[Libs-Or] New digital collections from the OSU Archives

[Landis, Larry]

The Oregon State University Libraries announces two new web sites that feature holdings from the University Archives.

Fighters on the Farm Front: Oregon's Emergency Farm Labor Service, 1943-1947
We often hear about Rosie the Riveter and the unprecedented industrial effort that occurred in America during World War II, but the efforts that were made in agriculture - production of the food and fiber necessary to sustain the war effort -- are rarely acknowledged.  The Oregon State University Archives<http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/archives/>' newest digital exhibit, Fighters on the Farm Front: Oregon's Emergency Farm Labor Service, 1943-1947<http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/archives/omeka/exhibits/show/fighters/topics/> (http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/archives/omeka/exhibits/show/fighters)  highlights the contributions of Oregon's Emergency Farm Labor Service during and immediately after World War II.  Acting out of emergency, this service, coordinated by the Oregon State College Extension Service, recruited women, children, Mexican nationals, interned Japanese Americans, German Prisoners of War, American military servicemen, retired folks and other nontraditional workers to fill a void in the agricultural industry, as many farmers and farmhands left their farms to join the military and other wartime efforts.  While similar projects ran throughout the country, Oregon's Emergency Farm Labor Service placed tens of thousands of workers around the state each year of its existence, distinguishing it as one of the country's most vital wartime programs.

This exhibit is an updated and expanded version of the original Fighters on the Farm Front online exhibit, launched in 1994 as a joint project of the OSU Archives and the Oregon State Archives in Salem.  It was one of the first online exhibits in Oregon.  The new Fighters on the Farm Front: Oregon's Emergency Farm Labor Service, 1943-1947<http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/archives/omeka/exhibits/show/fighters/topics/> also acts as a subject guide, detailing several other resources pertaining to the Emergency Farm Labor Service.

Japanese American Association of Lane County Oral History Collection
Japanese Americans stand within American history as an intriguing and persevering community that emblemizes the struggles of immigrant families in the quest for the American Dream. The Japanese American Association of Lane County, Oregon Oral History Collection<http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/digitalcollections/jaa/> (http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/digitalcollections/jaa/) is a collection of oral histories (both digital sound files and transcripts ), images, video and supporting documents recording these experiences of eleven local community members and influential people from Lane County, Elkton and Waldport, Oregon.

Many of the interviewees experienced the trials of growing up in an environment of discrimination and prejudice, and following the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the detainment and removal of their rights and freedom at the onset of World War II.  These oral histories document this experience, as well as their lives prior to World War II and decades after. The collection also documents the emergence of the Japanese American community in and around Eugene and Lane County that led to the organization of the Japanese American Association of Lane County.


Larry Landis

Lawrence A. Landis
University Archivist
Oregon State University Libraries -- University Archives
541-737-0540
541-737-0541 (FAX)
Larry.Landis at oregonstate.edu
http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/archives
OSU Libraries: Information, Service, Innovation

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