Biographical Note
Alumnus and faculty member, Edgar Raymond ("Ray") Shepard attended
Oregon Agricultural College for 4 academic years (1897/98 through 1900/01) and
received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1901. He attended the University
of Oregon for one year (1901/02) and earned an M.S. degree from Harvard
University in about 1906. He worked in Columbus, Georgia for several years and
then returned to Oregon Agricultural College as an Assistant Professor in
Electrical Engineering from 1909 until 1914, when he began working for the
Bureau of Standards in Washington, D.C.
Ray Shepard was the first of 7 brothers and sisters to attend OAC. His
brother, Claiborne ("Clay") Shepard graduated with a degree in Agriculture in
1904. He was active in the campus YMCA, served as the YMCA Secretary for 2
years after his graduation, and was instrumental in raising funds for the
construction of a student building on campus. Clay Shepard died in 1906 of
tuberculosis. The student building was completed in 1909 and named Shepard Hall
in his memory.
The Shepard family lived on a farm near Zena, northwest of Salem,
Oregon. Another brother Ralph C. Shepard, who is referred to in the letters,
graduated from OAC in 1905 and returned to the Salem area to farm.
Content Description
Letters written by Edgar Raymond ("Ray") Shepard to his family while he
was a student at Oregon Agricultural College (1900-1901), the University of
Oregon (1901-1902), and Harvard University (1904-1906) and while employed in
Georgia and Washington, D.C. The collection also includes a few letters written
by his brother, Claiborne Lockley ("Clay") Shepard, to his parents.
The letters describe their activities as students at Oregon Agricultural
College and Ray Shepard's subsequent education and work. Of special note are
references to their involvement with the YMCA.