Liberal University of Oregon

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This was a session at Seed 2011.

Participants

Notes

  • http://liberaluniversity.org
    • First non-religiously-affiliated university in Oregon
      • Known as "the atheist college"
    • Lasted from 1892-1902 (formally founded in 1897)
      • Occupied the only "Liberal Hall" in Oregon that wasn't out in the country
    • Gus is assembling archival material on the website, as well as new stuff
  • Historical context
    • Silver Falls Timber Company was Silverton's big industry until they chopped all the trees down
      • Quicktime VR of the timber operation from a panoramic photo taken using a camera similar to the ones on the Viking landers
    • Germ theory was just discovered
    • "Free Love" movement at the time, offshoot of Free Thought, was opposed to marriage because it constituted enslavement of women
    • Silverton Oak was chopped down around that time by what Homer Davenport called "the new element, men with higher collars and smaller hats"
    • First air mail to fly out of Silverton was flown by a female pilot
  • People involved in LUO
    • James K. Buff
      • Protested fashion by wearing outrageous costumes
      • Tended to walk long distances
    • Homer C. Davenport
      • Was considered a lazy kid in Silverton
      • Hired by Hearst in San Francisco, became highest-paid political cartoonist of the era in New York
      • Gus did an annotated edition of the book of his cartoons 5 years ago
      • Father Timothy was a prominent Republican who prevented Oregon from becoming a slave state and decried mistreatment of Native Americans
    • Pearl W. Geer, co-founder
      • Related to first native-born governor of Oregon
      • Later went into vaudeville and did sound effects
      • Family now runs a CSA called Geercrest Farm
    • Prof. J.E. Hosmer
      • Zealous temperance advocate
      • Quit LUO because they didn't fit his model of Free Thought, claiming he would move to California, then bought the local newspaper instead and used it for anti-LUO campaign
      • Also attacked Catholic Church, which sued him for libel and won
    • Jake McClaine
      • Banker who was a major community benefactor
        • Rode at the head of funeral procession
        • Funded the trombone band
      • Supposedly the only Democrat in Silverton at the time
    • MacGert Cooley
      • Violin and cornet instructor at LUO
      • Also in the Silverton Marine Band
      • Kicked in the head by a horse as a child
  • Courses
    • Grange has been wanting to put together courses on sustainability, permaculture, etc
    • 4 areas:
      • Physical sciences and math
      • Biologics, including agriculture
      • Social sciences
      • Environment, art, and health
    • Will have some "Extraterrestrial Agriculture" courses
    • Uses open-source Learning Management System called Moodle
Retrieved from "http://www.solseed.org/Liberal_University_of_Oregon"
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