf
Item P235:05: Cadets on parade on Main Street [Second Street], circa 1909 Add to Shelf: View to north includes Second Street from Jefferson to Madison Avenues (especially businesses on east side)
Item P235:06: OAC cadets in camp, 1909 Add to Shelf: At the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition in Seattle, June 5-9, 1909
Item P235:07: Football players, circa 1909 Add to Shelf
Item P235:08: Group of women outdoors, circa 1909 Add to Shelf
Item P235:09: Linnie Currin, 1909 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1910 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:10: Fred Deininger Luse, 1909 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1910 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:11: Cedric Hiram Stone, 1909 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1910 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:12: Pearl Irene Williams, 1909 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1910 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:13: Frank Ross Brown, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:14: Roy Clark, 1908 Add to Shelf: Published in 1909 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:15: George A. Cross, 1908 Add to Shelf: Publishd in the 1909 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:16: Beulah Gilkey, 1908 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1909 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:17: Helen Gilkey, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:18: Sylvester Benjamin Hall, 1908 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1909 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:19: Sylvester Benjamin Hall, 1908 Add to Shelf: Track team captain, published in the 1910 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:20: E.A. Hudson, 1907 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:21: Charles D. Hull, 1908 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1909 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis. Caption states that Hull was "killed in electric power station, Seattle, December 3, 1909."
Item P235:22: Emma Leighton, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Peterson Tacoma
Item P235:23: Harold D. Marsh, 1909 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1910 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:24: Irving Province, 1909 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1910 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:25: Mula R. Soi, 1908 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1909 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:26: Jesse A. Tiffany, 1908 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1909 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:27: F.J. Wilson, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:28: Sinclair A. Wilson, 1909 Add to Shelf: Published in the 1909 Orange, produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:29: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Grants Pass Art Studio
Item P235:30: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Grants Pass Art Studio
Item P235:31: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Grants Pass Art Studio
Item P235:32: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Grants Pass Art Studio
Item P235:33: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Grants Pass Art Studio
Item P235:34: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Grants Pass Art Studio
Item P235:35: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:36: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf
Item P235:37: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:38: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf
Item P235:39: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:40: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:41: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:42: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:43: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf
Item P235:44: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:45: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:46: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:47: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf: Produced by: Gardner of Corvallis
Item P235:48: Unidentified portait, circa 1909 Add to Shelf

People, Places, and Topics

Forms of Material

Related Materials

Alexander Kesterton Chapman and James Hugh McCall in their room in Cauthorn Hall, February 11, 1906.

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