Rugby Films Collection, 1968-1977

Title: Rugby Films Collection, 1968-1977

Predominant Dates: 1968-1969

ID: FV 328

Primary Creator: Hansen, Eugene G. (Eugene Glen) (1920-2004)

Extent: 0.08 cubic feet. More info below.

Date Acquired: 00/00/2016

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Rugby Films Collection consists of seven Super-8 films, all of them silent and six of them documenting the OSU Rugby Club competing on the OSU campus in 1968 and 1969. All seven film reels have been digitized and the rugby footage is available online as follows:

• OSU vs. University of Oregon, 1968. Part 1 (0:03:45); Part 2 (0:03:43). According to the 1968 Beaver Yearbook, OSU lost the match by a score of 3-8.

• OSU vs. University of Washington, 1968. Part 1 (0:03:45); Part 2 (0:03:43). OSU won this match, 16-15.

• OSU vs. Western Washington College, circa 1969 (0:03:43).

• OSU vs. University of Victoria/OSU vs. University of Oregon 1969 (0:03:43). OSU's jerseys were yellow and black this particular year, (rather than the traditional orange and black) due to a manufacturing error. This film contains footage from both the Victoria and the Oregon matches.

The seventh film held in this collection is of runners competing in the 1977 Portland Marathon. As with the rugby films, this item has also been digitized but is available only upon patron request.

All seven films were captured by Gene Hansen (1920-2004), an Oregon State College alumnus who was known locally for his active community involvement, including major contributions to American Legion baseball in Corvallis. Hansen's son Bob attended OSU from 1965-1969 and participated on the Rugby Club as a scrum half during his sophomore through senior years.

A teammate of Bob Hansen's was P. Wayne Valley, Jr., an OSU football and rugby athlete who died in a swimming accident in 1969. Following his death, Valley's parents, Wayne and Gladys Valley, established an endowment in support of the OSU Rugby Club.

Rugby has been offered as a club sport at Oregon State since 1961, when Dr. Murray Dawson, a professor of soil sciences and native of New Zealand, served as the club's first coach. In the years that followed, OSU Rugby has made multiple tours overseas, including trips to Wales, England, Scotland, New Zealand, and Ireland.

In 1981 the Pacific Northwest Rugby Union Collegiate Conference was created and, from 1981-2005, OSU won the championship of this conference seventeen times, also taking fifth place nationally on three different occasions. OSU later became a founding member of the Pac Rugby Conference, which was created in 2013.

A women's rugby club was likewise created at OSU in 1992 and today competes in the Pacific Mountain Rugby Conference.

More Extent Information: 1 box; 7 Super-8 film reels

Statement on Access: This collection is open for use.

Use Restrictions: The donor, Bob Hansen, has retained copyright of the films until 2046.

Acquisition Note: The Rugby Films Collection was donated to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center by Bob Hansen in 2016.

Related Materials:

Additional archival collections documenting the history of rugby at OSU include the Oregon State University Memorabilia Collection (MC) and the Recreational Sports Department Records (RG 240).

SCARC's holdings also include multiple photo collections that include images of the Rugby Club in action; among them are the Beaver Yearbook Photographs (P 003), the University Publications Photograph Collection (P 094), the Robert W. Henderson Photograph Collection (P 098), the Memorial Union Photographs (P 198), the John L. Robbins Photographs (P 295), and Harriet's Photograph Collection (P HC).

Preferred Citation: Rugby Films Collection (FV 328), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries.

Hansen, Eugene G. (Eugene Glen) (1920-2004)

Portland Marathon, Portland, Or.
Rugby football--Oregon.
University History

Silent films.