This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
By Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Nielsen.
Title: John T. and Virginia E. Merrifield Collection, 1916-2008
Predominant Dates: 1945-1990
ID: MSS Merrifield
Primary Creator: Merrifield, John T.
Extent: 1.7 cubic feet. More info below.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The John T. and Virginia E. Merrifield Collection documents the Merrifields' student years at Oregon State, John's career as a civil engineer and involvement in professional engineering organizations, and their family. The collection includes artifacts, a baby book, certificates, correspondence, curriculum vitae, notebooks, plaques, publications, scrapbooks, sound recordings, and a student paper.
The two scrapbooks were assembled by Virginia and contain correspondence, event programs, photographs, newspaper clippings, and publications documenting John's engineering career and the military service of Virginia's father, Arthur Broderson, in World War I. The baby book reflects the childhood of the Merrifields' daughter, Kathy, and is housed in a box with examples of Kathy's art, newspaper clippings, and a photograph. Correspondence sent to Kathy after her father's death in 2007 include stories about John from friends and former co-workers.
The materials from the Merrifields' student years include a paper written by John, A Quantitative Survey of the Corvallis Sewage, as an undergraduate thesis in civil engineering and a notebook generated by Virginia for a shorthand class. John's paper was selected as the best student paper by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), for which he received a one-year free membership in the organization.
The collection includes a wallet designed by Arthur Broderson for John and a registered professional engineer rubber stamp. Two audiocassette tapes include a recording of John's funeral service in 2007.
More Extent Information: 80 photographs; 4 boxes, including 2 oversize boxes
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: The collection was donated by Kathy Merrifield, the Merrifields' daughter.
Related Materials: The Special Collections and Archives Research Center holdings include collections from many Oregon State alumni, including several engineering alumni. Most notable are the John W. Green Papers (MSS Green), a civil engineer in bridge design, primarily in California; the James C. Howland Papers (MSS Howland) and the Fred Merryfield Papers (MSS Merryfield), founders of the CH2M engineering firm; and the Samuel H. Graf Collection (MSS Graf). Materials pertaining to civil engineering instruction and research at Oregon State are available in the College of Engineering Records (RG 062) and the Civil Engineering Department Records (RG 030).
Preferred Citation: John T. and Virginia E. Merrifield Collection (MSS Merrifield), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Processing Information: This collection is not fully processed; this guide is preliminary.
Merrifield, John T.
Merrifield, Virginia E.
Bridges--Oregon.
Broderson, Arthur.
Civil engineering--Oregon.
Civil engineers--Oregon.
Merrifield, John T.
Merrifield, Virginia E.
Oregon State University--Alumni and alumnae.
Sewerage--Oregon--Corvallis.
University History
World War, 1914-1918--Veterans--Oregon.
Audiocassettes.
Photographic prints.
Scrapbooks.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.