Larry Kirkland Photograph Collection, 1951-1969

Title: Larry Kirkland Photograph Collection, 1951-1969

Predominant Dates: 1968-1969

ID: P 125

Primary Creator: Kirkland, Larry, 1950-

Extent: 0.01 cubic feet. More info below.

Arrangement: The Larry Kirkland Photograph Collection is comprised of one series: 1. Photographs, 1951-1969. The photographs are arranged in the order assigned during the collection's preliminary processing.

Languages of Materials: English [eng]

The Larry Kirkland Photograph Collection documents activities related to school spirit, athletics, and student social life at Oregon State University (OSU). Kirkland began his undergraduate work at OSU in 1968, studying art and working in the Instructional Materials and Research Center. Kirkland completed an Honors Bachelor of Science in Environmental Design in 1972.

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

The Larry Kirkland Photograph Collection consists of images generally related to school spirit, athletic events, and student social life. Included are series of images of the OSU cheer squads and marching band, Homecoming activities, parades, and football games. The collection also includes photos of a campus water fight and a human-powered "chariot race."

The collection is comprised of black and white prints, primarily 8x10 inches. Many of the images were taken by student photographers Jim Cron and Bill Anderson. Of particular note are two sets of images - one of the Rook Rousers spirit section at OSU basketball and football games, and the other of the 1969 Civil War football game - that appear to have been captured for use in the 1967 and 1969 Beaver Yearbook, respectively.  The three 1969 Civil War images feature Oregon State players Craig Hanneman, Ron Boley, Don Whitney, and Bill Nelson, and University of Oregon's Bob Newland and Rocky Pampas.

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

Born in Port Hueneme, California in 1950, Larry Kirkland grew up in a military family and his family moved frequently, both domestically and overseas. From 1968 to 1972, Kirkland attended Oregon State University, where he studied art and worked in the Instructional Materials and Research Center. He completed an Honor's Bachelor of Science degree at the end his four years of study. Kirkland continued his education at the University of Kansas where, in 1974, he took a Master in Fine Arts degree in design, focusing on fiber arts. After graduating from the University of Kansas, Kirkland returned to OSU to fill a temporary vacancy in the Art Department created by a faculty member on sabbatical leave; Kirkland served as Visiting Professor of Art at OSU from 1974 to 1976.

Larry Kirkland is well-known for his large-scale, “multi-dimensional” public art works, which have been installed in a wide variety of public spaces, from municipal buildings and universities, to libraries and urban parks. His public art projects include installations at the Southwestern Pennsylvania World War II Memorial in Pittsburgh; the American Red Cross Headquarters and National Academies of Science in Washington, D.C.; Putra World Trade Center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; and Kansai International Airport in Osaka, Japan. In Oregon, Kirkland designed the “x’s and o’s” sculpture outside the football stadium at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, and has designed pieces for the Oregon Institute of Technology in Klamath Falls, Oregon, the Portland International Airport, and the Story Garden in Portland.

Kirkland has received a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and has served as a juror on numerous art and architecture competitions and programs. He also serves on the Public Art Network Council of Americans for the Arts.

More Extent Information: 1 box; 37 photographs

Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.

Acquisition Note: This collection was received by the former University Archives in 1969 or the early 1970s.

Related Materials: The OSU Special Collections and Archives Researcher Center holdings contain numerous photograph and mansucript collections documenting the student experience at  Oregon State University in the 1960s, including the Associated Women Students Scrapbooks (MSS AWS), the John L. Robbins Photographs (P 295), and the Beaver Yearbook Photographs (P 003).

Preferred Citation: Larry Kirkland Photograph Collection (P 125), Oregon State University Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Corvallis, Oregon.

Processing Information:

A preliminary container list for this collection was published in 2012. This finding aid has been updated to reflect current arrangement and description best practices.

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.

The archivist-prepared description of this collection uses the phrase “Civil War” to refer to the long-standing athletic rivalry between Oregon State University and the University of Oregon. A history of this athletic rivalry, and use of the phrase “Civil War” to describe it, is available online in The Origins of the "Civil War" Football Game blog post.

In June 2020, Oregon State University President Edward J. Ray announced that the term  “Civil War” will no longer be used by either university because it “represents a connection to a war fought to perpetuate slavery.”

We acknowledge the racism represented by the use of this phrase and the harm it may cause our users. In order to provide historical context and to enable standardized searching and access across our collections, we have retained the use of this phrase in the collection description.

[Date of acknowledgement: November 2021]

Kirkland, Larry, 1950-

Cheerleading--Oregon--Corvallis.
College students--Oregon--Corvallis--Social life and customs.
Football--Oregon--Corvallis.
Kirkland, Larry, 1950-
Marching bands--Oregon--Corvallis.
Student activities--Oregon--Corvallis.
University History

Photographic prints.