Our collections exist to be used. When students work directly with primary source materials, historic photographs, and documents that are old or unique, they discover an excitement and passion not generated by textbooks.
Primary source documents can inspire, but they also teach about learning to verify sources, tracking down connections, finding evidence from content and from physical clues.
Boutelle, Henry Moss, d. 1899.
Letters, 1890-1899 (in Frazier Augustus Boutelle papers)
Several folders, filed chronologically with F.A. Boutelle's correspondence.
Henry Moss Boutelle, son of Frazier Augustus Boutelle, attended Hill Military Academy , Portland, OR, 1890, and Stanford University, 1891-1892. He was appointed lieutenant, 3rd Artillery, in 1898 and was killed in action on November 2, 1899, near Aliago, Philippine Islands. His letters, 1890-1899, are part of the F.A. Boutelle collection. The collection also includes letters to F.A. Boutelle and his wife, expressing sympathy on the death of their son.
Ax 12
Letters, 1898-1899 (in Samuel Henry Brown papers)
1 folder.
Battersby was with Company M, 20th Regiment, Kansas Volunteer Infantry, 1898-1899. The letters were written from the West Coast and the Philippine Islands.
Ax 120
Elarth, Harold Hanne, 1885-
Papers, 1902-1915, 1943-1951.
2 boxes; 2 lin. ft.
Elarth was a U.S. Army officer, born in Nebraska. He was a 3rd Lt. in 1904, and rose to the rank of Lt. Col. His major service was in the Philippine insurrection and with the Philippine Constabulary.
The papers include an autobiography, 1904-1917; a diary, 1910-1912; letterbooks, 1902-1904; and correspondence, 1943-1951, concerning Col. Elarth's book Story of the Philippine Constabulary (Los Angeles, 1949). There is also a printed constitution of the Philippine Constabulary Officers Association, and issues of the Bulletin of the Association, no. 2, 4-18 (1950-1956). Also included are four scrapbooks, 1904-1917.
Ax 286
Gamber, John Arthur, 1878-1913.
Papers, 1897-1911. (Ax 135)
2 boxes; 1 lin. ft.
Gamber was from Lacomb, OR. From 1898-1899 he was a private in Company I, 2nd Oregon Volunteer Infantry in the Philippine Islands. He attended the University of Oregon, 1900-1902, and later worked as a salesman.
The papers include letters to and from Mary McAllister of Eugene, who married Gamber in 1904. There are two volumes of a diary, May 14, 1898-Aug. 7, 1899, concerning the Philippines campaign, and a collection of photographs and mementos of the war.
Ax 135
Letters, Sept. 11-Nov. 4, 1899.
1 folder (5 items).
Gleim was an enlisted man from Chicago, probably in the 1st Illinois Battalion. He wrote his parents from Presidio, San Francisco, from aboard the transport Sherman en route to the Philippines, and from Luzon. His letters mainly concern the life of a soldier.
A 143
Hampton, Edwin William, 1879-1899.
Correspondence, May 19, 1898-June 24, 1899.
1 folder.
Hampton was from Portland, OR, and was a private in Company H, Oregon Volunteer Infantry. He is said to have been the first Oregon soldier killed in the Philippines Campaign, Spanish-American War. Most of the letter are to and from family members. During the war Hampton was at Presidio, CA, and Manila, P.I.
A 046
Hartman, George Arthur, 1878-1952.
Letters, 1898-1899.
1 folder.
Hartman was born in Weston, OR, and educated at Eastern Oregon Normal School. He was a banker in Pendleton, OR, then mayor and postmaster of the town. He also served as a First Lieutenant, Company D, 2nd Regiment, Oregon Volunteers. The letters are to his parents from Guam, Manila, Cavite Arsenal, Pasig, Caloocan, Marilao, Maasin, San Miguel, and San Isidro.
A 235
Letter, May 24, 1899.
1 folder.
Letter to Agnes Plummer, Portland, OR., describing military life in Company E, 14th Infantry, and other news.
CA 1899 May 24
Mementos of the Spanish-American War, Philippines Campaign, 1898-1899.
1 folder.
McAlister was an enlisted man, Company A, Oregon Volunteers. Includes photographs; cards showing views of the Philippine Islands; a handwritten document titled "Copy of a Diary by American Prisoners Found in a Cell at San Isidro, Philippine Islands, Province of Nuevaeciyo by a Member of the Second Oregon, U.S. Volunteers (1899); four issues of The Manila Times (1928, 1930, 1944, 1946); and miscellany.
CA M119
McLaughlin, Ara W., 1873-
Diaries, 1898-1899
.5 linear feet (2 containers)
The Ara W. McLaughlin Diaries contain two original diaries, transcripts of the diaries, and a photocopy of diary #1. The collection also contains a reprint of a drawing of the battleship Oregon, presumably owned by McLaughlin.
At the age of twenty-four, McLaughlin volunteered as a soldier for the United States in the Spanish-American War. Beginning his journey from his home in Oregon City, Oregon, Mr. McLaughlin traveled down the Pacific coast by way of train. From San Francisco, McLaughlin was shipped to Hawaii and then onto the Philippines. In the Philippines, McLaughlin was stationed in numerous places, including Manila Bay and Cuartel de España.
The first journal details McLaughlin\'s experience beginning in Oregon, continuing to California and Hawaii. The last half of the first journal includes McLaughlin\'s time in the Philippines. McLaughlin\'s second journal describes various skirmishes in which he was involved, in addition to McLaughlin\'s journey home at the close of the war.
Coll. 279
Robinson, Will H.
Letter, Feb. 12, 1899.
1 folder.
