Equitable Savings & Loan Association photographs collection

Equitable Savings & Loan Association photographs collection, 1891-1980

Overview of the Collection

Collector: Equitable Savings & Loan Association
Title: Equitable Savings & Loan Association photographs collection
Dates: 1891-1980 (inclusive)
18911980

1940-1980 (bulk)
19401980
Quantity: 3.87 cubic feet, (1852 photographs, 170 film negatives, and 400 slides in 5 document boxes, 3 oversize boxes, 2 oversize folders, and 6 photograph albums)
Collection Number: Org. Lot 233 (collection)
Summary: The photographs document one of the most important and longest-lived financial institutions in Oregon and its expansion into branch banking throughout the state and into Idaho, Utah, and Washington. The collection covers personnel, activities, and buildings, most notably three buildings for the Portland home office, all designed by noted architect Pietro Belluschi.
Repository: Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions: The collection is open to the public.
Additional Reference Guides: The photograph albums included in the Equitable Savings and Loan Collection have been cataloged and are findable through the keyword search in the Oregon Historical Society Research Library's on-line public catalog.
Languages: English
Sponsor: Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Historical NoteReturn to Top

In 1890, prominent Portland businessmen incorporated the Oregon Building & Loan Association, which was renamed the Equitable Savings & Loan Association in 1899. The association occupied space in a number of downtown Portland buildings before constructing its first home at the corner of Southwest Sixth Avenue and Stark Street in 1932. Another new building replaced that one on the site in 1948. In 1965, the Association built the Equitable Center at 1300 Southwest Sixth Avenue. Pietro Belluschi, noted architect, designed all three of the buildings.

Equitable began its expansion into branch banking in 1941 at Seattle, Wash. Its branches eventually numbered more than 50 in Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. Equitable was associated with GAC Corp. from about 1969-1972. When it merged with Benjamin Franklin Savings & Loan Association in 1982, Equitable was the oldest savings and loan in the Northwest.

Ralph Cake (1891-1973) was the association’s most prominent and longest-serving president (1938-1962). A Portland native and lawyer, he gained prominence as a national leader in the Republican Party and adviser to President Dwight D. Eisenhower. In the early 1930s, he was part of the group of savings and loan leaders who helped to establish the Federal Home Loan Bank and Loan Insurance Corporation. He also served on the board of the Panama Canal Co., 1953-1960 and 1969-1972.

A history compiled by Les Woods for an employee orientation slide show is located in Box 4, Folder 8.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The collection includes photographs from nearly all the period that Equitable existed as an independent institution, 1891-1982, but the bulk of them date from 1940-1980. The collection documents the buildings that the home office occupied in Portland and that branch offices occupied in Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington. The most notable buildings were for the home office in Portland, all three designed by noted architect Pietro Belluschi and completed in 1932, 1948 and 1965, respectively. The 1948 building was the first high-rise building constructed in the United States after World War II.

The collections includes several images of Belluschi. It also includes company personnel and activities, special events hosted or promoted by Equitable, and a small quantity of other images related to company operations and presidents. Included are a significant number of images showing women at work in the home office and in branches. Photo-Art Commercial Studios produced the bulk of the photographs, but the work of several other photographers also is represented, including Walter Boychuk, Ralph H. Cake, and Leonard Hatsill Delano and Delano Studios and Aerial Photography of Portland, Or. Many early images are later reproductions made by Photo-Art. Formats include black-and-white and color prints and snapshots, 35-mm color slides, and 35-mm black-and-white negatives. Some of the images are included in six photograph albums, mostly documenting headquarters and branch buildings.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

Equitable Savings & Loan Association photographs collection, Org. Lot 233, Oregon Historical Society Research Library

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Arrangement

The Equitable Savings & Loan Photographs Collection is organized into the following series and subseries:

Series A: Home Office (Portland, Or.), 1891-1980, undated
- Subseries 1: Buildings
- Subseries 2: Presidents
- Subseries 3: Employees
- Subseries 4: Employee Activities
- Subseries 5: Special Events
- Subseries 6: Slide Show for Employee Orientation
Series B: Branch Offices (Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Washington), 1949-1980, undated
- Subseries 1: Buildings
- Subseries 2: Employees and Activities
Series C: Other Images, 1940-circa 1970, undated

Acquisition Information

Library accession no. 16076 (Photo accession no. 1982D182).

