By Chris Petersen
Title: Robert W. Henderson Photographic Slides Collection, 1936-1998
Predominant Dates: 1955-1995
ID: P 098 - SG1
Primary Creator: Henderson, Robert W. (Robert Wesley) (1914-2006)
Extent: 5.6 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The Robert W. Henderson Photographic Slides (P 098 - SG 1) are organized into two series: 1. Film Slides, 1936-1998; and 2. Glass Slides, 1945-1982. Within each series, individual items are identified using a slightly modified version of the whole number system created by Henderson himself when he cataloged these materials. In instances where multiple unique slides were assigned the same number, an alphabetical suffix has been added to denote the uniqueness of each item. In instances where the same number has been applied to multiple slides that duplicate one another, an extent statement is used to declare the number of duplicate slides.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Robert W. Henderson Photographic Slides provide visual documentation of Oregon State University and the state of Oregon from, in bulk, the mid-1950s to the late 1990s. Consisting of nearly 16,000 unique 35-mm color slides, all of which are described individually, the collection depicts a wide range of university activities, particularly as concerns agricultural research and the development of agricultural practices at OSU's county Extension offices and regional Experiment Stations. Other strengths of the collection include faculty, staff and student life at OSU; Oregon's rural communities as viewed from the ground and the air; and imagery from Henderson's travels around the world. Photos of coins, insects, flowers, produce and numerous other subjects round out the collection. Robert Henderson (1914-2006) was an OSU alum and photography enthusiast who worked as a faculty member in Farm Crops and the Agricultural Experiment Station for thirty years.
The Henderson Slides have been digitized for online access in Oregon Digital.
A rich, sprawling and significant collection of 35-mm color slides created over parts of seven decades, the Robert W. Henderson Photographic Slides Collection defies easy description. While far from a full accounting of the collection's contents, major themes might be identified as follows:
• Farming and ranching practices, particularly as they were developed and advanced at Oregon State University's agricultural experiment stations, many of which are depicted. Forestry, animal science, food science and marine science research activities are also a major point of emphasis, though many other corners of OSU's research enterprise are depicted in the collection as well.
• Streetscapes of rural communities from every region of Oregon, images of state and county fairs, and photographs of exhibits touting the strength and virtues of Oregon agriculture. Aerial photography of the OSU campus, Corvallis, and many other areas of Oregon. Building architecture and campus life at Oregon State University, including OSU sporting events, band performances and activities sponsored by a wide array of student organizations.
• OSU faculty and staff activities, with particular emphasis on employees of the College of Agriculture, the OSU Extension Service, and agriculturalists who had developed close ties to OSU's statewide mission. Individuals who appear frequently in the collection include OSU Presidents Robert MacVicar, James Jensen and August Strand, faculty members G. Burton Wood, Warren Kronstad, Emery Castle, E.B. Lemon, T.J. Starker, Jim Oldfield and Tom Allen, and rancher Reub Long.
• Noteworthy events that took place at OSU, including visits from major political figures such as Robert F. Kennedy, Wayne Morse, Mark Hatfield and, during the Vietnam War, activist and future Senator John Kerry. The collection likewise features photographs of commencement exercises, class reunions, banquets, retirements and a great many other academic gatherings, including meetings of OSU-specific groups like the Triad Club as well as broader organizations such as the Oregon School Employees Association, Women for Agriculture, and the American Association of University Professors. Several images documenting activities and personnel related to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) are likewise included.
• Documentation of Henderson's travel overseas, particularly in connection with his work at Kasetsart University in Thailand, but also including trips to India, Chile, Europe and elsewhere. Images of rare coins and events hosted by the Mid-Valley Coin Club, among other like-minded groups. Images of insects and flowers, especially azaleas, rhododendrons and hydrangeas. Family photos and images that reflect Henderson's sense of humor, including numerous shots of potatoes, carrots and other fruits or vegetables bearing anthropomorphic traits.
• Text- and data-heavy slides used by Henderson in his public speaking, and scenic shots of Mt. Hood, Crater Lake, Fort Rock, the Pacific Coast, the Wallowa Mountains, and other iconic locations across Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.
The slides itemized in this collection actually comprise a subgroup of a much larger Robert Henderson Photographic Collection (P 098). The materials arranged into this subgroup were hand numbered and described by Henderson himself in a series of notebooks. Henderson's descriptions were, in turn, transcribed by Arnold Appleby, an OSU faculty member in Crop Science. Except for clarifications of certain abbreviations, Henderson's item-level description, as transcribed by Appleby, has been retained in this finding aid.
In organizing these materials, Henderson often assigned the same whole digit number to multiple slides. In some instances, these slides differed from one another while in other cases the slides are duplicates. Because of this, Henderson's numbering convention has been modified slightly to improve the usability of these materials. In instances where two or more slides were assigned the same whole number but differ from one another, an alphabetical identifier (e.g., P098-SG1:00011a, P098-SG1:00011b, etc.) has been assigned to indicate this difference. In instances where a whole number identifier has been assigned to two or more slides that are duplicates of one another, the total number of duplicates is noted as an extent statement appended to the description of the item (e.g., "10 slides").
The vast majority of this collection consists of film slides, which are organized into Series 1. A much smaller quantity of glass mounted slides are arranged into Series 2. Both series consist entirely of 2x2-inch 35 mm slides.
The Henderson Slides are being digitized for online access in Oregon Digital.