Letter to Grace Plummer, Portland, OR, thanking her for her letter. The letter also describes Manila, P.I., Spanish women, and the fighting on Feb. 5, 1899.
CA 1899 Feb. 12
Thompson, Herbert Cooper, 1875-1960.
Papers, 1864-1960.
10 boxes, 1 vol.; 5 lin. ft.
Thompson was born in Eugene, OR, and attended Stanford University, 1893-1897. In 1898 he joined Company C, Oregon Volunteers, and served in the Philippines. From 1900-1910 he worked in San Francisco as a newspaper reporter. From 1912-1920 he was correspondent for the Associated Press, assigned to England and France during World War I, and to the Mexican Revolution, 1916-1918. From 1924-1940 he was employed as a writer and observer by the American Red Cross, and traveled for the Red Cross in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Europe.
The papers contain diaries (1890-1960), three of which (Apr. 1898-July 1899) concern the Philippine campaign and include comments, clippings, and letters to editors. Also included are letters (1883-1934), some of which were written to his mother while he was in the Philippines. There is also a manuscript history of the Philippines campaign, "War Without Medals." Excerpts from this were published in the Oregon Historical Quarterly, v. 59, p. 293-325. Other manuscripts, published materials, miscellany, copies of Philippine Islands newspapers (1898) and Mexican Revolution broadsides are also included. With the papers is a series of letters, 1864-1882, to Thompson's father, John M. Thompson, and notes and speeches by J.M. Thompson.
Ax 67
Letters, May 2, 1898-Aug. 2, 1899.
1 folder.
Waldron was an enlisted man in Company I, 2nd Oregon Volunteers. The letters are to his parents, and were written from Portland, San Francisco, "on board ship," Manila, Pasig River, and San Miguel.
A 126
White, John Roberts, 1879-1961.
Papers, 1898-1945.
9 boxes; 13.5 lin. ft.
White was born in Reading, England, and educated in private schools. He served with the Greek Foreign Legion in 1897, went to Alaska and the Yukon, 1897-1899, and enlisted in the 4th U.S. Infantry, 1899, serving in the Philippines. He joined the Philippine Constabulary in 1901, rose to the rank of colonel, and retired in 1914. He served as superintendent of the Iwahig penal colony, 1906-1908. In 1916-1917 he was in Europe for the Red Cross and the Rockefeller Foundation. He joined the A.E.F. as a Signal Corps pilot. Beginning in 1920 White was with the National Park Service as ranger, chief ranger, and park superintendent at Grand Canyon, Sequoia, and General Grant national parks, Death Valley National Monument, and as director of regions 3 and 4, 1940-1941.
The paper include an autobiography, diaries and notebooks (1897, 1906-1916, 1920-1948), and correspondence with family members and publishers. Documents include official orders, reports, and papers of the Philippine Constabulary.
Ax 192
Diaries and letters, 1898-1901.
2 folders.
The diaries and letters are a detailed account of Wichman's experiences as an ordinary seaman aboard the U.S.S. Harvard, June-Sept. 1898, and as an enlisted man in Company B, 30th U.S. Volunteer Infantry, July 1899-Feb. 1901, in the Philippines, and a subsequent voyage around the world, Feb.-July 1901.
A 152
Wilson, Arthur Rockwell, 1875-
Papers, 1895-1902.
1 box; 1.5 lin. ft.
Wilson was the son of Alexander Gibson Wilson, Presbyterian minister in Tekamah, NE. In 1898 he enlisted in Company L, 1st Regiment, Nebraska Volunteer Infantry, "Thurston Rifles." The regiment arrived in Manila in July 1899, and was mustered out in August. After the war, Wilson attended the University of Nebraska, graduating in 1907. From 1923-1924 he was mayor of Klamath Falls, OR.
The papers include Wilson's Philippine diary, June 18-Aug. 5, 1899, and letters to relatives, 1899. Seven of the letters were published in a newspaper, probably the Burt County Herald, Tekamah, NE. With the papers are Philippine Islands newspapers and periodicals: The American (18 numbers), The American Soldier (2 numbers), Freedom (20 numbers), Heraldo Filipino (1 number), La Independencia (2 numbers), The New Orient (1 number), La Republica Filipina (1 number), The Kon Leche (1 number), and The Soldier\'s Letter (2 numbers). There is also a broadside by Emilio Aguinaldo, dated Jan. 8, 1899, headed "Otro manifesto del Sr. Presidente del gobierne revolucionario," a denunciation of American policy in the Philippines. The photographs are of the regiment, Company L, and views in the Philippine Islands.
Ax 406
Women's Emergency Corps, Portland, OR
Daily membership and activity records, July 1-Sept. 5, 1898.
1 vol.
The corps was devoted to good works performed for the benefit of Spanish-American War soldiers.
B 072
Letters. 1898-1899 (in James Harrison Collins papers)
1 folder.
Zieber was a member of the band, 1st Infantry, Washington Volunteers. The letters are to Gertrude Finley, and were written from Presidio, CA, and the Philippine Islands.
Ax 14
[Identification of item], Date (if known), Collection Title, Collection Number, Box and Folder number [or photo ID number], Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries, Eugene, Oregon.
Special Collections and University Archives is the primary repository for the University of Oregon’s archives, rare books, historic photographs, and one of the largest historical manuscripts collections in the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to acquire, preserve, and make available a clearly defined set of primary sources and rare books, reflecting the written, visual, and audio history and culture of Oregon, the Pacific Northwest, and selected aspects of American and world history. Our diverse collections support all types of research, from K–12 education to international scholarship. We strive to play an active and creative role in the teaching, research, and service missions of the University.
Historical Collection Strengths
1501 Kincaid Street
Eugene, OR 97403
P: 541-346-3053
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