A full historical report on Gill Coliseum (published in Fall 2017) is available via the OSU Building and Place Names website: Gill Coliseum

For more information on the building's history, see the Gill Coliseum tab within the OSU Buildings Histories in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center website.

The information contained on this page is not comprehensive and is intended only to provide an overview of the building names and namesakes under consideration. The resources are specific to the OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center. Therefore, other relevant secondary sources, as well as primary sources located in other archival repositories, are not included.

OSU Memorabilia Collection

The Memorabilia Collection is an artificial collection containing items of interest about Oregon State University and to a lesser extent, the city of Corvallis, and the state of Oregon.

• Box-Folder 27.3 and 172.16 Buildings – Gill Coliseum

​Daily Barometer article: (available on microfilm and bound printed copies)

• April 26, 1966 1:7-8    State board approves name for Gill Coliseum

Facilities Services Records, 1888-2010:

The Facilities Services Records document the physical campus of Oregon State University in Corvallis as well as OSU facilities throughout the state of Oregon beginning with construction of the first building on the current campus in 1888. The records consist predominantly of architectural drawings and files for the design, construction, and modification to structures. For facilities information on Gill Coliseum, click here.

• Files relevant to Gill Coliseum include:
  • Series II.  Building Project Files, 1938-2002 1974-1998
  • Series III.  Building Specifications and Reports, 1909-2003
  • Series VII.  Minor Building Modification Files, 1985-1993
  • Series VIII.  General Subject Numbered Files, 1968-1991

*To quickly access files relevant to Gill Coliseum, hold down the 'Ctrl + F' keys and search for "Gill Coliseum" in the pop-up search bar*

Oregon Digital:

Visit Oregon Digital for more images of Gill Coliseum. 

OSU Memorabilia Collection:

The Memorabilia Collection is an artificial collection containing items of interest about Oregon State University and to a lesser extent, the city of Corvallis, and the state of Oregon.

• Box-Folder 78.18 Gill, Amory T.

​Daily Barometer articles: (available on microfilm and bound printed copies)

• Oct. 30, 1962 4:6-9     Slats Gill starts 35^th year

• Feb. 13, 1963 1:1-4     Controversy flares over charge of Gill basketball discrimination​​ (This article indicates that the 1955 freshman basketball team had an African American player for a short period of time; also claims by Gill that he had tried to recruit African American players.)

• Feb. 15, 1963 3:3-4     Political move or honest mistake?

• Jan. 28, 1964 1:8-9      A.T. “Slats” Gill named new director of athletics

• Jan, 27, 1967 6:2         Slats Gill resolution introduced in Salem

Oregon Stater articles:

• Apr, 1966, page 3: “Slats Gill, Eulogy"

• Winter, 2007, pages 30-35: "Black, Orange, and Black" - Norm Monroe's story - Monroe is an OSU alum; he was a student athlete at OSU during the early 1960s

Other Oregon Newspapers:

• Newspaper articles in the winter of 1963 on the issue of the lack of African American basketball players at OSU

  • Salem Statesman Journal Feb. 12, 1963, p.1

  • Oregonian, Feb. 12, 1963, 1:5 

• Other Oregonian newspaper articles in the 1950s on Gill (see the Oregonian index on teh 3rd floor of the library)

• Dick Bogle column on Slats Gill: July 10, 2008

Record Groups:

• Intercollegiate Athletics Records (RG 7)

  • board meeting minutes for the 1950s (note: the 1960s are not included as part of the collection)

​Oral Histories:

• Glory Road and the Desegregation of College Basketball: The Untold Story at Oregon State: This 2011 event shared the untold story of the desegregation of the Oregon State men's basketball team, circa 1965.

• ​Norm Monroe and Charlie White 

Coach A.T. "Slats" Gill, c. 1935