Historical Note
The Newman Foundation of Oregon State University was established in
1965 as a non-profit organization to "preserve, protect, and promote the
Catholic faith of its members, to propate the Catholic faith according to
the dictates of the church, and to provide facilities for each purposes."
In order to develop a Newman Center close to the Oregon State University,
the Foundation purchased several properties on Monroe Avenue between 21st
and 23rd Streets in 1966. These properties included several rental houses
as well as facilities for the Newman Center (also known as Newman House)
that offered programs and activities for Catholic students and faculty at
Oregon State. One of the structures was the former home of Margaret
Comstock Snell, the first Professor and Dean of Home Economics at Oregon
State from 1889 to 1908.
During 2001 and 2002, the Foundation donated the properties to the
Archdiocese of Portland in the interest of facilitating needed renovation
work on some of the structures. The announcement of plans a few years
later to sell the properties sparked a legal battle between the Foundation
and the Archdiocese that the Foundation lost in 2007. The foundation was
dissolved soon thereafter in 2008.
The Newman Club for Catholic students at Oregon State was established
in 1917.
Gordon Sitton was director of international education at Oregon State
and served as faculty advisor for the Newman Center beginning in the
1960s.
Content Description
The Newman Foundation of Oregon State University Records document the
establishment of the Foundation in 1965 to support programs for Catholic
students and faculty at Oregon State. The collection includes
administrative records, property and legal files, publications,
photographs, and sound recordings.
The administrative records include articles of incorporation and
bylaws, meeting minutes, lists of board members, budgets and tax records,
correspondence, reports, and subject files. The reports and subject files
include planning documents and feasibility studies for redevelopment of
the Foundation property on Monroe Avenue as Newman Commons and Trinity
Court, including documents presented to the Corvallis Planning Commission.
A large portion (about a third) of the records are property and legal
files documenting the lawsuit by the Foundation against the Catholic
Archdiocese of Portland regarding these properties.
The publications include newsletters, brochures, and flyers. The
collection also includes materials on the history of the Newman Center and
Margaret Snell as well as an embossing seal and non-profit organization
stamp.
The photographs depict the streetscape around the Newman Center
buildings and the damage done to a large metal cylinder assumed to belong
to the Newman Center. The sound recordings consists of two audiocassette
tapes of interviews with Gordon and Veronica Sitton about the history of
the Newman Center at Oregon State.