Processing Note

Photograph albums were initially processed individually before being re-united with the collection. They were originally given Album numbers 706-711. The numbers are now Album 233-1 through Album 233-6.

Separated Materials

The Equitable Savings & Loan photographs were separated from a manuscript collection (MSS 2353), which is described and cataloged separately.

Related Materials

Pietro Belluschi's architectural drawings for two of the association's buildings are located in Archival Collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library (Coll 2) and at Syracuse University in New York.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Series A: Home Office (Portland, Or.) , 1891-1980Return to Top

1,681 items.

The Home Office series is organized into the following sub-series: Buildings, Presidents, Employees, Employee Activities, Special Events, and Slide Show for Employee Orientation. The slide show history of Equitable Savings and Loan Association includes a copy of the script (Box 4, Folder 8). Folders are organized chronologically within sub-series. Many individuals are identified on the verso of photographs in this series.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
	Subseries 1: Buildings
Box/Folder
1/1	Worchester Building (home office, 1891-1893) Includes photographic reproduction of a drawing	circa 1892
1/2	Locations Old Chamber of Commerce Building (home office, 1893-1897) Concord Building, 242 Stark Street (home office, 1897-1902) Unidentified interior, 1904 Lumberman's Building, 1922-1932	1893-1932
1/3	Equitable Savings & Loan Building, Southwest Sixth and Stark (home office, 1933-1948) Includes exterior and interior views	1932-1940s
	Equitable Savings & Loan Building, Southwest Sixth and Stark (home office, 1948-1965)
Box/Folder
1/4, 6/1, 6/4, 8/1	Construction scenes Includes photographic reproduction of Sixth Street elevation drawing	1947-1948
1/5	Dinner held in building during construction	undated
1/6	Grand Opening Includes many identified people, among them Pietro Belluschi, architect, and Ralph Cake, Equitable president	1948
1/7, 6/1, 6/4, 8/1	Exteriors Includes black-and-white and color photographic prints and postcard views and one 35-mm color slide.	1948, circa 1950, 1973, undated
1/8, 6/4	Interiors	circa 1950
1/9	Christmas decorations	1959
	Equitable Center, 1300 Southwest Sixth Avenue (home office, 1965-1982)
Box/Folder
1/10	Ground breaking ceremonies Includes black-and-white prints and 35-mm color slides. Identified people include Pietro Belluschi, architect.	1963
1/11	Construction scenes	1963-1964
1/12-13	Dedication ceremony, open house, and dinner for employees and local businessmen Includes black-and-white and color prints and 35-mm color slides. Identified people include Pietro Belluschi, architect.	1965
1/14, 7/1, 7/4, 7/6	Exteriors and models Includes black-and-white and color prints, some in albums.	circa 1963, 1965, 1970, undated
1/15, 7/5-6, 8/2-3	Interiors Includes black-and-white and color prints, some in albums, and black-and-white snapshots of floor plans.	1965, undated
1/16	Christmas decorations Includes black-and-white and color prints and a black-and-white contact sheet for negatives Lot 233-8 through Lot 233-10.	1965, 1967, 1969
	Subseries 2: Presidents
Box/Folder
2/1	Cake, Harold H.	undated
2/2, 6/2, 7/4, 8/4	Cake, Ralph Portraits and activities in college and Republican politics, including: With officers of Delta Gamma fraternity at White House, 1926. With Wendell Wilkie, Republican presidential candidate, 1940. With Republican National Committeemen from Oregon, 1941. Dwight D. Eisenhower portrait, autographed to Cake, circa 1955. With Richard M. Nixon, circa 1969. Ranch on Metolius near Bend, Oregon, circa 1970	1908-circa 1970, undated
2/3	Cake, William	1944, undated
2/4	McKercher, Finley	1906, undated
2/5	Other presidents Including J. Don Chapman, A.C. Commack, Edward Cookingham, Harry M. Grant, Howard L. Hubbard, C.E. Lass, William E. Love, and Theodore B. Wilcox.	undated
	Subseries 3: Employees
	Executive offices and others (solo portraits)
Box/Folder
2/6	A-K Arnold, Maribeth, 1970 Davis, Mike, 1969 Farrell, Pat, 1969 Friedenbach, Ruth Hagg, F.D. Hanke, Robert F., 1938 Hansen, M.C., 1944 Harvey, ? Harwood, C.A. Heacock, Ray, 1959 Helmer, Harold Hillyard, Faith Houke, Sandi, 1971 Howard, ? Jensen, Ralph John, B.P. Kay, Dennis Kearton, ?, 1952 Kraig, Chris, 1970	1938-1971, undated
