Page:History of Oregon Literature.djvu/536

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.

"Beaver Born" I'm a Beaver born and a Beaver bred, And when I die I'll be a Beaver dead, So it's Rah! Rah! for O. A. C. Rah, Rah, for O. A. C. Rah! Rah! for O. A. C. 8 "Toast to the Team" Here's to the men we know and love, Beavers tried and true, Here's to the men of the Orange line, Fighting for me and you, Up with the glass and pledge them lads, Flashing its amber gleam, While deep in our hearts the toast shall be Here's to old O. A. C!

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON

The University of Oregon, located at Eugene, grew out of a land grant in 1850, which was "to aid in the establishment of a university in the territory of Oregon." Owing to the relatively small population of the state, to the existence of five denominational colleges and a large number of "classical, professional and technical" institutions in Oregon, the construction of a state university was naturally post- poned. Not until 1872 did the State Legislature provide for the creation of the University, and then the economic panics of 1873 deferred its construction until 1876, when the University finally opened its doors for instruction. The first class was graduated in 1878. The first president was J. W. Johnson, who had served as principal of McMinnville College and of the Portland High School, and who was a son-in-law of W. L. Adams, author of "Breakspear". The first recorded song was one not of the whole school but of the Normal Class of 1885, called "At the Gateway". The first song for the University as a whole is the one given here, "There's a Pretty Little Village", sometimes called "Oh, Oregon, Oh, Oregon". It was first published in 1900. The words were by Irving M. Glen, afterwards professor of music and rhetoric, and still later dean of fine arts in the University of Washington, who is now dead. The music was by Dr. Frank Strong, president of the University and now president emeritus of the University of Kansas. Frederic S. Dunn, professor of Latin, contributed to the Oregon Daily Emerald the following history of this song: