Discovering Linfield’s hidden treasures Entering the Linfield College Archives is like opening a treasure chest. You might not find gold or silver, but you will find irreplaceable riches. Like a hand-painted Wildcat tie, made for the late Win Dolan, professor and president emeritus. Two books that date back to the 15th and 16th centuries. Others that chronicle the history of the Pacific Northwest and the people who settled here including those of the Baptist faith. Hundreds of theses written by former Linfield students, dating back to 1917. There are dolls and nursing uniforms from the former Good Samaritan School of Nursing and thousands of photographs tracing the 155 years of Linfield College. And the newest gem – the Oregon Wine History Archive, documenting the history of the wine industry in Oregon. A control system send out a constant hum, keeping the 35 to DigitalCommons@Linfield, Woody and uploaded is material that to information accessibleIn additionMaking she as climate the palpable humidity around is the degrees and archives. Motors from 67 therchivist Rachael Woody’s excitementleads visitors intotemperature below percent to protect the miles of photographs, documents and artifacts housed in the 1,274-square-foot room. Motorized shelves stretching the students use social media and the web, more than 11 feet in the air move at the push of a button, chugging including a Tumblr page (linfieldarchives. along tracks to open different sections of the archives to unveil another tumblr.com/) and a Historypin project aspect of history. (historypin.com/channels/view/8284201/) The archives is not a stale, dank place. It is teeming with activity using Google technology to make and serves as a laboratory for students, who work side-by-side with information more accessible. For example, Woody to explore, catalog and document a mountain of material that images of the Old Oak have been pinned to has been collected over Linfield’s history. Google maps so people can see the historic Curiosity is an innate attribute of each of the four students who images next to the Google-provided images. serve as archive technicians. “They love the mystery in history and Students post weekly updates on their have an affinity for immersing themselves in the connections between projects on the Tumblr page to provide Linfield’s past and present,” Woody said. transparency, chronicle their evolution in a A section in a student thesis titled “Linfield’s Victory Bell” caught the attention of Jeremy Odden ’15 and led him on a quest to see if the professional capacity, and to get feedback into bell still existed. The brief entry documented the history of a bell that how the public is interpreting and interacting hung in Pioneer Hall for over 100 years. It signaled athletic victories with the collection. and successful fund drives until a crack was discovered in 1961. Archivist Rachael Woody, left, stands in the Linfield Archives special collections section that holds the oldest material, some of which dates back to the 15th century. Linfield has one of the best collections of Baptist history in the region, which includes Bibles, hymnals, missionary reports and publications dating back to the 1850s. Inset: Four student technicians work with Woody including, clockwise from left, Mitra Haeri ’14, Jeremy Odden ’15, Terran Sobel-Smith ’15 and Julian Adoff ’16. Winter 2013 l i n f i e l d m a g a z i n e - 7
Linfield Winter 2013
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