Pioneer Mom Silent, But Beloved
By ROBERT PRITCHARD
There is on this campus a wo
man who never speaks to anyone.
She is, without a doubt, the cold
est woman you could ever expect
t,o meet.
Perhaps this description is a
little harsh because, despite all her
coldness, she is one of the most
respected and beloved women that
makes up a part of our school.
Who is this woman with such a
cold personality? Well, for the in
formation of the few who have
never trod the quads between
Hendricks and Susan Campbell
Halls, she is reverently known as
the Pioneer Mother.
Tradition for Luck
Yes, the Pioneer Mother is pret
ty well known by all. Many tradi
tions surround her being here, such
as tossing pennies into her lap for
good luck during final week.
But there is much more to her
being here than just tradition. She
is a representative of a group that
is directly and indirectly responsi
ble for our school being here. She
'is a part of Oregon’s great history.
She is the spirit of peace and
achievement.
The Pioneer Mother was pre
sented to the University in 1932
by B. Brown Barker, who was at
that time vice-president of the Un
iversity. The statue was presented
ns a memorial to Mr. Barker’s
mother, Elvira Brown Barker, but
was dedicated to all pioneer mo
; thers.
■ She was sculptored by A. Phi
■ mister Proctor, who also created
the Pioneer Father, and as Mr.
Proctor put it, she was to depict
“the pioneer mother in the sunset
of her life.”
Presented in 1932
The bronze memorial of the
mother seated in a chair reading
her Bible was unveiled during ju
nior weekend ceremonies in May
of 1932 by Barbara Barker, grand
daughter of Elvira Barker. At the
dedication Arnold Bennett Hall,
who was then president of the Uni
versity, read a letter from Presi
dent Hoover congratulating and
thanking Mr. Barker for his gift.
But there’s more to the history
of the Pioneer Mother than just
dedication ceremonies. The real
history lies in the woman she
represents, Elvira Brown Barker.
Over Oregon Trail
Elvira Brown Barker was born
in Wilmington, 111., in 1844. She
came west with her family in 1847
over the famous Oregon Trail in
one of the large wagon trains of
that era. The train had many hard
ships facing them during its trip,
but going was the hardest over the
Barlow Hoad section when mem
bers of the train were near starva
tion and many died. It was while
going through this section that
Elvira’s father, a leader in the
train, met his death.
Elvira and her family settled on
a farm near Philomath, Ore.,
where she grew up. She died in
1924 after a long and colorful life.
History Represented
Yes, the history of the pioneer
period and the people who made
that history is great and colorful.
The plaques on the pink granite
base of our statue picture quite
clearly what hardships were suf
Los Angeles, there xs always a friendly
gathering of University of Southern California
students at Ted Owen’s. And, as in colleges
everywhere, ice-cold Coca-Cola helps make
these get-to-getliers something to remember. As,
a refreshing pause from the study grind, or on
a Saturday-night date—Coke belongs.
i
Ask for it either way ... both
trafe-marks mean the same thing.
S’ l
Ted Owen's, l os Angeles, Calif.
BOTTLED UNDER AUTHORITY OF THF COCA-COLA COMPANY BY
© 1949, Th* Coca-Cola Company
fered to make that history so real
for us today to point to with pride.
However, the pride of the giver
of our statue takes a different
form than that of hardship. On the
back of the granite base is ano
ther plaque which few would ever
notice, but it would do us good to
heed the words which were penned
by B.'Brown Barker, the giver, and
apply his words to ourselves when
we too approach the sunset of our
lives. The plaque reads;
Dedication Given
“Others have perpetuated her
struggle; I want to perpetuate the
peace Which follows her struggles.
Others have perpetuated her ad
ventures; I want to perpetuate the
spirit which made the adventures
possible, and the joy which
crowned her declining years as she
looked upon the fruits of her labor
and caught but a glimpse of what
it will mean for posterity.
