Category: People
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Leonard Jackson Powell
Written by Monte Remer, Class of 2026 At the age of fifteen, Leonard Jackson Powell left to work in the California gold mines. He parted with his family’s newly-tilled homestead outside of Portland, Oregon and his grieving father. The family had already traveled half a year from Missouri, trudging across “the then trackless desert”1 and Read more
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Charles E. Lambert
Written by Monte Remer, Class of 2026 At the end of the 1879 school year, Willamette’s President Thomas Gatch resigned along with his entire faculty.1 The school’s debt was ever-increasing, its expenses were constantly insurmountable, and the Board of Trustees refused to alter its operations to meet its budget. The Board decided that if Gatch Read more
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George Whitaker
Written by Monte Remer, Class of 2026 As newly-appointed president, George Whitaker arrived at Willamette demanding complete and rigid control over the university. He didn’t stay for long. Whitaker’s two-year presidency was defined by the school’s financial disarray, bitter interpersonal conflict, and the 1891 fire which consumed part of what is now Waller Hall. At Read more
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Mt. Hood Summit Trip of 1894
Written by Juliette Burns, Class of 2026 “At the dawn of the fourteenth day of August a party of professors, students and friends of Willamette University; twenty in all, left Salem with loaded wagons and upright alpen-stocks plying the college colors, the baggage wagon heaped high”1 So begins the six chapter chronicle in the Collegian Read more
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The Moores Sisters
Written by Juliette Burns Class of 2026 The Moores family was a staple of mid-19th century Willamette University. John Moores was a trustee of the school, and all of his children (Albert, Charles, Althea, Bertha) attended the University from the primary department available for children’s schooling before moving up to the preparatory and collegiate levels. Read more
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Thomas Milton Gatch
Written by Eleanor Smith, Class of 2026 Thomas Milton Gatch is one of the university’s most beloved presidents, serving two non-consecutive terms from 1860-1865 and 1870-1879. Gatch was born in Cincinnati on January 28, 1833. He went to college at Ohio Wesleyan University where he received his bachelor’s in 1855 and then his master’s. He Read more
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Joseph Henry Wythe
Written by Eleanor Smith, Class of 2026 Joseph Henry Wythe was a controversial yet multifaceted president in Willamette’s history, often seen walking down the streets of Salem with a cigar hanging out of his mouth. He was born in Manchester, England in 1822. His family moved to the United States when he was ten.1 He Read more
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Nelson Rounds
Written by Eleanor Smith, Class of 2026 Nelson Rounds’ presidency was seen as “old fashioned, strict, severe” by the student body.1 While he was not as beloved as the previous presidents, he was exactly what Willamette was looking for after Wythe’s cigar smoking. Rounds seemed to be the perfect fit for the university because of Read more
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Francis S. Hoyt
Written by Eleanor Smith, Class of 2026 Rev. Francis S. Hoyt is the father of a university that began its existence struggling to exist in an isolated place. When he took over, the school did not yet resemble a university. It was Hoyt’s task to oversee this transition from the Oregon Institute to Willamette University Read more
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Eaton Hall
Written by Jess Kimmel, Class of 2025 On the north side of the Willamette campus stands Eaton Hall, an imposing, four-story behemoth of red brick and stone. While it now houses several of Willamette’s humanities departments, Eaton has played a crucial role for both the academic and administrative needs of the University in the 125 Read more