OAC School of Engineering and Mechanical Arts Faculty, 1909. Samuel H. Graf, third from the left in the back row, was an assistant in Mechanical Engineering during the 1908-09 academic year. This photograph appeared in the 1910 Orange. [OSU Archives #899]

Scope and Content Note
The Graf Collection, consisting of four series, includes letters to family members, a 1909 text co-written by Graf, a history of mechanical engineering at Oregon State, and an award certificate.

Series one, Family Letters, includes letters that Graf wrote to his family between 1903 and 1918 while a student at Oregon Agricultural College and later a faculty member. The letters provide a detailed account of student life at O.A.C. - Graf discusses faculty members; his classes; fellow students; athletics; and costs, such as his cadet uniform and room and board. They also provide insight into O.A.C. faculty life in the 1910s. The series also includes an invitation to Graf's 1920 marriage to Blanche Edlefsen. Series two is a text and supplemental drawings, "A Course in Mechanical Drawing," written by Graf and fellow faculty member M. Clyde Phillips in 1909. Series three is a typescript written by Graf, "50 Years of Mechanical Engineering at OSC," written around 1945. Series four is a certificate awarded to Graf in 1961 by the American Society for Testing Materials.

Provenance
The family letters were donated to the OSU College of Engineering in 1999 by Samuel Graf's daughter, Therese Graf Tanalski. They were transferred to the University Archives in December 2000.

Biographical Note
Born at Portland, Oregon, in August 1887, Samuel H. Graf entered Oregon Agricultural College in 1903 to study engineering. He received five engineering degrees from the college - B.S., Electrical Engineering (1907); E.E., Electrical Engineering (1908); B.S., Mechanical Engineering (1908); M.E., Mechanical Engineering (1909); and M.S., Electrical Engineering (1909). Between 1909 and 1954 Graf held several faculty appointments in engineering at Oregon State. From 1909-1912 he was an instructor in mechanical engineering; from 1912-1920 he was the head of experimental engineering; head of the Department of Mechanics and Materials (1920-1934) and of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (1934-1954); director of engineering research (1928-1944); and director of the Engineering Experiment Station (1944-1954).

Graf participated in several professional organizations, including the State Board of Engineering Examiners, the American Society for Metals, the American Society for Testing Materials, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He also served on the Board of Trustees of Linfield College from 1954 to 1966 and was a member of several honorary societies, including Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi (General Science), Eta Kappa Nu (Electrical Engineering), Sigma Tau (General Engineering), and Tau Beta Pi (General Engineering). Among his publications were Gas Appliance Testing Code, the Gas Engineers' Handbook, and several Engineering Experiment Station research bulletins.

Graf was married three times and had four children. He died in July 1966; Graf Hall on the OSU campus and Graf Hall at Linfield College are named for him.

Related Materials
Additional biographical information on Graf can be found in the Samuel H. Graf Memorabilia Collection file and in the biographical files of the News and Communication Services Records (RG 203). Photographs of Graf are located in Harriet's Collection #233, #899, #911 and #1534; the OSU Historical Photograph Collection (P 25); the Faculty & Staff Photograph Collection (P 46); and the John Garman Photograph Collection (P 95). The Engineering Experiment Station Records (RG 100) and the Mechanical Engineering Department Records (RG 213) include materials from Graf's tenure with those programs. The Engineering Experiment Station Bulletins (PUB 8-34a) include several reports written by Graf.

Shelf Location
SR 5/7/3/21 (letter document box)

	
(SR 5/7/3/21)
I.	Family Letters, 1903-1920:
		Transcripts of letters
		Original letters:
			1903-1904
   			1905-1907
			1908-1909
			1910-1918
		Wedding invitation, 1920

II.  "A Course in Mechanical Drawing," 1909:
		Text and drawings
		Texts only (2 copies)

III.	Typescript, "50 Years of Mechanical Engineering at O.S.C.," ca. 1945 (2 copies)

IV.	Award Certificate, American Society for Testing Materials, June 28, 1961

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