“Mr. Oregon”: Glenn L. Jackson
Success in high school—good attendance, good grades, the respect of teachers and fellow students—often leads to success in life and career and family. During his early life, Oregon Stater Glenn Jackson followed another path. For a time it looked as if he was destined to be anything but successful.
1942 Rose Bowl
Valuable 1942 Rose Bowl collection presented to OSU Alumni Association. Come see some of the images contained in this one-of-a-kind scrapbook compiled by member of the 1942 Rose Bowl team.
In Memory of Bell Field
With the official announcement on April 30 that OSU will begin construction on the long-awaited expansion of Reser Stadium, and tomorrow's annual spring game elevating football to the top of the local sports news, it seems an appropriate time to honor Bell Field, the home of Oregon State football from 1910-1953 and track and field from 1910-1973.
Jim Ryun, almost a Beaver
Now serving a fourth term in Congress as representative of the Second Congressional District in his home state of Kansas, the father of four and founder and president of Jim Ryun Sports, Inc., a public relations firm, ranks as one of the true icons of American sports, nearly on a par with the likes of a Babe Ruth, Wilt Chamberlain or Tiger Woods. Here's the story of how he almost came to Oregon State to run for our track team.
OSU's Rich Legacy in Track and Field
OSU athletics will welcome back a couple of "old friends" later this year when cross country and track are officially re-instated under the guidance of new head coach Kelly Sullivan, the former and highly regarded coach of the men's and women's cross country and track and field programs at Willamette University in Salem.
1893 Needs an Asterisk
For 110 years now, the start-up date for OSU football has been Nov. 11, 1893. In OSU's 2003 Football Media Guide and in countless newspaper articles and other publications produced for over a century, the game and the year have become carved in granite, an icon of sorts not to be tampered with or questioned. However, in the last several weeks, thanks to a recent discovery by OSU alumna Mary Gallagher (M.A.I.S. '83), this hardened stone may be showing a bit of a crack.
Primal Traditions
Ok, so you've got the orange T-shirt and OSU cap to match. Or maybe you're color-coordinated from head to toe, complete with orange tennis shoes and socks. And you know the words to the Fight Song and can form the school letters with your arms while you're belting out "watch our team go tearing down the field." Oh yes, and you're hoarse at the end of a game and you keep ticket stubs to prove you were there. But is this enough to qualify you as a true Beaver fan?
Dynamic Duo
As the NFL prepares to host yet another championship series this weekend, followed by the Super Bowl in a couple of weeks, it might be fun to add a small local footnote to the lore and legend surrounding professional football.This story is about the Chicago Bears, which hasn't won a post-season game since winning the Super Bowl in 1985 and which locked itself out of the playoffs this year with a 7-9-0 finish.
Murder on Fifth Street
By the late fall of 1928, livestock wasn't the only thing growing fat in Benton County. As the holiday season approached, Corvallis was enjoying one of its best years ever, in a decade that had spread smiles and good cheer all around town. All that was about to become insignificant in a single shocking moment.
World Records Aplenty
When OSU set the world record on Nov. 17, 2003, for, of all things, "pillow fighting," the feat was not the first time the Oregon State family had been involved in setting a world record. Not by a long shot. Here’s a look at some other records that have been set over the years by OSU students, faculty, staff and alumni.
Greatest Civil War Games
In the beginning, the Civil War game had no name. That would not come until years later, when it was variously known as the "Oregon Classic" or the "State Championship Game."According to Oregon State's sports information department, the first reference to the OSU-Oregon football game as the "Civil War" appears to have been in a few newspaper articles preceding the 1929 game.
Happy Birthday Parker (Reser) Stadium
Today, Nov. 14, marks the 50th anniversary of the first-ever game played at Reser Stadium, which, until June 14, 1999, was named Parker Stadium in honor of Oregon Stater Charles T. Parker, class of 1907. Parker, a Portland businessman, spearheaded fund-raising for the project and played a role in its construction. The Parker name is now associated with a plaza locatedjust outside the east gates of the stadium. Parker Plaza is the site where many pregame activities are held.
Saying Goodbye to the ‘Great Pumpkin’
Dee was never just about football. At any given game in any given baseball season, he knew the names of the players, their batting averages, which pitchers were having a good season, and what it was going to take for the team to have a shot at the playoffs.It was but the tip of his iceberg. He could also give you the latest on how the women’s softball team was doing or if the men’s soccer team had a chance for the post-season. Wrestling? No problem. Women’s gymnastics? The same.
Battle of the Bottom Dwellers
To the average football fan, living in the now rules the season, that is, staying focused on the game being played, cheering passionately, hoping for the best. For the sports historian, both the current game and looking to the rear are just as important. This Saturday’s critical Pac-10 matchup between the Washington State Cougars and the visiting OSU Beavers contains enough grist for both mills.
