Skip to Main Content

OSU Women's History in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center

About SCARC

The Oregon State University Libraries Special Collections and Archives Research Center (SCARC) maintains and makes available the University's unique collections of manuscripts, archives, photographs, and books. Subject strengths include:

We acknowledge that materials in SCARC collections and the language that describes them may be harmful. We are actively working to address our descriptive practices; for more information please see our SCARC Anti-Racist Actions Statement.

The Special Collections and Archives Research Center public service point is located in the Reading Room on the 5th Floor of the Valley Library at Oregon State University. If you plan to visit us, please check our calendar.

See our Guide to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center for more on how to visit SCARC, find our collections, and research tips.

How to Use This Guide

Collections listed in this guide are identified by title and collection number, and are described in a brief statement on the relevant contents of the collection. Relevant subjects, topics, and/or keywords have been bolded, and box and folder information has been included as appropriate.

All collections listed in this guide are open for research. Some collections, however, are not yet fully processed, arranged, or described; the titles of these collections have been marked with an asterisk, e.g. Avery Lodge Records, 1966-2014.*

This guide describes physical collections located in the Special Collections and Archives Research Center. Digitized materials can be located by searching Oregon Digital; where appropriate, links to specific collection material in Oregon Digital have been provided.

Quick Links - Digitized Resources

Looking for online content? Oregon Digital contains a wealth of digitized materials that document Oregon State University's rich history. Often, digitized materials are gathered together as sets, either by publication or collection. Examples of such sets are listed below. Please note that collection sets listed below are not "canned searches" for specific content, but rather contain all digitized content for those collections.

The Voices of OSU Women oral history project is an incredible, and ever-expanding resource dedicated to presenting women's stories as they have been collected by a broad range of oral historians from the 1970s to today. Included are interviews with generations of alumnae as well as faculty members, staff, and students representing a wide array of disciplines and institutional points of view.

An exhibit, Women's Words, Women's Work: Spaces of Community, change, tradition, and resistance at Oregon State University,  which was designed by SCARC faculty and staff and displayed from June through December 2018, exists in an online format here.

SCARC Services

In order to provide more efficient and effective service, the Special Collections and Archives Research Center (SCARC) is offering on-site access to our collections by-appointment. Advance notice of your visit and research interests allows us to better assist you in identifying materials relevant to your research, and provide more efficient service during your on-site visit. A by-appointment model also allows us to limit Reading Room disruptions, and focus on you and on your research needs.

We will continue to respond to general and reference questions remotely via our department email, scarc@oregonstate.edu. There is a wealth of online content in Oregon Digital, on the SCARC website, in ScholarsArchive@OSU, in SCARC LibGuides, and on OSU MediaSpace, and public services staff are available to assist you in navigating and searching these sites. In some cases, by working closely with our archivists and librarians, and identifying a limited amount of specific materials, we may be able to support your research remotely through digitization. 

Please see our Guide to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center for more information about our by-appointment model, and other services.

Contact Us

Your archivists are here to help!

Staff of the library’s Special Collections and Archives Research Center are available for virtual reference consultations. Please email us at scarc@oregonstate.edu if you have questions or would like to set up an appointment.