Landscape Architecture Department Records, 1932-1982

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Oregon State University. Dept. of Landscape Architecture.
Title
Landscape Architecture Department Records
Dates
1932-1982 (inclusive)
Quantity
2.7 cubic feet, including 320 photographs, (4 boxes)
2 microfilm reels
Collection Number
RG 089
Summary
The Landscape Architecture Department Records document curriculum and instruction in landscape architecture at Oregon State University, department administration, extension activities, campus planning, and faculty research and publications. An academic program in landscape architecture was established at Oregon Agricultural College in 1911 and remained active until 1982.
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.

Additional Reference Guides

Preliminary container list available online.

Languages
English

Historical NoteReturn to Top

The Landscape Architecture Department began with a four-year professional degree program in 1911, the first offered west of the Mississippi River. This initial degree program, Landscape Gardening, was a part of the Horticulture Department. From 1932 until 1947, the department was jointly administered by Oregon State College and the University of Oregon and provided instruction in landscape architecture for the Landscape Construction and Maintenance program in the Horticulture Department. The Department became part of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences after it was established in 1961, and beginning in the 1960s, students could complete an undergraduate humanities degree with a concentration in landscape architecture. During the early 1970s, the department name was changed to Architecture and Landscape Architecture. After 1982, Oregon State University no longer offered pre-professional programs in architecture or landscape architecture; some courses were transferred to the Horticulture Department.

Arthur L. Peck joined the faculty of Oregon Agricultural College in 1908 as Floriculturist and Landscape Gardener. He served as Professor of Landscape Architecture and Department Head until his retirement in 1949.

Donald Martel was professor of landscape architecture at Oregon State from 1947 until 1974 and was involved in planning of campus landscaping. Martel earned a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture from the University of Oregon and served in the Army Corps of Engineers in Europe during World War II. He died in Corvallis in 2004.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

The Landscape Architecture Department Records document curriculum and instruction in landscape architecture at Oregon State University, department administration, extension activities, campus planning, and faculty research and publications. Departmental administrative records include correspondence, annual and biennial reports, staff memos and meeting minutes, budgets, and an external department review conducted in 1980. Curriculum and course proposals, field trip records, and lecture notes and drawings document the courses and degree programs offered by the deapartment.

Materials pertaining to highway improvement, garden clubs, the Oregon Roadside Council, State Planning Board, and landscape design study courses are included in the collection. The landscape architecture faculty were active in campus planning; the department records include materials pertaining to Physical Plant administration, campus plans developed by A.D. Taylor, campus roads, and landscaping for new campus buildings constructed in the 1930s.

The collection includes correspondence, speeches, notes, and publications written and assembled by Arthur L. Peck and Donald Martel.

The records include photographs assembled by faculty for instruction and publications. They include images of gardens, landscape features at homes and public buildings, trees and shrubs, campus views, and students. In addition to Corvallis and Oregon, the photographs depict gardens and landscape features in Seattle and Tacoma, Washington, and southern California. The bulk of the photographs are b/w prints; the collection also includes a few color prints, color transparencies, and b/w negatives.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Preferred Citation

Landscape Architecture Department Records (RG 089), Oregon State University Archives, Corvallis, Oregon.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Processing Note

This collection is not fully processed; this guide is preliminary.

Acquisition Information

The materials were transferred from the department to the Archives in several accessions from 1974 through 1983.

Related Materials

Additional materials pertaining to the Landscape Architecture Department are in the College of Liberal Arts Records (RG 143). The Horticulture Department Records (RG 187) and Photographs (P 090) document gardening and landscape planning. The Facilities Services Records (RG 193) include extensive campus planning materials for the Oregon State campus. The Archives' holdings also include the Arthur Lee Peck Papers and Photographs (P 099), the A.D. Taylor Collection, and the Village Improvement Society Minutes.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Campus planning--Oregon--Corvallis.
  • Gardens--Design.
  • Landscape architecture--Study and teaching--Oregon.
  • Roadside improvement--Oregon.

Corporate Names

  • Oregon State University. Dept. of Horticulture.
  • Oregon State College. Physical Plant.

Form or Genre Terms

  • Color transparencies.
  • Film negatives.
  • Photographic prints.

Other Creators

  • Personal Names
    • Martel, Donald J. (creator)
    • Peck, Arthur L. (creator)
    • Taylor, Albert D. (Albert Davis), 1883-1951. (creator)
    Corporate Names
    • Oregon State College. Dept. of Landscape Architecture. (creator)
    • Oregon State University. Dept. of Architecture and Landscape Architecture. (creator)