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Title: Hattie Hanna and George B. Hovenden Collection, 1880-1932

ID: MSS Hovenden

Primary Creator: Hovenden, Hattie Hanna

Extent: 0.15 cubic feet. More info below.

Date Acquired: 00/00/2004

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Hattie Hanna and George B. Hovenden Collection is comprised of materials assembled by alumni Hattie Hanna and George B. Hovenden that document their experience at Corvallis College. This collection is made up of commencement programs, diplomas, newspaper clippings, photographs and a handwritten manuscript of George's graduation speech. Hattie graduated in 1880 and George in 1883. The two married in 1893.

The Hattie Hanna and George B. Hovenden Collection is comprised of materials assembled by alumni Hattie Hanna and George B. Hovenden that document their experience at Corvallis College. This collection is made up of commencement programs, diplomas, newspaper clippings, photographs, and a handwritten manuscript of George's graduation speech. The title of the speech is "The Money Value of Education". The photographs are portrait shots of Hattie and George, as well as Hattie's fellow graduates from the class of 1880: William Yates, Lillian Glass, Edgar Grimm, and S. G. McCann.

Hattie Hanna was born in Corvallis, Oregon, in 1861. Her parents Joseph and Esther were early settlers of the Corvallis area when they arrived in the Willamette Valley in 1852. Esther Hanna's diary detailing their journey west across the Oregon Trail was chronicled in the book Canvas Caravans by Eleanor Allen. In 1853, Joseph formed a congregation that would later be incorporated as the First Presbyterian Church of Corvallis. Hattie graduated from Corvallis College in 1880.

George Bartholomew Hovenden was born in Hubbard, Oregon, in 1861. He graduated from Corvallis College in 1883.

In 1893, Hattie and George married and the couple went to reside on the Hovenden family farm in Hubbard. Together, the Hovendens raised one child, Grace, who was born in 1899. A few years later, the Hovendens moved to Portland, where George established and managed a retail business selling pianos (the Hovenden Piano Company). George worked in this business until his death in 1932. Hattie died in 1956.

Active in the Oregon State Alumni Association, the Hovendens regularly attended the annual class reunion gatherings. Hattie served as one as the reunion "managers" for several years and was usually recognized from the 1940s onward as the earliest woman graduate in attendance at those reunions.

Author: Karl McCreary

More Extent Information: 6 photographs; 2 boxes, including 1 oversize box

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: This collection was donated to the University Archives in 2004 by Carolyn Cramer Steward, granddaughter of Hattie and George Hovenden.

Related Materials:

Other collections in the Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives that document the student experience of Corvallis College alumni include: the Leander N. Liggett Papers (MSS Liggett); the Nettie Spencer Papers (MSS Spencer); and the William F. Herrin Papers (MSS Herrin). Material relating to 1871 Corvallis College alumna Alice Biddle can be found in the OSU Memorabilia Collection.

The News and Communication Services Records (RG 203) contains materials compiled as a biographical file for Hattie Hovenden. Articles about the Hovendens' participation in alumni reunion activities and their obituaries are featured in the OSU Alumni Magazine online.

Preferred Citation: Hattie Hanna and George B. Hovenden Collection (MSS Hovenden), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Finding Aid Revision History: This finding aid replaces information about the collection that was placed online in 2012.

Hovenden, Hattie Hanna
Hovenden, George B.

College students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Commencement ceremonies--Oregon--Corvallis.
Corvallis College--Alumni and alumnae.
Corvallis College--Students.
Hovenden, George B.
Hovenden, Hattie Hanna
Universities and colleges--Alumni and alumnae--Oregon--Corvallis.
University History

Photographic prints.