By Genevieve Connolly and Elizabeth Nielsen
Title: Prism Literary Magazine, 1972-2019
ID: PUB 013-9
Primary Creator: Orange Media Network (Oregon State University)
Extent: 1.2 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: The Prism Literary Magazine is arranged in two series: 1. Prism Issues, 1972-2019 and 2. Aura Magazine, 1978.
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Prism Literary Magazine consists of issues of Oregon State University’s student art and literary magazine, which includes original content created, edited, and published by Oregon State students. This collection consists of magazines published from its establishment in 1972 through 2019. The magazine publishes visual art, photography, poetry, short fiction, and essays. While the bulk of this collection consists of Prism issues, it also includes two issues of the magazine published in 1978 with the title Aura.
Issues published in the late 1970s include more feature-type articles and less art, fiction, and poetry. During this time, the magazine also included advertisements from local Corvallis businesses.
Several issues in the 1970s include the work of Oregon State students who became well known for their future creative work. A photograph by award-winning photographer and National Geographic Editor-in-Chief, Chris Johns, is published in the spring 1973 issue. Animator Harley Jessup was Art Director of the Winter 1976 issue and drawings by Jessup are published in the Winter 1975 and Summer 1976 issues. Also of note are a Prism beer report in the spring 1979 issue and a winter 1980 cover article "Being gay at OSU". The Spring 2018 magazine has a social justice theme.
Beginning in 1990, works of prose and poetry that were awarded the Provost's Literary Prize and the Weaver Undergraduate Poetry Award were published in the spring issue of the magazine.
This collection includes more than 90 issues of the magazine most of which are available in printed form. Four issues are only available in born-digital format. These 4 issues comprise 105 Mbytes. The born-digital issues as well as a selection of digitized issues from this collection are available online in Oregon Digital.
The Prism art and literary magazine began publication at Oregon State University in 1972 and followed several previous literary and art publications including the Manuscript (late 1920s through early 1930s), the Lamplighter (mid-1930s to mid-1940s), and the OSU Review, which immediately preceded the Prism. As with earlier literary publications, Prism was initially overseen by faculty in art (Allen Wong), journalism (Ron Lovell), and English (Simon Johnson). By the mid-1970s, Prism was under the purview of the Student Publications Committee and the Director of Student Publications.
The 1975 Beaver yearbook indicates that the Prism published creative work by students and staff as a “gallery of University talent”. The inclusion of creative work by staff appears to have been short lived and in keeping with the transition to oversight and funding as a student publications.
During the late 1970s, the magazine included more feature articles. However in the 1980-1981 academic year, Prism was rejuvenated as a campus art magazine. Soon thereafter, it was distributed on campus at no charge.
The title change to Aura was only in place for only two issues in 1978.
The number of issues published per academic year fluctuated between one and three. Prism was initially published three times per academic year; by the mid-1970s two magazines were published each academic year. In 1984-1995, Prism was only published annually in the spring. For the next 10 years, two issues were published per year. Beginning in Fall 2005, publication of three issues per year -- one in each academic term -- resumed. A notice in the Spring 2019 issue indicated that for the next year (2019-2020), Prism would be "annually produced" with only one submission deadline.
More Extent Information: 4 boxes; 105 Mbytes (4 files)
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: This publication was received on distribution by the University Archives until 2011 and since then by the Special Collections and Archives Research Center.
Related Materials:
The Special Collections and Archives Research Center holds two earlier literary publications with content by Oregon State students. The Manuscript (PUB 010-13b) was published from the late 1920s to early 1930s and The Lamplighter Literary Magazine (PUB 010-13d) was published from the mid-1930s to mid-1940s.
Additional information pertaining to funding and oversight of Prism is available in the Educational Activities Committee Records (RG 293), Student Media Records (RG 239), and Associated Students of OSU (ASOSU) Records (RG 011).
Preferred Citation: Prism Literary Magazine (PUB 013-9), 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.
The term “gypsy” is considered derogatory by many Roma people. It comes from the word “Egyptian,” where many Europeans mistakenly believed the Romani came from. In 1971, at the First World Roma Congress, a majority of attendees voted to reject the use of the term “gypsy,” however some still use it to self-identify.
In this collection, the term “gypsy” is used to describe Romani people. There are no references in the finding aid, but it does appear in materials that have been scanned and uploaded to Oregon Digital.
In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collections, we have retained the original wording. We acknowledge the racism represented by the term “gypsy” 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, please see our blog post.
[Date of Acknowledgement: November 2024]
Orange Media Network (Oregon State University)
Associated Students of Oregon State University.
Oregon State University. Office of Student Media
Oregon State University. Student Media Committee
Oregon State University. Student Publications Committee
American poetry--Oregon.
College students' writings, American--Oregon--Corvallis.
College students--Oregon--Corvallis.
Oregon State University--Students.
Photography--Oregon--Corvallis.
Sculpture, American--20th century.
Student publications--Oregon--Corvallis.
University History
Born digital.