Marian Field Collection, 1933-1982

Title: Marian Field Collection, 1933-1982

Predominant Dates: 1933-1941

ID: MSS Field

Primary Creator: Field, Marian

Extent: 3.0 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The Marian Field Collection is comprised of two series: Series 1. Illustrations for Trees and Shrubs in Winter, 1936-1982 and Series 2. Illustrations of Oregon Fungi, 1933-1934. All illustrations are organized by species name.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Marian Field Collection is comprised of nearly 250 botanical illustrations created by Field between 1933 and 1941, as well as a small collection of photographs and textual documents.

The bulk of the collection is comprised of nearly 200 illustrations created for use in Trees and Shrubs in Winter, a book written by University of Oregon botany professor Frank Sipe and supported by the Works Progress Administration (WPA). Though the book was never published, the University of Oregon Herbarium exhibited Field's illustrations in the 1980s and the collection includes text panels from that exhibit. The collection also includes colorized photos of 15 of Field's illustrations and a small body of correspondence between Sipe and potential publishers.

The collection also includes more than 50 illustrations of Oregon fungi created by Field in 1933-1934. These illustrations were likely created in cooperation with Louis Henderson, curator of the University of Oregon Herbarium. A small number of reference photographs of fungi is also extant.

Marian Field (née Rorapaugh) was born in the Dakota Territory on November 7, 1885. She attended the Cincinnati Art Institute and, in 1902, married musician William B. Field. In 1905, she took a position as head of the University of North Dakota Art Department where she stayed until 1909. After leaving the University of North Dakota, she attended the Minneapolis School of Fine Arts.

The Field family moved to Eugene, Oregon in 1910. She attended the University of Oregon and earned a B.A. in fine arts in 1930 and took graduate coursework through 1933. From 1929 to 1933, Field worked at the University's art and architecture library. During this time, she also worked closely with Dr. Louis Henderson, curator of the University of Oregon Herbarium, for whom she made numerous botanical illustrations. Beginning in the mid-1930s, Field also did extensive illustrative work for botany professor Frank Sipe.

In 1939, Field became director of the Salem Art Center, a Works Project Administration (WPA) project. After the Salem Art Center was defunded in the early 1940s, she moved to Corvallis, Oregon and taught in the Oregon State College Art Department until her retirement in 1948. Field died in 1957 at the age of 72.

More Extent Information: 6 oversize boxes including 250 illustrations and 23 photographic prints

Statement on Access: The collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: Field's illustrations and other materials related to Trees and Shrubs in Winter were held by the University of Oregon Herbarium until 1993 when the University of Oregon and Oregon State University herbariums were combined on the Oregon State University campus. The Marian Field Collection was then transferred to the OSU Archives in December 1998. The Applegate Art Guild donated Illustrations and photographs of Oregon fungi to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center in March of 2015. The collection now resides in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center.

Related Materials: Photographs of Marian Field are available in Harriet's Photograph Collection (P HC) and the President's Office Photographs (P 092). Other botanical illustrations can be found in the Helen M. Gilkey Papers (MSS GilkeyH) and the Watercolor Society of Oregon Records (MSS Watercolor). Records of the OSU Art Department are available in the College of Liberal Arts Records (RG 143). Materials documenting the history of the OSU Herbarium are located in the Herbarium Records (RG 117) and the Herbarium Photographs (P 093).

Preferred Citation: Marian Field Collection (MSS Field), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Processing Information:

The Marian Field Collection was processed in 1999. The collection was reprocessed in 2018 to bring it into compliance with current processing standards and include recently accessioned materials.

We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement online.

SCARC describes the contents of its collections using the language and terminology of the collections themselves. Since culturally acceptable terminology shifts over time, some of the terms that appear in these materials are currently outdated or offensive.

Historically, “squaw” has been used as a misogynist and racist slur to disparage indigenous American women. Within this historic usage, it has been applied to place names, and scientific or colloquial names for plants. In this collection, the term "squaw" is used in reference to the colloquial name for Ribes cereum, a currant native to western North America.

In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collections, we have retained the use of this phrase in the collection description. We acknowledge the racism represented by this language and the harm it may cause our users. Providing access to these historical materials does not endorse any attitudes or behavior depicted therein. For more information on impacted collections, see the blog post.

[Date of Acknowledgement: December 2023]

Field, Marian
Sipe, Frank Perry
United States. Works Progress Administration

Botanical artists--Oregon--Corvallis.
Field, Marian
History of Science
Mushrooms--Oregon.
Natural Resources
Oregon State University. Herbarium
Sipe, Frank Perry
United States. Works Progress Administration
University History
Woody plants--Oregon.

Botanical illustrations.
Drawings (visual works).
Photographic prints.
Scientific illustrations (images).