A Game of Inches
Forty-eight years have passed, and the sound of a leather ball clanging iron can still be heard. Well, not really, for no one that Saturday night in 1955 could hear anything. The record-setting Gill Coliseum crowd of over 11,200 was screaming loud enough to trigger a blip on a seismograph machine. The crowd was watching the last 13 seconds of a struggle of historic proportions. Whoever "hears" the clang today does so symbolically, in a lasting testament to what is remembered as the greatest might-have-been, could-have-been, should-have-been basketball game ever played by an Orange and Black men’s quintet.
Hope Was All They Had
Our story, this story, begins on Nov. 22, 1997. It is a story of a band of brothers and sisters, formed into a unique family of believers through the shared experience of losing.The day was cold and dreary, fitting, if only symbolically, for a football program that had endured almost three consecutive decades without a winning record. As it usually is in Oregon's Willamette Valley in late fall, there were rain and wind to go with the cold. It was a Saturday, the day of the Civil War game.
Expect the Unexpected
When OSU and Cal square-off in football, one thing is certain. Between these Pac-10 charter members, anything can happen! Expect the unexpected. In this 56th meeting in the 98-year old series, throw the record books out the window.
Odd Couple
What a bizarre week it was last week for Oregon State’s football opponent this week. In 60 minutes, the Devils-turned-docile managed but a safety against the bubblegum boys from Iowa City, losing 21-2 in a contest that had more than its share of odd surprises. And so, using this odd game as a theme, and in honor of Arizona State’s visit to Reser Stadium this Saturday, let’s return to the past, to a couple of Beaver games that still sit high on OSU’s list of football oddities.
They Were Soldiers Once
This week marks the 131st anniversary of the Battle of Antietam (Sept. 17th to be exact), the bloodiest one-day fight in American history, and presents a good opportunity to review brief biographies of four OSU professors and administrators who fought in the Civil War, then came West to play prominent roles in the development of what we know today as Oregon State University.
Never Say Die
Fans and players who were at Parker Stadium on the evening of September 12, 1981 witnessed possibly the best game OSU and Fresno State played. Maybe you had to have been there to understand. Or maybe not. For this was and is a story of never-say-die, a moment of Beaver triumph when things looked hopeless, high drama between two schools meeting on the gridiron for the first time.
Greatest Games in the History of OSU Football...(Part 2 of 2)
Now we come to the greatest of the greatest, a veritable trophy room of immortal plays and players, the stuff of legend and the measuring stick, where men of orange still run to paydirt and the shouting lasts forever. The next time someone asks you if Oregon State University has a "football tradition," just smile and share these stories, the Beaver victories that give OSU a special place atop the college football universe.
Greatest Games in the History of OSU Football...(Part 1 of 2)
As the Beavers prepare to open the 2003 football season next Thursday at home against the Hornets of Sacramento State (7:00 p.m. kickoff), I thought I might help keep the football juices flowing at high speed by rendering an opinion as to the 12 greatest football games ever played by the Orange and Black.
In Memory of Helen Gill (1904-2003)
Affectionately referred to by everyone who knew her as “OSU’s First Lady of Basketball,” Helen Boyer Gill passed away in her flower garden at her Corvallis home on the morning of July 22, 2003. The following story first appeared in the September 1996 issue of The Oregon Stater and remains one of the best features ever to appear in our alumni publication profiling the life and contributions of this amazing and historic woman. Helen was 98 at the time of death.
2003: A Year of Anniversaries
This year marks many anniversaries, from 135 years ago when our university received its land grant to more recent achievments. This weeks history piece looks back on some of these events and tells pieces of the story that is OSU. Come take a look at some facts about the university you may not have known.
The Flying Professor
Over a thousand students and faculty left their jobs or interrupted their degree programs to serve in the armed services of the country. One alumnus, Ed Allworth of the class of 1916, was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery in combat, but many Beavers never returned. For those who did, they brought back stories to last a lifetime and this was certainly true of an associate professor in OAC’s department of entomology named W. J. “Joe” Chamberlin. (For more on OSU and the Great War, see Carry Me Back: Chapter 30, “Amazing Beavers”—Part 2 of 5, February 15, 2002).
Remembering the Batcheller Family
With the passing of retired Rear Admiral Edgar Hadley Batcheller May 3 in Woodstock, Va., the day after his 93rd birthday, another chapter closed in the story of an Oregon State family with connections to OSU spanning almost a century. Edgar Batcheller was born in Mattapoisett, Mass., to James Hervey and Elizabeth Town Field Batcheller, the former a professor in the School of Mines at Oregon Agricultural College in the early part of the 20th century.