2/7	L-Z Lance, James Lassell, Patti, 1970 Lewis, L. Lindgren, A.V., 1969 Lodge, Dave, 1970 McLaughlin, ? Mulvehill, Jim Ottoman, Kristi Paulson, Rod, 1969 Roson, Hugh Schelmirick, L.G Smith, Merle Sparks, Donn, 1970 Waldorf, Louis Waldorf, Warren Webb, Stan Woods, Les	1969-1970, undated
2/8	Unidentified
	Departments (including office scenes)
Box/Folder
2/9	EDP Department	1969
2/10	Mail Department and Addressograph Department	1962, 1970, undated
2/11	Purchasing Department	1970
2/12	Records Department Includes Dennis Kay.	1969
2/13	Savings Department Includes D. Gernhardt, Jim Truax, Terry Wohlgemuth, and Les Woods.	1969-1970, undated
2/14	Other Departments Accounting Advertising Mortgage Loan Print shop Sales Switchboard Tellers	1962, 1969-1970, undated
Box/Folder
2/15	Committees Dress Code Committee Loan Committee Steno Manual Committee	1971, undated
2/16	Other home office group photos Includes: Barton, Frank Billings, Don Bixel, Linda Bachhofner, Gus Cake, Ralph Devlin, Charles Ferlici, Betty Ferris, Jean Fry, Archie Gernhaardt, D. Greb, Jack Hancock, Bob Hansen, M.C Hidden, W. Foster Hunt, Phil Larrowe, Bert Ledbury, A.N. Lewis, Annie Lindell, Charles Lindgren, Al McCall, Gordon H. McDowell, ? Morby, S.E. Newkirk, Lamar Nokes, Dick Norby, S.E. Peyton, Leslie Potts, Ernest Rosson, Hugh E. Saunders, Jack Schenk, Vern Smith, Bill Sparks, M. Rene Stanton, Glenn Swartz, Marv Syring, Dick Truax, Jim Watkins, C. Earl Witt, Henry Veterans of 1965 move from Sixth and Stark to Equity Center: 10-year, 1975 15-year, 1980 Unidentified Unidentified—at United Airlines plane	1944-1980, undated
2/17	Other groups Groups include: Boyer, Herman Cake, Ralph H. Collier, Andrew M. Lindgren, Al V. McCaslin, Frank E. Meyer, Larry Norby, S.E. Stockman, Lowell Stout, G.R. Tillson, Don Zentbauer, John A. At Jantzen plant, Vancouver, Wash. At unidentified retail store Branch managers and officers with GAC Corp. managers, 1969 Savings representatives, 1961, 1963 Unidentified	1960-1969, undated
	Subseries 4: Employee Activities Includes many group portraits that are fully identified on verso
	Annual picnics
Box/Folder
2/18, C/1-2	Includes two group cirkut prints (8x10 reproductions in 2/18)	1933, 1939, 1940
2/19		1942
2/20		Undated (circa 1940s-1950s)
2/21		1948, 1951
2/22		1952
2/23		1953
2/24		1956
2/25		1957
2/26		1958
2/27	Includes color slides	1959
Box/Folder
2/28	Award dinners	1949, undated
2/29	Bowling tournament	1957
	Christmas parties
Box/Folder
2/30		circa 1890s, 1934-1936, 1938-1939, undated
2/31		1941,1943,1945
2/32		1949
2/33		1956
2/34		1958
2/35		1960s
3/1		1960-1961
3/2		1963
3/3		1967
3/4		1969
3/5	Includes 35-mm color slides	1970
	Easter breakfasts
Box/Folder
3/6		1968
3/7		1970s
3/8		1970
3/9	Includes 35-mm color slides	1971
3/10		1976
3/11		1980
Box/Folder
3/12	Retirement dinners Carter, Jessie, 1970 Lindgren, Al Nelson, Emily (with Ralph Cake), 1963	1963, 1970, undated
3/13	Other activities Awards presentations Blood donors, World War II era Dinners and luncheons Doll show, 1959 Flower show, 1961 Unidentified	1940s, 1959, 1961, undated
	Subseries 5: Special Events
	Anniversary celebrations
Box/Folder
3/14	50th Anniversary	1941
3/15	60th Anniversary	1951
3/16	75th Anniversary	1966
Box/Folder
3/17	Home Planners' Institute	1944
3/18	Pacific Northwest Conference of Savings and Loan Associations	circa 1955
3/19	Reception for Japanese Consul, Equitable Center	circa 1970
3/20	Receptions for Junior Achievement Participants, Equitable Center	1966-1967
3/21	Reception for Swedish Ambassador, Equitable Center	1968
	Rose Festival activities at Equitable Center Including entertainment and luncheons for Rose Festival Princesses
Box/Folder
3/22		1966
3/23		1967
3/24		1968
3/25		1969
3/26		1970
		1980
Box/Folder
3/27	Clackamas Community College Jazz Band	1980
3/28	Columbia High School (Vancouver, Washington) band and chorus	1980
4/1	Enid High School (Oklahoma) band	1980
4/2	Grant High School (Portland) girls' vocal ensemble	1980
4/3	Portland Timbers Soccer Team appearance	1980
4/4	Luncheon for Rose Princesses	1980
4/5	Other images	1980
Box/Folder
4/6	Undated
Box/Folder
4/7	Signing of agreement with GAC Corporation	1969
	Subseries 6: Slide Show for Employee Orientation
Box/Folder
4/8	History of Equitable Savings & Loan Association Includes script written by Les Woods	circa 1980

