Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of nearly 400 images taken or collected by Walter Rawalt Baker, a 1908 graduate of Oregon Agricultural College.  Approximately one-fourth of the images pertain to Oregon Agricultural College between about 1905 and 1909, and include buildings, campus views, students and faculty members.  Some of the O.A.C. images were used in the 1909 Orange yearbook.  A small number of images are of Corvallis and the surrounding area, including Mary's Peak, and also date from around 1905 to 1909.

Another significant group of images include views of Salem buildings and the Portland waterfront.  Included among the Salem buildings are the State Capitol (pre-1935), the Marion County Courthouse (built in the 1880s), the Chemawa Indian Training School, Willamette University, the Odd Fellows building, and various schools and downtown businesses.  The Portland waterfront images are of ships and bridges.  Other images in the collection include are of agriculture in the Willamette Valley, the Oregon Coast, the Baker Family and home in Macleay near Salem, portraits of family friends and their homes, and the Iowa National Guard.

Forms
The collection consists of 153 glass negatives (primarily 4x5); 49 nitrate roll film negatives; and approximately 350 prints.  One hundred four glass negatives and 38 nitrate negatives do not have prints.  Around 270 prints are unique images; the remainder are duplicate prints.  Many of the prints are mounted on paper board supports; two of the prints are cartes de visites from the mid- 1860s.

Organization and Arrangement
All of the images have been assigned individual item numbers (P18:1-387).

Biographical Note
Walter Rawalt Baker was born on December 24, 1883.  He attended Oregon Agricultural College from 1904 to 1909 and received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1908.  He also received the Electrical Engineer designation from O.A.C. in 1909 after completing graduate coursework.  Baker's home was in Macleay, Oregon, near Salem.  Alumni directories from the 1910s and 1920s list his occupation as farmer.  An obituary in the Oregon Stater indicates that Baker died on April 23, 1962, and that he had worked as a farmer and a telephone lineman for community owned telephone companies.

Related Materials
A photograph of Walter Rawalt Baker is located at Harriet's Collection #1605.  Additional photographic prints of Corvallis attributed to W. R. Baker can be found at Harriet's Collection #596.

Shelf Locations
 Prints — P shelves
 Glass negatives — 2/1
 Nitrate negatives — 10/1/11 
 

Inventory