admin – Untold Stories

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A History of the Native American Student Union, 1968-1975

This history was developed to shed light on the long history of Native American students at the University of Oregon. The first Native students at UO wanted to take what they learned and bring it back to their tribal communities. As more Native students came to campus, they also brought that care and intention to…

Historic Campus

These include sites of some of the first buildings and statues erected on campus.

Native American History

This tour highlights the key points of interests related to Native American and Indigenous history on campus. This project was created and developed by the Native American and Indigenous Studies Academic Residential Community in 2018. See a full listing of all locations here. Many thanks to the following contributors: Native American and Indigenous Studies Academic…

Asian American History

This tour highlights important Asian American individuals through historical sites on the University of Oregon campus related to students, faculty and staff. A special thanks to the following student groups: Asian American Student Union Minoru Yasui Foundation

African American History

This tour highlights important African American individuals through historical sites on the University of Oregon campus, including many firsts on campus, such as the first African American students, graduates, athletes, faculty and staff. Thanks to the following contributors and student groups: Black Student Union Black Alumni Herman Brame

Wiley Griffon

Wiley Griffon (1867–1913) was the first African American employee at the University of Oregon. In the late 1890s he worked as a janitor at the men’s dormitory, Friendly Hall. Although, he was niether the first nor the only African American in Eugene, he was the first one mentioned by name as being a resident. Despite…

Bobby Robinson and Charles Williams

In the fall of 1926, the same year that Oregon finally repealed its exclusion law that forbade blacks from entering or owning property in Oregon, 19-year-old Bobby Robinson and 22-year-old Charles Williams, two young high school football stars from Portland (at Jefferson High School and Washington High School, respectively), became the first black student-athletes at…

Mabel Byrd

After graduating from Washington High School in Portland in 1914, Mabel Byrd made history as the first African American enrolled at the University of Oregon. Byrd matriculated at the UO in 1917 as a student majoring in economics and spent two years on the campus prior to transferring to the University of Washington in 1919….

Nellie Louise Franklin

Similar to the first African American student at the University of Oregon, Mabel Byrd, Nellie Louise Franklin lived in Portland, Oregon, attended Washington High School, and would eventually attend the University of Oregon. However, what sets these two historic women apart is that Franklin would eventually become the first documented African American woman to graduate…

William Sherman Savage

After graduating with a bachelor of arts degree from Howard University in Washington, DC in 1917, William Sherman Savage came to Eugene in 1924 to continue graduate work in history. Two years later, he was the first African American to graduate with a master of arts from the University of Oregon. During his time in…