State School
Corvallis College was incorporated by the church in 1868, and the state of Oregon designated the school as the State Agricultural College (SAC). On August 22, 1868, the official articles of incorporation were filed and October 27, 1868, is known as OSU Charter Day, the day that the Oregon Legislative Assembly designated Corvallis College as the "Agricultural College of the State of Oregon" This act allowed the school to be the recipient of Land Grant fund income derived from the sale of 90,000 acres (364 km²) in southeast Oregon. As part of this designation, the college was required to comply with the requirements set forth in the First Morrill Act. The name was changed to Corvallis State Agricultural College and was then authorized to grant the Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, and Master of Arts degrees. The first graduating class was in 1870, granting Bachelor of Arts degrees.
In 1873, the school became the first West Coast school to offer a course in agriculture. The two-year program had been approved by the Oregon Legislative Assembly. State Agricultural College became a completely state run school in 1885. In 1889, the original building of Corvallis College was torn down. In 1888 the college informally became known as Oregon Agricultural College (OAC), a name not made official until 1907. Orange was adopted as the school color, with black as the background. The Olmsted Brothers developed the first Campus Master Plan in 1909, emphasizing trees and an architectural harmony showcasing basic classical forms in brick. The current campus stays mostly integrated to this original plan, laid on a grid of wide, tree-lined streets with the well-spaced buildings highlighted by open lawns and tall, clustered trees.
The Division of College Extension was organized in 1911 with Ralph Dorn Hetzel as director and, in 1912, the first off-campus faculty were placed in Marion and Wallowa counties. In 1914, the Cooperative Extension Service in Agriculture and Home Economics was established. The Army ROTC became active in 1917, replacing the original Cadet Corps formed by students studying Military Science. OAC began a horticultural products processing program in 1919, the first of its kind in the United States. A new brine method which led to the modern maraschino cherry was developed by the program in 1925 by Prof. Ernest H. Wiegand. Accreditation was granted in 1924 by the Northwest Association of Higher and Secondary Schools.
In 1927, the school’s name was changed to Oregon State Agricultural College. The Oregon Unification Bill passed by the Legislative Assembly in 1929 placed the school under the auspices of newly formed Oregon State Board of Higher Education. By 1934, Mary J. L. McDonald made donations that allowed for the purchase of the land that comprises the McDonald Forest owned by the school, which also includes Peavy Arboritum. Doctoral education was first provided in 1935 with the conferral of four Doctor of Philosophy degrees, three in Agriculture and one in Science. This year also saw the creation of the first summer session, starting a system of year-round operation for the college.
Read more about this topic: History Of Oregon State University
Famous quotes containing the words state and/or school:
“I thought that a Jewish state would be free of the evils afflicting other societies: theft, murder, prostitution.... But now we have them all. And that’s a thing that cuts to the heart ...”
—Golda Meir (1898–1978)
“It’s a rare parent who can see his or her child clearly and objectively. At a school board meeting I attended . . . the only definition of a gifted child on which everyone in the audience could agree was “mine.””
—Jane Adams (20th century)