Series B: Branch Offices (Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington) , 1949-1980Return to Top

466 items.

The Branch Offices series is organized into two subseries: Buildings and Employees and Activities. Each subseries is organized by state, alphabetically, and then by cities within each state, also alphabetically. Much of the Building subseries is comprised of images of grand openings. Images in the subseries include many people, but most are unidentified. The Employees and Activities subseries includes many photographs of building exteriors and interiors, as well as people. Formats include black-and-white and color prints and 35-mm color slides. A number of the prints that were used for exhibits are mounted.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
	Subseries 1: Buildings
Box/Folder
4/9	Idaho Boise (includes color slides), 1967, 1976, undated Coeur d'Alene (color slides), 1978, undated Idaho Falls (includes color slide), 1967, 1978 Lewiston (color slides), 1977-1978 Payette (includes color slides), 1968, 1970, 1977 Pocatello (includes color slide), undated Twin Falls (includes color slides), 1970, 1978-1979, undated	1967-1979, undated
	Oregon
Box/Folder
4/10	A-C (includes mounted color prints and color slides) Albany, 1978 Ashland, circa 1965, 1973 Astoria, undated Bend, circa 1965, 1978, undated Burns, 1966 Coos Bay, circa 1965, undated Corvallis, 1978	circa 1968-1978, undated
4/11	D-M (includes mounted color prints and color slides) Eugene, 1949, circa 1965, 1978 North Eugene, 1980, undated Grants Pass, 1978 Hood River, circa 1965, undated Klamath Falls, 1964, 1978 Medford, circa 1965, undated	1949-1980, undated
4/12	N-R (except Portland—includes mounted prints and color slides) Newport, circa 1965, 1978, undated Ontario, 1970, undated Pendleton, 1965, 1978 Raleigh Hills, undated Roseburg, circa 1965, 1978, undated	1965-1978, undated
4/13	Portland (includes mounted color prints and color slides) Cedar Hills, circa 1965, 1978 Eastport Plaza, circa 1965, undated Hollywood, undated Lombard-Greeley, circa 1965, 1978 Mall 205, undated Midway-Division, circa 1960, undated Moreland-Sellwood, circa 1965, 1978 Sixth and Stark, 1965 Town Center, 1978 Washington Square, 1978	circa 1960-1978, undated
5/1	S-Z (includes mounted color prints and color slides) Salem, circa 1965, undated Springfield, 1965, 1977-1978 The Dalles, circa 1965, undaated Woodburn, 1978, 1980	1965-1980, undated
Box/Folder
5/2	Utah and unidentified (color slides only) Kearny, undated	undated
5/3	Washington (except Seattle—includes mounted color prints and color slides) Overlake Park, circa 1965 Spokane, 1964, circa 1965 Tacoma, circa 1960, undated Vancouver, 1971 Yakima, 1964, circa 1965	circa 1960-1971, undated
Box/Folder
6/5	Yakima Album of construction and other images assembled by radio station KUTI for the grand opening	1964, circa 1965
5/4	Seattle (includes mounted color print and color slides) Grand opening, 1967	1967, 1978
	Subseries 2: Employees and Activities
	Idaho
Box/Folder
5/5	Boise Includes: Bollertrees, ? Clark, Doris Good, Arnold Grigsby, Ellen Johnson, Karen Thornton, Bill Vertres, Bo Week, Ingle	circa 1970
5/6	Idaho Falls Includes: Kite, Navae Larson, Lea	1970-1971, undated
5/7	Pocatello Includes: Blair, Sandra Lanhaim, Henry Merrell, Norma Rose, Clair	1970, undated
5/8	Twin Falls Includes: Gentry, Barbara Rean, Kay	circa 1970
5/9	Other Idaho offices Karcher Mall (Includes Betty Snell, Miss Rodeo America with prize saddle) Payette	1970, undated
	Oregon
Box/Folder
5/10	Corvallis	1970
5/11	Klamath Falls Includes: Chilcote, E.M. Haie, Bertha Stampek, Les Stemper, ? Waite, Ron	circa 1970, undated
5/12	Newport Includes: Todd, J.	circa 1970
5/13	Pendleton	1970, undated
5/14	Salem Includes: Bolin, C.B. Colter, Darlene Francisco, Jean Helliwell, Roger Washburn, Jerry	1971
5/15	Other Oregon offices Ashland Clark, Jerry Martin, Janis Astoria Anderson, Don Walsh, Jack Eugene Pheifer, Carol Hood River Montgomery, Lee Medford Adkins, Doloris Clark, Jerry Gardner, Jill Moffitt, Anita Whitlock, Marisue Roseburg Cook, Dorothy Hornschuck, Mildred Roth, Jerry Sanders, Lavon	1969, undated
	Washington
Box/Folder
5/16	Seattle Burns, Sandy Foster, ? Henson, ? Holland, Beverly Lampman, Mary Mullens, Carolyn Norton, Alice Owens, Linda Repler, ? Sherwood, ? Stone, Ann Wright, ?	1970-1971, undated
5/17	Spokane	1970
5/18	Tacoma Daugherty, Roger James, Dave York, Carol	1970
5/19	Yakima	circa 1970
Box/Folder
7/2	Group photograph—employees from all branch offices	1966

