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Oxford House Records, 1966-2014

Collection Overview

Title: Oxford House Records, 1966-2014

ID: MSS Oxford

Primary Creator: Oxford House

Extent: 7.0 cubic feet. More info below.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

Abstract

The Oxford House Records consist of materials documenting the residence, a women's housing cooperative that existed at OSU from 1966-2014. The collection's materials reflect both everyday life at the house as well as special activities organized by its members.

Scope and Content Notes

The collection includes certificates, a drawing, greeting cards, handbooks, photographs, plaques, scrapbooks, and trophies. Primarily made up of photographs, both loose and mounted in albums and scrapbooks, the images in this transfer depict Oxford House residents engaged in everyday activities inside the house, participating in various organized events, and posed for composite/group shots.

Events reflected in the photos include holiday parties, visits to other cooperatives, initiation ceremonies, Mom's Weekend gatherings, recreational outings, the ritual of "passing the candle" to engaged members, and dances. In addition to photos, the scrapbooks also contain newspaper clippings, flyers, letters, and greeting cards. Two of the scrapbooks contain information about the history of The Pines and Oxford House cooperatives.

An addition to the Oxford House Records (Accession 2014:105) is made up of the contents of a time capsule assembled by three Oxford House residents in 2003. In an enclosed letter to the "adventurer" opening up the sealed capsule, the three creators of the capsule (Megan Baldwin, Kim Merydith, and Christie) describe their experiences during their residency at Oxford and time at OSU in general. Along with the letter, there are also two portrait shots of the three students together, a collage of clipped words and images, a copy of the Barometer Newspaper, 3 comic wrappers from "Bazooka Joe" bubble gum, and an issue of Us Magazine. Housed in a shoebox, the capsule was found during renovation work in the building where the Oxford House (now closed) resided.

Biographical / Historical Notes

When members of The Pines women's co-op moved into the former residence of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity in 1966, the living group re-formed the cooperative as Oxford House. Located at 957 Jefferson Street on a block shared with three other cooperative living groups (Avery Lodge, Dixon Lodge, and Azalea House), Oxford House would remain at that spot until their closure by University Housing and Dining Services in 2014.

Administrative Information

More Extent Information: 3 cubic foot boxes; 1 document box; 1 12x17 oversize box and 6 map folders

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Related Materials:

The Special Collections and Archives Research Center holds materials documenting several OSU cooperative houses including the Avery Lodge Records (MSS Avery), the Azalea House Records (MSS Azalea), the Campus Club Alumni Collection (MSS CampusClub), the Dixon Lodge Records (MSS Dixon), the Kupono Cooperative House Scrapbook (MSS Kupono), the Oxford House Records (MSS Oxford), and the Maple Manor Cooperative House Records (MSS MapleManor).

The University Housing and Dining Services Records (RG 145) reflect the administration of cooperative housing at OSU and contain scrapbooks assembled by residents of Heckart Lodge and Reed Lodge cooperative residences.

Preferred Citation: Oxford House Records (MSS Oxford), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Processing Information: This collection is not fully processed and a complete finding aid is not available at this time.

Other URL: A preliminary container list was created for this collection on or before January 7, 2015.

Creators

Oxford House

People, Places, and Topics

Oxford House
University History


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