By Chris Petersen
Title: Fred Henshaw Photograph Album, 1916-1925
Predominant Dates: 1916-1918
ID: P 305
Primary Creator: Henshaw, Fred M.
Extent: 0.2 cubic feet. More info below.
Arrangement: Specific pages within the photo album are typically arranged by event or theme. The album itself is not formally arranged.
Date Acquired: 00/00/2015
Languages of Materials: English [eng]
The Fred Henshaw Photograph Album consists of 289 black and white photographs that primarily document student life, social activities, and the Oregon Agricultural College campus during the years of Henshaw's attendance at OAC, 1916-1918. The membership and activities of Phi Delta Theta fraternity (formerly Kappa Sigma Nu) are particularly well chronicled by the photo album, which includes two images of the fraternity's installation ceremony, held in March 1918. Several images of World War I-era ROTC activities, including training, parades and individuals posing in uniform, are included in the album as well.
Images of campus life and student social activities form much of the remainder of the photo album. Included are numerous photographs - both formal and candid - of individual students, many of them annotated. A wide array of student activities are likewise pictured including picnicking and canoeing, swimming, studying, playing music, fishing, and dancing at fraternity functions. Group portraits of the OAC Glee Club - of which Henshaw was a member - multiple OAC football teams, and assorted students performing in theatrical productions can also be found. Annotated large-format images of several campus buildings and landscapes are available as well.
Four pages of undated photos near the end of the album depict Henshaw at a later stage in his life, circa 1925, posing with his wife Helen and other family members during a trip to the Oregon Coast and at home.
Fred Merrit Henshaw was born in 1898 in Valley Junction, Iowa, where he was raised and attended high school. After a half year of study at Highland Park College in Des Moines, Iowa, Henshaw enrolled at Oregon Agricultural College, probably because of a family move to Portland. Henshaw remained at OAC for two school years, from Fall 1916 to Spring 1918, studying Electrical Engineering. While an undergraduate, Henshaw was active in ROTC, participated in the OAC glee club, and was a charter member of the school's chapter of Phi Delta Theta fraternity.
At the conclusion of the 1918 school year, Henshaw enlisted in the United States Army, receiving a commission as Second Lieutenant of Field Artillery and stationed at Camp Zachary Taylor, Kentucky. He remained in the Army until being discharged in February 1919. He enlisted for a second time more than twenty years later, in September 1940, and served until August 1946, retiring with the rank of colonel. For most of his life, he made his home in Portland and worked as a clerk and commercial representative for the telephone company. He passed away in 1988 at the age of 93.
More Extent Information: 1 oversize box; 289 photographs
Statement on Access: Collection is open for research.
Acquisition Note: The Fred Henshaw Photograph Album was donated to the Special Collections and Archives Research Center in 2015 by Lynn Whitener, Henshaw's granddaughter.
Related Materials:
The Special Collections and Archives Research Center holds numerous photograph albums focusing on student life, several of which depict Oregon Agricultural College during the 1910s. Particularly relevant collections include the Francis and Lois Wilson Neer Photograph Album (P 206), the Charles Leon Robinson Photograph Album (P 215), the John W. Trigg Photograph Album (P 227), and the J. Llewellyn Spriggs Photograph Album (P 285).
The early history of Phi Delta Theta fraternity is documented in the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity - OSU Chapter Record Book (MSS PhiDeltaTheta). Student military drilling on the OAC campus during World War I is depicted in the Ronald V. and John G. Hogg Papers (MSS Hogg).
Preferred Citation: Fred Henshaw Photograph Album (P 305), Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries.
Henshaw, Fred M.
Military education--Oregon--Corvallis.
Oregon Agricultural College--Students.
Phi Delta Theta Fraternity. Oregon Beta Chapter.
Student activities--Oregon--Corvallis.
University History
Photograph albums.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.