Series C: Other Images, 1940-circa 1970Return to Top

43 items.

Includes trips made by Ralph Cake, images used for advertising, and views of communities where Equitable did business.

Container(s)	Description	Dates
Box/Folder
5/20	Other related images (includes color slides) Apartment or condominium—exterior and interiors (color negatives only—Lot 233-27 and 233-28), undated Billboard—advertising half billion in assets, undated House, unidentified location, undated (Equitable Savings & Loan made its fourth loan on the house) Insurance agency—George Lutton, circa 1970 Trips by Ralph Cake Coos Bay, Oregon, 1958 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania—Comty Rich House, 1956 (Ffirst house on which building and loan mortgage made, 1831) Topeka, Kansas, 1957	1956-1958, circa 1970
6/2	Charles McNary's acceptance speech for Republican vice-presidential nomination, Salem, Or.	1940
7/3	Klamath Falls, Oregon—Medical and Dental building	circa 1950
8/5	Aerial views North Bend, Or. Portland, Or., circa 1960 Roseburg, Or.	circa 1960, undated

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

Banks and banking--Northwest, Pacific--Photographs.
Branch banks--Idaho--Photographs.
Branch banks--Oregon--Photographs.
Branch banks--Utah--Photographs.
Branch banks--Washington (state)--Photographs.

Personal Names

Belluschi, Pietro, 1899-.

Corporate Names

Equitable Savings & Loan Association (Portland, Or.)--Photographs.
Portland Rose Festival--Photographs.

Form or Genre Terms

Film negatives.
Photographic prints.
Slides.

Other Creators

Personal Names
- Boychuk, Walter, 1886-1967. (photographer)
- Cake, Ralph H. (Ralph Harlan), 1891-. (photographer)
- Delano, Leonard Hatsill, 1908-1989. (photographer)
Corporate Names
- Delano Aerial Surveys (Portland, Or.). (photographers)
- Photo Art Studios (photographers)

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