Historical Bios of OSU’s Presidents
As many Eclips readers already know, OSU has a new president. He is Dr. Edward John Ray, who was chosen to lead the university by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education on June 5 to succeed Dr. Timothy White. In celebration of President Ray’s appointment, let’s now turn to a review of all who have served Oregon State University in its highest administrative office. Depending on how you count them, Ray will be OSU’s 14th president, if you don’t include "acting" presidents, or the 19th, if you do.
A Beaver and a Duck at the top of the World
Arriving at the summit of Everest some three hours after their teammates, Unsoeld and Hornbein quickly set about completing their own celebration. Then, with nightfall rapidly approaching, Unsoeld had one final ceremonial act he wanted to perform. Handing Hornbein his camera, the intrepid Beaver pulled from his pack a large, triangular flag sporting the circular logo of the OSC Mountain Club.
A Trio of Governors
Since the founding of Oregon State University in 1859 as Corvallis College, at least three individuals with strong connections to OSU, a professor and two graduates, have served in the Oregon governor’s office. Here are brief sketches of their lives, originally authored by R. Gess Smith for the Web site "Oregon Governors," and used here with permission.
Before Title IX: Part 2
Passed in 1972 to provide equality in college sports programs for men and women, Title IX has been hailed by many as one of the most significant pieces of legislation of the 20th century. Women’s basketball is a testament to this belief. In the final rounds of the 2003 women's Division I national tournament, games were played before record crowds and impressive TV ratings. The players were outstandingly athletic, the games drew nationwide attention across a broad spectrum of fans and supporters, and sports television stations devoted nearly as much time to the women's tournament as the men's.
Before Title IX: Part 1
Passed in 1972 to provide equality in college sports programs for men and women, Title IX has been hailed by many as one of the most significant pieces of legislation of the 20th century. Women’s basketball is a testament to this belief. In the final rounds of the 2003 women's Division I national tournament, games were played before record crowds and impressive TV ratings. The players were outstandingly athletic, the games drew nationwide attention across a broad spectrum of fans and supporters, and sports television stations devoted nearly as much time to the women's tournament as the men's.
A Most Talented Couple
Throughout the 20th century, Oregon State University enjoyed many alumni who became highly prominent in the entertainment industry, from Disney legends "Pinto" Colvig and George Bruns, to radio celebrity and "Hawaii Calls" creator Webley Edwards. Lest we forget, it’s now time to add to the list of OSU luminaries the names Z. Wayne Griffin and his wife, Elinor Remick Warren, arguably one of the most talented couples to which our Beaver alumni family can stake a claim.
Tales from the Early History of OSU Basketball
As the 2002-2003 college basketball season draws to close, we at Eclips thought it might be fun to go back in time and share some interesting if not unusual moments from OSU’s basketball past, small tidbits of history that probably missed the pages of the newspapers of the time, little pieces of institutional memory that, with each passing season, slowly fade into obscurity.
Mr. Whiskers
At the turn of the century, the building’s student residents were under the watchful eye of a live-in faculty member and his wife..."dorm parents" if you will. For a time, OAC faculty member and historian John Horner (for whom Horner museum was named) and Mrs. Horner served in the job. They were, in turn, replaced by the Whiteheads. Mr. Whitehead was easily recognized by his long and flowing white beard. Cauthorn students affectionately (it is assumed) referred to him as "Whiskers."
Brewmeisters
Maybe it’s the water. Or the hops. Or the weather. Or the numerous links people here have to a European ancestry. Whatever the cause, the Pacific Northwest has established for itself over the last 20 years a reputation for being the "microbrew capital" of the world.And OSU has played no small part in the building of this image, thanks to the hard work and talents of at least four alumni whose names in this region have become synonymous with making beer.
Riley’s return a repeat of the past
Mike Riley's return to OSU is not the first time the school has rehired a former head football coach. In 1897, Bill Bloss came back after a three-year hiatus to guide Oregon State to a 2-0 season. Bud Riley, Mike's father, also put in two different stints with the Beavers, but as an assistant coach.
1933: The Beginning of OSU's Basketball Legacy
As the 1932-33 season approached, the experts had Gill's Orangemen picked to continue their mediocre ways. His 1929-30 club had finished in next to last place with a break-even 8-8 conference record. In 1930-31, Oregon State did slightly better for a third-place PCC finish. Another third-place was OSC's reward in '31-'32. By 1933, Hec Edmunson's Washington Huskies had won five PCC crowns in a row. They were the odds-on favorites to repeat.
Gone But Not Forgotten
OSU alumni returning to campus for reunions or sporting or cultural events often express their delight in how much the university values keeping what it has. From Benton Hall, OSU’s first building after the school relocated from downtown Corvallis in 1889, to Milam and Waldo, Strand Ag Hall, the MU, Weatherford Hall and Fairbanks, Shepard and Apperson, and the Women’s Building, the campus remains fairly intact from a time that dates to the last few years of president B. L. Arnold, OSU’s chief executive until 1892. Nothing touches the heart and spirit of an alumnus more than a visit to old campus hangouts to see things are still the same.
