John W. Trigg Photograph Album, 1915-1918

The John W. Trigg Photograph Album was assembled by Trigg during the 1915-1916 academic year and includes images of campus views and building, athletics, student activities, and military cadets. The campus views include an image of Benton Hall in snow and the interior of the Armory (now McAlexander Fieldhouse). The album includes several views of the Corvallis area, especially of the 1916 flood in the Willamette Valley. Images of the Oregon Electric Railway Station and a farmhouse submerged in 3 feet of water are of special note.

Student activities are depicted in photos of serpentines on the football field and the Class of 1919 forming the numerals "19" on the parade field (lower campus). Several images of individual cadets, military cadets in formation and drilling, and a platoon-level group photograph of 39 cadets in uniform are part of the collection. This was the last year for military cadets as the ROTC program was initiated in 1917.

The only photograph in the collection that post-dates the 1915-1916 year is a 1918 photographic postcard of a group of students and cadets in uniform with the title The Fate of Folly. The image appears to memorialize two OAC students who died in World War I. This photo was probably added to the album after Trigg learned of the death of his classmates.

Photographs of football games, players, and a football coach; the basketball team; and several track and field events, including shot put, javelin, and pole vault, are part of the album. Of special note are several images of a rodeo.

The photographs in the album are primarily photographic postcards with a few snapshots. Several loose photographs, not affixed in the album, are also part of the collection.

Images from this collection have been digitized and are available in Oregon Digital.