By Finding aid prepared by Michael Dicianna.
Title: Oregon State University Military Photographs Collection, 1875-1965
Predominant Dates: 1915-1965
ID: P 002
Primary Creator: Oregon State University. Reserve Officers Training Corps
Extent: 2.0 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The Oregon State University Military Photographs Collection is arranged into five series by chronological era: I. Pre World War One, 1875-1917; II. World War One, 1916-1918; III. Inter-War Years, 1919-1939; IV. World War Two, 1940-1945; V. Cold War Years, 1946-1975. The series include subseries; photographs are arranged numerically within subseries and series.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Oregon State University Military Photographs Collection consists of images of military education and cadets at Oregon State from various sources and time periods. Individual images include portraits and group shots of military cadets and officers, as well as reviews, formations, training, and instructional materials. Photographs are arranged chronologically by historical era. Courses in military science have been taught at Oregon State since the early 1870s.
Images from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.
The Oregon State University Military Photographs Collection contains images of Oregon State military science and tactics cadets and officers from its beginning in 1873 through the 1960s. Many photographs are prints of images found in Oregon State publications such as the Barometer campus newspaper. The development of cadet uniforms and training can be seen throughout the collection. Images include views of campus buildings and locations during various eras. The collection contains prints and original negatives, glass negatives/positives (some hand colored), and instructional lantern slides of World War I vintage.
Subject matter features cadet formations on parade fields during military inspection day events, artillery, cavalry and engineering training scenes and casual snapshots. The collection includes a large group of glass negatives of early Oregon Agricultural College cadet corps circa 1870 through 1918. A glass lantern slide collection of instructional materials for Military Tactics courses includes images from World War One, with a focus on combat engineers. Numerous images of Ulysses Grant McAlexander are included in the collection. After WWI, the Oregon Agricultural College ROTC program expanded to include the new mechanized units developed in the Great War. Photographs from this period show the new cadet artillery batteries equipped with surplus US Army equipment. The annual inspection of cadets by dignitaries was a popular event during the college year and is well documented in the collection. Dignitaries that are depicted include Oregon Governors Charles Martin and Charles Sprague and Oregon State Presidents William Jasper Kerr, George Peavy, and A.L. Strand. The US Army ROTC Pershing Rifles are well represented with photographs of drill team competitions and awards during the 1960s. Stock U.S. Military photographs and college photographs from all eras are found in the series.
Images from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.
Courses in Military Science and Tactics were first taught at Oregon State in 1872. In 1873 Captain Benjamin D. Boswell was appointed Professor of Military Science and Tactics (1873-1876), the first U.S. Army officer on active duty to hold such a position in any land grant college in the West. The first cadet uniforms, worn at all times by male students, were gray with caps of the Civil War type. The more familiar blue uniforms were adopted in 1893.
ROTC at Oregon State University is made up of the Departments of Military Science, Naval Science, and Air Force Studies. In 1917, the Department of Military Sciences became responsible for all military training under the National Defense Act of 1916. The act expanded and standardized the training of Army Officers by colleges and universities and established the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). During World War II, OSU became known as the "West Point of the West" for commissioning more officers than any other non-military academy in the nation. At the end of World War II, the Secretary of the Navy commissioned the Department of Naval Science (ROTC) on this campus to provide the training of both Navy and Marine Corps officers. On July 1, 1949, the U.S. Air Force activated an AFROTC unit that is now called the Department of Air Force Studies. As of 1999, OSU is one of only 48 colleges and universities that offers education for all three military departments.
Originally, two years of military science and tactics were required of all able-bodied male students, but since 1962, ROTC has been voluntary. Since 1965, two-year programs have been available for students who have finished two years of college but have not taken ROTC previously.
More Extent Information: 1000 photographs; 13 boxes, including 4 oversize boxes, and 2 map folders
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: The materials were acquired from a variety of donors from the 1960s through 1990s.
Related Materials: Photographs of military cadets and their activities are found in many collections. Harriet's Photograph Collection (P HC) has prints made from the glass negatives in the Oregon State University Military Photographs Collection (P 002) and other original images. Various military records and photographs are found in the following collections: Ulysses Grant McAlexander Collection (MSS McAlexander), Army ROTC Photographs (P 257), Reserve Officer Training Corps Records (RG 058), Army Specialized Training Program Records (RG 059), Students' Army Training Corps Records (RG 060), and Air Force ROTC Photographs (P 281).
Preferred Citation: Oregon State University Military Photographs Collection (P 002), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Oregon State University. Reserve Officers Training Corps
Army Specialized Training Program (U.S.)
Fort Lewis (Wash.)
Kerr, William Jasper, 1863-1947
Martin, Charles H. (Charles Henry), 1863-1946
McAlexander, Ulysses Grant, 1864-1936
Military education--Oregon--Corvallis.
Oregon Agricultural College--Students.
Oregon Agricultural College. Cadet Corps
Oregon State College--Students.
Oregon State University--Students.
Oregon State University. Department of Air Force Studies
Oregon State University. Department of Military Science
Oregon State University. Reserve Officers Training Corps
Peavy, George Wilcox, 1869-1951
Sprague, Charles A. (Charles Arthur), 1887-1969
Strand, A. L. (August Leroy), 1894-
United States. Air Force ROTC
United States. Army. Reserve Officers' Training Corps
United States. Army. Students' Army Training Corps.
United States. Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps
University History
World War, 1914-1918--Campaigns--France.
World War, 1914-1918--War work--Schools.
World War, 1939-1945--War work--Schools.
Film negatives.
Glass plate negatives.
Lantern slides.
Panoramic photographs.
Photographic postcards.
Photographic prints.
Slides (photographs).