OSUAA 'Pioneer' John H Gallagher, Sr (1876-1961)
On the day John Hubert Gallagher Sr. passed away, May 15, 1961, a great wave of shock and sadness descended on the OSU campus and the Alumni Association not unlike that which hits a family that has just lost a son or daughter.
OSU's First 'Astronaut'
As we enter the new year, OSU has two NASA astronauts actively involved in space exploration, which may be tops among all major universities in the country. Donald Pettit, a 1973 chemical engineering graduate and William Oefelein, '88, will pilot space shuttle Atlantis to Alpha in May. However, there was one man that came before them, click above to read about him and the project that 'put him into space'.
2002 Football Team Ranks with the Best
In the 106 years OSU has competed in football, only three teams have finished with more than eight wins in a season. These were the 9-1-1 Beavers of 1939, the 9-2 Liberty Bowl champs of 1962 and the extraordinary 11-1 team of 2000. In addition, only three other teams during this period of more than a century have been good enough to record eight wins in a season, including the 1941 Rose Bowl team with its record of 8-2, the 1957 team that also finished 8-2 and the 1964 squad that chalked-up eight wins against three losses.
A Football Rival From Long Ago
Based on newspaper accounts of many of the games played between OSU and MAC, it could be argued that MAC was as big if not a bigger arch-rival than the UO during the 22-year period the two programs met on the gridiron.
Bowl History
This feature, outlining all the bowl games in which the Beavers have played, first appeared in E-Clips in early December, 2000, just days before OSU accepted an invitation to play in the 30th annual Tostitos Fiesta Bowl in Tempe, Arizona. Because the Beavers are once again awaiting a bowl invitation, we thought it might be fun to do a repeat of the feature, this time with a summary of the Fiesta Bowl and the very latest on where the Beavers might cap-off their successful 2002 season.
Civil War Oddities
OSU won the inaugural match over a century ago, 16-0. The victory only served to make the boys from Eugene fighting mad, as it would not be until three years later, or 1897, that the Beavers, known then as the OAC Agrics, would win another. From 1898 to the present, the series has been anything but equitable and shatters the assumption of a back-and-forth affair. What is more the truth is that the games have been characterized by long periods in which one team has "owned" the other.
The Perfect Run
It stands today as a lone sentinel, guarding an era of Beaver football dating back to the presidency of Woodrow Wilson. It is the oldest football record in the OSU Media Guide credited to an individual player. Three Oregon Staters have come close to toppling it from its lofty throne, but, as with all records, close still gets you no cigar.
OSU's Homecoming Tradition
Mention "Homecoming" to most Beaver alumni today and one word comes to mind...football. And yet, OSU’s Homecoming tradition dates to long before anyone on campus had ever heard of the sport, all the way back to the earliest years of Corvallis College, the church-owned pioneer academy that would one day become Oregon State University.
Campus Tour
The following feature outlines the history of more than two dozen of OSU's best-known buildings and can be used to make any trip to OSU a trip not soon forgotten. Our thanks to University Archivist Larry Landis for his research and the writing of this special feature.
"Card Stunt King Lindley Bothwell"
If cheerleaders had a hall of fame, Lindley Bothwell would occupy a special place among the inductees. Bothwell, a Southern California native who graduated from Oregon Agricultural College in 1926, is credited with creating the first animated card stunts in college football history.
Remembering Barney Keep
To younger generations of Portlanders today, the name Barney Keep means nothing. But for their parents and grandparents, for anyone who listened to radio station KEX from the 1940s to the '70s, mention Keep's name and eyes will light up, faces will break out in a huge grin.
In Memory of "Hib" Johnson
On Sept. 24, 2002, Oregon State University, the OSU Alumni Association, and the OSU Foundation, lost one of its most loyal and devoted alumni in the passing of Hilbert S. "Hib" Johnson. He was 89 and a resident of Milwaukee, Ore.
OSU's Library
Since its designation as Oregon's land grant institution in 1868, Oregon State University's libraries have played a significant role in fulfilling the university's mission. During the past 134 years, the libraries' collections have grown and changed in character, from a few volumes to 1.3 million volumes today plus access to countless resources in digital form.
Dorothy and John Fenner
Since their student days at Oregon State College in the late 1930s and early 1940s, the Fenners have become synonymous with what it means to offer exemplary volunteer service to our Association and to OSU. In the Corvallis community and among the university family, they are truly an extraordinary couple, a distinction earned by a level of devotion to this community that is deeply moving.