Robert Wesley Henderson was born on March 31, 1914 in Omaha, Nebraska to Wallace Wesley Henderson and Georgia J. McCoy. Wallace Henderson died when his son was only a year-and-a-half old, after which the widowed Georgia McCoy Henderson took Robert and his older sister to Hermiston, Oregon to live with their aunt and uncle. Henderson spent his childhood in Hermiston and graduated from Hermiston High School in 1933.
Later that same year, he enrolled at Oregon State College. He served as student body president in 1937-1938 and completed his BS degree in agronomy at the conclusion of that academic year. He also met his future wife, Alice Virginia Welbes, at a "Lucky Leap" dance hosted at the Waldo Hall women’s dorm during their freshman year. They were married in 1938 and remained together until Alice’s death fifty-seven years later.
After graduating from OSC, the couple spent three years in Moro, Oregon, where Henderson was employed as a junior agronomist for the Agricultural Experiment Station. During this period the first of their four daughters, Linda, was born.
In 1941 Henderson moved his family to Ithaca, New York, where he earned his Master's Degree from Cornell University and conducted research as a plant breeder. Their second daughter, Janet, was born that same year. In 1942 Henderson was offered a position at the University of Minnesota domesticating the Russian Dandelion, a plant used as an alternative source of natural rubber during World War II. Henderson received his PhD in plant genetics from the University of Minnesota in 1949. A third daughter, Merrie, was born during this time. The Hendersons’ final daughter, Alice, was born in Corvallis.
Henderson's professional career at Oregon State began with his hire to the faculty of the Farm Crops department. In later years, he served as Assistant Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, and as Chief Advisor to OSU staff working at Kasetsart University in Thailand. He formally retired from OSU in 1976.
Henderson was an avid photographer and carried a camera wherever he went, on or off campus. He was particularly well-known throughout Oregon for the many slide presentations that he gave to schools and clubs on OSU's agricultural research and other topics. His 30-year retirement was an active one as he became known for his expertise in numismatics, participated in the Triad Club and other OSU activities, and continued to pursue his passion for photography. He also valued community service and was active with the Children’s Farm Home, the United Fund, OMSI, the Agricultural Research Foundation, Junior Town, American Field Service, the Methodist Church, Knife and Fork Club, and several other organizations. He also volunteered as the OSU Band photographer for several years.
Alice Welbes Henderson died in 1995. Robert Henderson passed away in 2006 at the age of 91.
More Extent Information: 14,852 unique film slides and 918 unique glass slides; 20 boxes
Statement on Access: The collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: Though Robert Henderson donated materials to the University Archives on a number of occasions throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the vast majority of this collection was accessioned following Henderson's death in 2006. Two large accessions in particular, one completed in October 2006 and the other finalized in September 2007, form the heart of the Robert W. Henderson Photographs (P 098). The Robert W. Henderson Photographic Slides (P 098 - SG 1) were separated for description in this collection in 2018.
Related Materials:
The Robert W. Henderson Photographic Slides are a component of the larger Robert W. Henderson Photograph Collection (P 098). The Special Collections and Archives Research Center also houses the Robert W. Henderson Papers (MSS Henderson).
Other major SCARC photo collections documenting campus life include Harriet's Photograph Collection (P HC), the Gwil Evans Photograph Collection (P 082), the Beaver Yearbook Photographs (P 003), the Oregon State University Historical Photographs (P 025), and the News and Communication Services Photograph Collection (P 057). Photographs depicting the history and activities of Extension at OSU are held in the Agricultural Experiment Station Photographic Collection (P 029) and the Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin Illustrations (P 019), among other collections. Scenes of Oregon's landscape are a feature of at least five subgroups of the Gifford Photographic Collection (P 218). Photos taken by Bill Reasons, whose work is represented in this collection, are also held in the Bill Reasons Photograph Collection (P 151).
Preferred Citation: Robert W. Henderson Photographic Slides (P 098 - SG 1), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.
Processing Information:
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 the context of the Squaw Butte Experiment Station. This station is now known as the Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center.
In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collecctions, 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 attitidues or behavior depicted therein. For more information on impacted collections, see the blog post.
[Date of Acknowledgement: December 2023]
Henderson, Robert W. (Robert Wesley) (1914-2006)
Maddy, William C.
Agricultural experiment stations--Oregon.
Agricultural extension work--Oregon.
Agriculture--Research--Thailand.
Allen, Thomas Cort, 1931-
Castle, Emery N.
College students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Commencement ceremonies--Oregon--Corvallis.
Entomology--Research--Oregon.
Flowers--Varieties.
Forests and forestry--Oregon.
Hatfield Marine Science Center
History of Science
Jensen, James H.
Kronstad, Warren E. (Warren Ervind), 1932-
Landscape photography--Oregon.
Lemon, E. B. (Erwin Bertran), 1889-1979
Local History
Long, R. A. (Reub A.)
MacVicar, Robert William, 1918-
Mahāwitthayālai Kasētsāt
Natural Resources
Numismatics.
Oldfield, J. E., 1921-
Oregon--Aerial photographs.
Oregon Multicultural Archives
Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
Oregon State Fair
Oregon State University--Bands.
Oregon State University--Buildings
Oregon State University--Faculty.
Oregon State University--Sports.
Oregon State University. Cooperative Extension Service
Political campaigns--Oregon.
Ranching--Oregon.
Rural conditions.
Starker, T. J. (Thurman James), 1890-1983
Strand, A. L. (August Leroy), 1894-
Triad Club (Oregon State University)
University History
Wood, G. B. (Gregory Burton), 1909-
Aerial photographs.
Nitrate negatives.
Slides (photographs).