Digital Memories

50 Posts

Idaho Test Oath

Digital Memories

The Idaho Test Oath
Idaho politics during the territorial period were as convoluted and Byzantine as any before or since. Political and regional factionalism pitted the Democrats and the Mormons against the newly emerging Republicans and the Northern secessionists. When the Mormon and Democrat contingent lost control of the territory in 1882, ambitious Republicans... [Read More]

Gymnasium and Library

Digital Memories

Gymnasium, University of Idaho interior with track sports and library shelves. [54-6]
The alliance between athletics and academics, uneasy at best, is nowhere more exemplified than in this scene from the University of Idaho’s early history. In March 1906, fire of suspicious origin destroyed the primary building on the university campus, the Administration Building, holding offices, classrooms, and the library. When M.... [Read More]

Trailer Village

Digital Memories

Veterans Housing Trailer Village, University of Idaho. [120-3]
The close of World War II meant great changes for the University of Idaho, as it did for the country as a whole. For the first time in nearly a decade, military uniforms were not the most common form of apparel. The return to university studies was accelerated by the... [Read More]

Garden of Paradise

Digital Memories

Garden of Paradise: Hawaiian Love Song
The tropical paradise pictured on this sheet music cover is part of the tangled history of the University of Idaho’s alma mater and the state song of Idaho. The music for this popular song was adapted by Alice Bessee to fit words by McKinley Helm, both University of Idaho students,... [Read More]

Idaho Stunts at WSC

Digital Memories

Idaho Stunt at Harvard Yell Contest at football game [04]
Pep rallies and half-time events have a long tradition on the university campus; one of the earlier manifestations was the Harvard Yell Contest. In 1919, the Harvard Clubs of the University of Idaho and nearby Washington State College jointly offered a prize to the school “showing superior sportsmanship and entertainment... [Read More]

University of Idaho Seal

University of Idaho seal
There are, it turns out, several University of Idaho seals. The first to be documented was unanimously adopted by the Board of Regents on April 9, 1908: “In the matter of adopting a design for a new seal for the University, Mr. Vaughn appeared before the board and presented a design... [Read More]

Boise Interurban

Boise and Interurban Railway Co. Ltd
Early-day Boise’s transportation problems were to be solved by extending a branch line to Nampa to meet the transcontinental main line in 1887 after a five-year delay. By 1891, electric trolleys were seen as necessary and added to the mix. By 1902, both Nampa and Caldwell attempted to displace Boise as... [Read More]

Indian Post Office

Indian Post Office (Idaho County)
“Mail call, mail call.” These words have long caused the heart of many a homesick wayfarer to quicken in anticipation. The conveniences of our modern postal system were unknown to early travelers passing through the rugged Idaho frontier. If old legends are true, ingenious journeyers devised their own system of... [Read More]

More Mining Film Preserved

Film of Stibnite; Bunker Hill, Burke Canyon.  1950
More mining film preserved 16mm color film (pos.) Kodachrome,  approx.  300 ft. on a 7" reel, 3 splices. Stibnite; Bunker Hill, Burke Canyon.  1950 Stibnite, Idaho and the Bradley Mining Co. scenes from 1950, showing surface operations from a high vantage point, vans, a bulldozer at work, much on the... [Read More]
Tags: mining film

Even More Mining Film Preserved

Film of Page Mine; Bunker Hill; Yankee Fork.
More mining film preserved 16mm color film (pos.) Kodachrome,  approx.  300 ft. on a 7" reel, 1 splice. Page Mine; Bunker Hill; Yankee Fork.  (n.d., but c. late 1940s) Much footage of the Page Mine sawmill, with panoramic views of the town and mining site, and people. The Bunker Hill... [Read More]
Tags: mining film

Mining Films Preserved

Preview image for Mining Films Preserved
Historic mining films from Idaho’s Silver Valley Mining District have been preserved thanks to a 2007 Partnership Grant from the National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) awarded to the University of Idaho Library’s Special Collections & Archives.  The original moving pictures were filmed in 1926 and 1930 by Harry Webb Marsh,... [Read More]
Tags: mining film

General Chrisman, Idaho's Grand Old Man

Edward Robert Chrisman (1866-1939)
In April 1936, the University of Idaho campus celebrated an unusual event when President Neale cancelled classes. The occasion: President Franklin D. Roosevelt had just designated, at Congress’ behest, General Edward R. Chrisman as Commandant of Cadets and Lecturer in Military Science and Tactics Emeritus for the “remainder of his... [Read More]

Packing the Goods

Packing on a mule
Before there were roads or rails, goods were shipped by boat or barge and then on by horse or mule. As the nation’s transportation network developed, only the most inaccessible places continued their dependence on pack trains for supplies. In many of Idaho’s remote places, the pack train era lasted... [Read More]

A Lonely Cabin

The Lonely Cabin
A century ago, in the days before corporate entertainment found its mass market and spread from the cities to rural areas, people made their own fun. They took walks, went to the park or to the river, played cards, put on home-grown entertainments, had picnics, and visited their friends and... [Read More]

Memorial Steps Completion

Preview image for Memorial Steps Completion
At the 40th anniversary convocation in October 1932, Congressman Burton French, class of ‘04, proposed that the University create a memorial to the early days of the University by restoring the stone steps from the original Administration Building. When that building burned in 1906, the site was cleared for the... [Read More]
Tags: campus