Archives:
Guide to Eugene Vocational School /
Eugene Technical Vocational School Records, 1938-1965
Title: Eugene Vocational School / Eugene Technical Vocational School Records
Dates: 1938-1965
Collection number: A-031
Size: 4 document boxes (1.6 cubic feet)
Description: Eugene Vocational School (1938-1959) and Eugene Technical-Vocational School (1959-1965) were the predecessors of Lane Community College. The records include historical narratives, reports, publications, curriculum records, advisory committee records, school catalogs, and photographs
Access Restrictions: None, collection is open for research
Provenance: Administrative transfer
Processed by: Inventoried by Michael Ridderbush, 1992; arrangement and description completed by Elizabeth Uhlig, 2000.
Citation: Eugene Vocational School / Eugene Technical Vocational School Records, 1938-1965 (A-031), Lane Community College Archives, Eugene, Oregon
Administrative History
Eugene Vocational School (EVS), 1938-1959, and Eugene Technical- Vocational School (ETVS), 1959-1965 are the predecessors of Lane Community College.
In response to the high unemployment during the Great Depression, Eugene Vocational School was established in 1938 to provide manual education and training to high school students and unemployed adults. It was a cooperative venture between Eugene School District #4 and the State Department for Vocational Education. The new vocational school held its first classes on February 1, 1938, in the original Geary School at Fourth and Madison in Eugene.
Lillian Van Loan was hired as the first full-time teacher and became the school's first director. In March 1938, over 300 students showed up for the first night-time classes. By Fall 1938, 22 full and part-time teachers were on the staff of EVS.
Eugene Vocational School responded to the need for skilled workers during World War II and then made a successful transition to peacetime after 1945. In 1947, the radio station KRVM signed on as the first educational FM station in the northwest. In the 1950s the Licensed Practical Nursing Program, the Electrical Engineering Technician Program, and community-oriented adult education classes were added to the curriculum.
In 1958 the name of the school was changed to Eugene Technical- Vocational School, reflecting the addition of more technologically oriented courses. In 1960 new facilities at 200 North Monroe replaced the old Geary School building.
Local educational leaders recognized the need to expand ETVS into a regional institution that would better serve the diverse needs of the wider community. Following the October 1964 election, Lane Community College was founded and ETVS was folded into the new community college which opened for classes in 1965.
Directors: Lillian Van Loan, 1938-1944; Dale Perry, 1944-1945; LeRoy Erdmann, 1945-1949; W.W. (Bill) Cox, 1949-1964.
Scope & Content Note
The Eugene Vocational School / Eugene Technical-Vocational School Records are an incomplete collection of records about the two schools which were the predecessors to Lane Community College.
School catalogs and class schedules exist from only 1961-1964. There is a fairly complete selection of minutes for the EVS and ETVS Advisory Committee, 1951-1964; however, the advisory committees for various vocational programs are incomplete. The Subject Files contain records of KRVM, the educational television station, 1961-1963; and records of the accidental death of Aircraft Mechanics student Bobby Davis in 1954.
The photographs are mainly of the construction of an addition to the school in 1959 and the Aviation Mechanics program. Also included are photographs used to illustrate "Fourth and Madison: A History of the Eugene Vocational School, 1938-1965," a history of the school by David Butler.
In addition to "Fourth and Madison" there are several other manuscripts about the history of EVS and the radio station, KRVM, and plans and studies examining the establishment of a vocational school in 1939.
The records were originally accessioned as 1992-051. The new collection number is A-031.
Arrangement
The collection is divided into six series.
- Series A: History, 1938-1954
- Series B: Publications, 1961-1965
- Series C: Advisory Committee Records, 1951-1964
- Series D: Subject Files, 1938-1965
- Series E: Photographs, circa 1940-1950
- Series F: Scrapbooks, 1943-1958
Finding Aid
For a detailed finding aid which includes a complete list of the contents of this collection, refer to:
- Guide to Eugene Vocational School/Eugene Technical Vocational School Records (NWDA Web site)
- Guide to Eugene Vocational School/Eugene Technical Vocational School Records
- Guide to Eugene Vocational School/Eugene Technical Vocational School Records
Related Resources
The Lane County Historical Museum holds additional records of the EVS and ETVS.
Repository:
Lane Community College
Archives and Records Management
Elizabeth M. Uhlig, Archivist
4000 East 30th Avenue
Eugene, Oregon 97405 USA
Telephone: (541) 463-5466
Fax: (541) 463-3996
Email: archives@lanecc.edu