Interviewer: Jennifer Lee
Interview Date: April 19, 1979
Location: Peavy Hall, Oregon State University
Duration: 1:42:27
The interview opens with Merryman recounting his memories of Delmer Goode, Merryman’s Scout Master when he was a teenager. Carl’s father abandoned the family around the same time that Merryman joined the troop, so Goode became a father figure to him. He recalls climbing Marys Peak at least seven times with his troop, and notes that on clear days the horizon stretched from Mt. Shasta all the way to Mt. Rainier. The topic then shifts to Merryman’s memories of athletic events at Oregon State Agricultural College. He attended baseball games frequently and talks a little about the rivalry between OSAC and the University of Oregon. He then discusses his freshman year at OSAC, explaining that all freshmen were given a “Rook Bible” which detailed the campus traditions they were expected to uphold, for which they received stamps upon successful completion. If they did not receive a stamp for a particular task within a specified time frame, the “Beaver Knights” would punish them.
Merryman then talks about how Corvallis has changed since his childhood. He explains that when concrete sidewalks first came into use, contractors used to put their names and the date in the sidewalk when they poured it, so it was possible to trace the development of the city by walking down the street and looking at the dates. When he was a child, Corvallis had very few sidewalks, favoring instead dirt or gravel roads and wooden sidewalks. He recalls that even when he was a child, Corvallis’s expansion was mainly to the north and to the west. He explains that the south side of Corvallis used to be very sparse, mainly populated by mills and a small community of people who were employed by the mills. He also talks about the impact of the Great Depression on Corvallis. He witnessed the staff being pared down at OSAC, where he had started attending shortly before the Wall Street collapse, and he also saw the shrinking of the student body. He was able to continue attending school because he received a scholarship and a loan for which he was eligible based on his Scouting involvement.
He then talks about some of his college experiences and admits that his school, engineering, was somewhat elitist in its feeling that engineering students should keep to their own corner and not interact with the rest of campus. Merryman was bothered by this as he had wide-ranging interests and struggled to get approval to take some of the non-engineering electives he was interested in. He eventually switched to mathematics and education after realizing that he wanted to work with individuals. The interview concludes with Merryman’s memories of his teaching career and of the Corvallis fire department, which was highly respected.
Carl Merryman was born in 1909 and raised in Corvallis, Oregon. He attended the South School grade school, Corvallis High School, and Oregon State Agricultural College, all in Corvallis. He entered OSAC in 1929, with a major in engineering and a concentration in aeronautics. He later switched to mathematics and education, and subsequently built a career as a 9th grade math teacher. He passed away in 1999.
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Merryman then talks about how Corvallis has changed since his childhood. He explains that when concrete sidewalks first came into use, contractors used to put their names and the date in the sidewalk when they poured it, so it was possible to trace the development of the city by walking down the street and looking at the dates. When he was a child, Corvallis had very few sidewalks, favoring instead dirt or gravel roads and wooden sidewalks. He recalls that even when he was a child, Corvallis’s expansion was mainly to the north and to the west. He explains that the south side of Corvallis used to be very sparse, mainly populated by mills and a small community of people who were employed by the mills. He also talks about the impact of the Great Depression on Corvallis. He witnessed the staff being pared down at OSAC, where he had started attending shortly before the Wall Street collapse, and he also saw the shrinking of the student body. He was able to continue attending school because he received a scholarship and a loan for which he was eligible based on his Scouting involvement.
He then talks about some of his college experiences and admits that his school, engineering, was somewhat elitist in its feeling that engineering students should keep to their own corner and not interact with the rest of campus. Merryman was bothered by this as he had wide-ranging interests and struggled to get approval to take some of the non-engineering electives he was interested in. He eventually switched to mathematics and education after realizing that he wanted to work with individuals. The interview concludes with Merryman’s memories of his teaching career and of the Corvallis fire department, which was highly respected.
Carl Merryman was born in 1909 and raised in Corvallis, Oregon. He attended the South School grade school, Corvallis High School, and Oregon State Agricultural College, all in Corvallis. He entered OSAC in 1929, with a major in engineering and a concentration in aeronautics. He later switched to mathematics and education, and subsequently built a career as a 9th grade math teacher. He passed away in 1999.