1931 UO Yearbook Now Online

Joe St Sauver
joe@oregon.uoregon.edu

As we approach the University's 125th Anniversary year, we'd like to encourage you to take a minute to reflect on a period of time when life at the University of Oregon was simpler and completely innocent of computing and networking technology.

Let's look back to the events of 1931, as recorded in the UO's 1931 yearbook Oregana, which we recently reproduced online at http://31yearbook.uoregon.edu/

Why 1931? We wanted a yearbook that was "old," yet recent enough that connections between today and the past would be readily apparent. We considered doing a yearbook from the turn of the century or the World War I era, but in the end we felt those periods were too old. Likewise, an issue from the 1940s or 50s seemed "too new." 1931 split the difference nicely.

Another reason for choosing 1931 was because that was a year during which the university was active and growing rather than consolidating or retrenching. In 1931, the Great Depression was well underway, with unemployment running in excess of sixteen percent, but enrollments at the UO were at what was then an all- time high of 3,358 students. Only a few years later, as the Depression deepened and unemployment reached nearly forty percent, enrollments dropped by nearly a thousand students. But in 1931 there were still grand balls, summer trips to Alaska and Hawaii, international debates with Liverpool and Oxford, and polo and football games played in Chicago. The Great Depression had begun, but its effects had still not fully been felt at the university.

As you look through the online edition of the 1931 Oregana, you'll know immediately that you're reading a vintage issue: Some obvious clues are the old cars and the absence of street signs on page 12, reviews of Oregon's athletic contests against St. Mary's and Drake University instead of Pac 10 schools, and the hair styles and clothing of the period.

You'll also see some scenes that are virtually unchanged today from 1931 (such as the picture of the classic entrance to the College of Business on page 31 of the Oregana), as well as some familiar names that are immortalized today as the names of campus buildings. In 1931, those names were the names of faculty, staff and administrators instead of facilities: Straub...Gilbert... Lawrence... Allen... Hayward... Carson...and many more.

Compared with other Oregon yearbooks of that era, the 1931 Oregana stands out. Many of the photographs are striking and the layout is exceptionally pleasing. Is it perfect? No, there are a few irritating drawbacks--including a fragile typeface, inadequate margins and frustratingly small fonts in spots--but all in all, it is a beautiful book, well deserving of a second opportunity to be read and admired.

The copy we worked from showed signs of its age, being yellowed and warped in places. We made no attempt to eliminate those historical artifacts; they are an honest and integral part of a 70-year-old publication.

We hope you find browsing through the 1931 Oregana to be worthwhile, entertaining and informative.