Oregon Institute
The Oregon Institute was an American school located in the
Background
Missionary Jason Lee came to Oregon Country in 1834 with
On February 1, 1842, several missionaries, including Jason Lee, met at his house to discuss forming a school for the White settlers' children.[4] The group decided to create a school, naming it the Oregon Institute.[4] A building was begun on Wallace Prairie (in the area of the abandoned Wallace House) to the east of the Methodist Mission, but abandoned and sold before completion.[4] For $4,000, the Oregon Institute bought the three-story building originally under construction for the Indian Manual Labor School, together with its land, in June 1844.[3]
It was built under the supervision of Hamilton Campbell at a cost of $8,000 for the mission.[2] Construction began in 1841 and finished in 1844.[2] This building was 71 feet (22 m) long, 24 feet (7.3 m) wide, and three stories high.[2] It was built of fir milled on site, except for the windows that came from New York.[2] The building dominated the landscape in early Oregon.[2]
Functions
The first building of the school, a three-story wood building, was occupied in 1844.[5] This building was used by the school and community, including the
On February 1, 1843, the first "Wolf Meeting" was held at the Oregon Institute with Supreme Judge
In 1846 tuition was $24 annually and use of its dormitories cost $2 weekly.[7] An American naval agent visited the institute during the same year found the school in a "languishing condition", its dormitories still incomplete.[8] At the time there was only five enrolled male students.[8]
In 1853 the school changed names to Wallamet University, later changed to the current Willamette.[5]
References
- ^ a b c "Jason Lee's Mission to Oregon". Road To Oregon. End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center. Archived from the original on 2008-10-12. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
- ^ JSTOR 988795.
- ^ OL 23364697M. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
- ^ a b c "1840-1990 Keepsake Edition: Willamette University". Statesman Journal. October 26, 1990.
- ^ a b c d "History of Willamette". About Willamette. Willamette University. Archived from the original on November 3, 2010. Retrieved February 21, 2018.
- ^ a b Clarke, S.A. (1905). Pioneer Days of Oregon History. J.K. Gill Company.
- ^ Leslie, David. Oregon Spectator. (Oregon City, OR) 20 August 1846, p. 3. Online at the University of Oregon Digital Archives
- ^ a b Howison, Neil M.Oregon report of Lieut. Neil M. Howison, United States Navy, to the commander of the Pacific Squadron. Washington, D.C.: Tippin & Streeper, 1848. p. 26
External links
- Salem Online History: Willamette University Archived 2016-03-03 at the Wayback Machine