Finding People: Selected Genealogical Information Sources in the OSU Libraries Special Collections & Archives Research Center

The Special Collections & Archives Research Center has many resources at its disposal to provide assistance for genealogists and others interested in tracking down information about individuals once affiliated with Oregon State University. Below is a select list of sources that may useful in research of this type.

• Oregon State Yearbooks, 1894 & 1908-present. Early yearbooks document activities of students, particularly seniors, and include portraits of most students. The Oregon State Yearbooks have been digitized and are available online. The digital collection is keyword searchable and most yearbooks also include a comprehensive student index. The Beaver Yearbook Photograph Collection (P 003) includes many of the original photographs used in the publication for selected years. A few individual colleges also published yearbooks, such as the College of Forestry's Annual Cruise, 1920-1975.
• University Catalogs, 1866-present. Catalogs through 1956-57 include lists of students enrolled. Catalogs provide description of all classes offered by the institution. All catalogs list faculty members, including year of employment at OSU and degree dates and institutions. This collection has been digitized and is available online. (Choose "Browse by Issue Date")
• Memorabilia Collection Includes biographical files on prominent alumni and local citizens, and many faculty members.
• Fusser's Guide (student directory), 1912-1997. Lists students' names, major, class, and campus address. (The Fusser's Guide and the Staff Directory were combined into the OSU Directory in 1997.)
• Staff directories, 1904-1997 (except 1933-34 & 1934-35). Lists position title, department name and address, and phone number of each OSU employee. May also include home address and phone number.
• Commencement Programs, 1870-present. Lists degrees conferred and honors and awards given to students.
• News & Communication Services Records (RG 203) and Extension & Experiment Station Communication Records (RG 69) Contains biographical files on many faculty members; 1940-1996. Records of individual departments and colleges often contain biographical files of selected faculty members.
• Alumni Association Records (RG 35) Includes class records (lists of class members, by-laws, scrapbooks, minutes, etc.), 1902-1944 [not complete]; and class reunion records (Classes of 1888-1929, 1938 and 1967).
• Daily Barometer (campus newspaper), 1896-present. Contains a variety of articles, features, obituaries, and other information on many students and faculty members. Indexed through about 1981.
• Faculty and staff personnel files, ca. 1910-present. University personnel files are maintained by SCARC and often include considerable biographical information. NOTE: Because the personnel files contain confidential information, researcher access to these records is restricted. SCARC staff members can review personnel files for pertinent information which can be disclosed.
• Student academic records, ca. 1900-present. Jointly administered be SCARC and the Registrar's Office. Contain transcripts, and sometimes applications and other documents useful to genealogists. NOTE: Access to these records is restricted by the Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). If the student is deceased, proof of such (obituary or death certificate) is necessary to obtain information from the records.
• Alumni directories, 1910, 1913, 1917, 1922, 1925 & 1949-1952. Includes names, dates of attendance, degree, employment, and home address. Directories for 1949-1952 were published as part of the Oregon Stater.
• Corvallis telephone directories, 1909-1910 & 1936-1982 (selected years missing).
• Harriet's Photograph Collection This collection was named for OSU's first archivist, Harriet Moore. It contains early (pre-1930) photos of students, faculty, and staff.
• Faculty and Staff Photographic Collection (P 46), 1896-1970; and President's Office Photographic Collection (P 92), ca. 1930-1995. Consists of portraits and group photographs of OSU faculty and staff members. Most of the portraits are photographs that were removed from original employment applications submitted in the 1930s through the 1960s.
• Oral History Collections Contains interviews from the 1950s to the present with OSU faculty members and prominent alumni and local citizens. Includes the oral history collection from the Horner Museum (transferred in 1996). Interview lists available by request.
• Manuscripts Collections Many of these collections, particularly collections of faculty papers, include biographical information on the creator of the collection and his/her family.
• Oregon Stater alumni magazine. The Oregon Stater, first published in 1915, is a wealth of information for researchers interested in the people who have made up OSU over the years. Copies of the alumni magazines through the early 1960s are available in the SCARC Reading Room; newer issues are cataloged as part of the SCARC book collections. The Oregon Stater Index which logs every issue of the publication since its founding in 1915, is available online.
• Guides to other archives and special collections. SCARC maintains a collection of guides to selected repositories across the United States and Canada, particularly in the Western U.S.