Ben Hur Lampman Collection, 1920-2009

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Lampman, Ben Hur, 1886-1954
Title
Ben Hur Lampman Collection
Dates
1920-2009 (inclusive)
Quantity
1 box
Collection Number
OLPb061LAM
Summary
This collection is a research file on the Oregon journalist and writer Ben Hur Lampman (1886-1954).
Repository
Lewis & Clark College, Special Collections and Archives

Aubrey R. Watzek Library
615 S. Palatine Hill Rd.
Portland, OR
97219
Telephone: 5037687758
Fax: 5037687282
archives@lclark.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection has no restrictions and is open for research.

Languages
English

Biographical NoteReturn to Top

Ben Hur Lampman was born to a Barron, Wisconsin newspaper family in 1886. Leaving home at the age of fifteen, he found work as a tramp printer at a variety of North Dakota newspapers. As a young man, he founded a newspaper called The Michigan Arena in Michigan City. During this time, he married Lena McEwen Sheldon, a schoolteacher and former New Yorker. After six years running The Arena, Lampman joined his father and brother at The Gold Hill News, the family’s latest journalistic endeavor in southern Oregon. In Gold Hill Lampman acted as an editor and printer, publishing his prose and poetry frequently in The News. In 1916, he accepted a position at The Oregonian, where he served as reporter, editorial writer and columnist. His essays and stories were also printed in the Saturday Evening Post. Lampman published a number of books, some featuring his poetry. His most widely read books were How Could I Be Forgetting, Here Comes Somebody, and At the End of the Car Line. Much of Lampman’s work celebrates nature and everyday life in Oregon. At the urging of the Oregon Newspaper Association, Lampman was selected as Oregon’s Poet Laureate in 1951 and retained the title until his death in 1954.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Including photocopies of newspaper articles, copies of writings by Lampman, biographical information, and bibliographical data.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Restrictions on Use

Permission to publish, exhibit, broadcast, or quote from materials in the Watzek Library Archives & Special Collections requires written permission of the Head of Archives & Special Collections.

Preferred Citation

The Ben Hur Lampman Collection (OLPb061LAM), Lewis & Clark College Aubrey Watzek Library Archives & Special Collections, Portland, Oregon.

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Location of Collection

Special Collections

Location of Originals

Acquisition Information

Assembled in 2009 by the Lewis & Clark College Special Collections.

Processing Note

Processed in 2009.

Separated Materials

Lampman's books are housed in the Lewis & Clark College rare book collection.

Bibliography

For more information about Lampman, see:

The Magic of Ben Hur Lampman by Elizabeth Salway Ryan (2009).

Oregon's Poets Laureat: A Retrospective Exhibit and Bibliography by the Lewis & Clark College Special Collections (2010).

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Personal Names

  • Lampman, Ben Hur, 1886-1954--Archives