Vane G. Gibson Collection, 1908-1937

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Gibson, Vane G. (Vane Garfield)
Title
Vane G. Gibson Collection
Dates
1908-1937 (inclusive)
1909-1913 (bulk)
Quantity
0.75 cubic foot, including 330 photographs, (2 boxes, including 1 oversize box)
Collection Number
MSS Gibson
Summary
The Vane G. Gibson Collection consists of two photograph albums, a clippings scrapbook, and related materials documenting the student years of Gibson and his wife, Fern Loughridge Gibson, at Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) and their activities during the 1920s and 1930s. Vane Gibson graduated from OAC in 1912; Fern Loughridge graduated in 1911.
Repository
Oregon State University Libraries, Special Collections and Archives Research Center
Special Collections and Archives Research Center
121 The Valley Library
Oregon State University
Corvallis OR
97331-4501
Telephone: 5417372075
Fax: 5417378674
scarc@oregonstate.edu
Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Vane G. Gibson attended Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) from 1908 to 1912, when he earned a BS in agriculture. Gibson graduated from high school in Jamestown, Indiana in June 1907; he lived in Warm Springs (Crook County), Oregon, at the time he enrolled at OAC. Gibson was a member of the Zetagathean Literary Society and president of the Society during his senior year.

Gibson worked as an horticultural advisor and station agent for the Portland, Eugene, and Eastern Railway in Corvallis after graduation. He was enrolled briefly in 1917 as a graduate student in horticulture at Oregon Agricultural College. In 1922, he transferred from the Spokane, Washington, office of the U.S. Bureau of Markets to the St. Louis office where he was in charge of the Market News Office. He resigned from that position in 1925 and returned to Corvallis to buy a half-interest in the Independent Lumber Company. He was active in the local Masonic Lodge. Gibson retired in 1954 and died in Corvallis on October 4, 1958.

Fern Gladys Loughridge, originally from Hedrick, Iowa, attended Oregon Agricultural College from 1908 to 1911, when she earned a BS in Commerce. Her home was given as Corvallis when she enrolled at OAC. She was a member of the Utopian Literary Society and president of the Society during her senior year. Loughridge was active in the D.B. Society, an organization "to promote the social activities" of women students who did not live in Waldo Hall. She married Gibson in 1913. Fern L. Gibson died in Corvallis on June 7, 1982.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Vane G. Gibson Collection consists of two photograph albums, a clippings scrapbook, and related materials documenting the student years of Gibson and his wife, Fern Loughridge Gibson, at Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) and their activities during the 1920s and 1930s.

One of the photograph albums was assembled by Vane Gibson and covers the period 1910-1912. It includes photographs of the OAC campus and many OAC students, especially on outings and a 1911 excursion to Newport on the Oregon coast. The album includes photographic postcards of cadets and military inspections; the Class of 1910; and a campus work day in May 1910. One of the images of the work day depicts "pulling trees over" on the west side of Agriculture (now Strand) Hall. The album includes several dance cards and the autographs of classmates and the cast of Strongheart, a play performed by the Zetagathean and Utopian Literary Societies in 1912. Loose items that have been separated from the album consist of various ephemeral OAC items, including programs and broadsides for the Strongheart production; clippings; and a speech by Gibson given at the Oregon State Horticultural Society Meeting in 1911.

The second photograph album (1909-1913), an OAC Stunt Book was apparently assembled by Fern Loughridge and includes images of Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) students, including the DB Club (Society), an initiation for the Utopian Literary Society, cadets and military formations, and class football teams. The album includes several images of campus views and buildings, the Kappa Sigma Nu fraternity house in 1913, and homes in Corvallis. Most of the images in the album are of student outings, picnics, and trips to Newport. It also includes images of Loughridge's travels to Seattle and Canada (Canadian Rockies). Snapshots of circus animals; families and children; and scenes of Hedrick, Iowa are also included. The album includes dance cards and clippings announcing the marriage of Gibson and Loughridge in 1913.

The clippings scrapbook, Articles of the Day, includes clippings from newspapers and magazines from 1908 thru 1936 on a variety of topics including Oregon Agricultural College; Vane Gibson and his family; horticulture; and national and international events during this time period. Ephemeral items pertaining to the Masonic Lodge in Corvallis from 1925 to 1933 have been separated from the scrapbook.

The collection also includes a 1937 letter from Hugh Smith and Hortense Epply Smith, members of the Class of 1912, with several photographs.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

Vane G. Gibson Collection, Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Acquisition Information

These materials were donated to the Archives in 1983.

Related Materials

Some photographs of Gibson and Loughridge acquired at the same time as these materials are part of the Alumni Association Photographs (P 017). The Archives' collections include many photograph albums and scrapbooks assembled in the 1910s, including the Irwin Betzel Collection, Merle T. Jenkins Papers, A. Freeman Mason Scrapbook, Leslie Miller Scrapbook, Willetta Moore Photograph Album (P 269), Francis and Lois Wilson Neer Photograph Album (P 206), and Marshall S. Wright Photograph Album (P 276).

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Agriculture--Oregon.
  • College students--Oregon--Corvallis.
  • College and school drama, American--Oregon--Corvallis.
  • Literature--Societies, etc.
  • Military education--Oregon--Corvallis.
  • Student activities--Oregon--Corvallis.
  • Women--Oregon--Corvallis.

Corporate Names

  • Oregon Agricultural College--Buildings.
  • Oregon Agricultural College--Students.
  • Oregon State Horticultural Society.

Geographical Names

  • Corvallis (Or.)
  • Pacific Coast (Or.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Ephemera.
  • Photograph albums.
  • Photographic postcards.
  • Photographic prints.
  • Scrapbooks.

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Gibson, Fern L. (creator)

Finding aid prepared by Elizabeth Nielsen.
2009

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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