“I want to recall her as I recall
my mother, Elvira Brown Barker,
a pioneer of 1847 in the sunset of
her life after the hardships and
the battles and the sorrows of pio
neering were past and she sat in
the afterglow of her twilight days
resting from her labors. All her
hardships and sorrows have sof
tened in the telling in her later
life, and her rugged endurance has
mellowed with her fading memory;
but to us there lives that spirit of
conquering peace which I wish
posterity to remember.”
Code Books Go
To Defendants
The Oral Arguments case of
•Jenkins vs. Forenson was debated
[Monday night by Law School final
ists, with defendants Ted Goodwin
and Jim Horang winning.
Although the prize of Code
books was won by the defendants,
•the case was awarded to the plain
tiffs who put forth the better evi
dence of law. They took the stand
that their client’s property had
bpen trespassed upon and the re
sult was a nuisance.
' With these points-the plaintiffs
proved that there was a technical
trespass because of the actual use
of a building of another for unjust
enrichment. The court found this
argument well grounded although
there was no actual damage.
It was the defendants’ , stand
that because no damage had oc
curred, no compensation should be
allowed. This stand was shaken by
the rebuttal of the council put
forth by Bill Tassock.
The judges who decided the case
were Judge William G. East, Judge
A. Anderson, and Judge John Bar
ber. They were of the opinion that
the cases were well presented and
the questions put forth were an
swered with intelligence and knowl
edge.
The winners of the contest are to
receive a set of code books “Ore
gon Compiled Laws Anotated” do
nated by the firm of Koerner,
Young, Swette, and McCulloch of
Portland.
Music Lecture Slated
“Atonality—The Emancipation
of the Dissonance,” will be dis
cussed by Arnold Elston, associate
professor of music, at the first
winter term meeting of the Jour
nal Club at 8 p.m., Feb. 15, in
room 202 of the new music build
ing.
All interested persons are in
vited to the lecture and to join in
the informal discussion afterward.
All-CampusDinnerPlannedSunday
ToStart Religious Evaluation Week ^
The first event of Religious
Evaluation Week, Feb. 12 through
16, will be an all-campus fellow
ship dinner at 5:30 p.m. Sunday at
John Straub Hall.
Tickets for the dinner, at 55
cents a plate, are now on sale in
the Co-op, in campus living organ
izations, and church youth foun
dations.'
Living organization representa
tives are requested by dinner
chairman George DeBell to turn
in their tickets and money by 5
p.m. today at ‘the Co-op booth.
Newburn to Speak
University President Harry K.
Newburn will introduce the prin
cipal speaker for the week, Dr.
Charles W. Gilkey, at the dinner.
Dr. Gilkey, a nationwide lec
turer, will deliver a daily series of
five lectures during the Week on
the general theme “First-Hand
Religion.” He will be accompanied
by his wife, a national leader in
the YWCA and the Council of
Church Women.
ASUO President Art Johnson
will speak briefly at the dinner
program. Group singing and spe
cial music will be featured.
City to Join Campus
The opening meeting of Religi
ous Evaluation Week will be held
at 7:30 in the Music Auditorium.
Campus and city will join in a
union worship service, with local
ministers, and the Eugene High
School Acapella Choir participat
ing.
Dr. Gilkey will deliver his first
address of the week, “How Long
Will Cut Flowers Last?” at the
union meeting.
Four additional platform addres
ses will be delivered during the
week. Monday at 4 p.m., Dr. Gil
key will address his audience in the
new University Theater; Tuesday,
Wednesday, and Thursday he will
speak at 4 p.m. in 3 Fenton.
Other daily events of the week
will include morning worship serv
ices at 7:30 a.m. in Gerlinger’s
Alumni Hall.
Bridge Tourney
Will Be Held
Oregon contract bridge enthu
siasts will have a chance to match
card-table skill with other college
players in the annual Intercollegi
ate Bridge Tournament Feb. 23
and 24.
The local tournament is spon
sored by the Student Union Board
and directed by Mrs. W. C. Bal
laine, assisted by Phyllis Gardner
and Corlista Vonderahe.
Teams interested in competing
should turn in their names to Miss
Gardner or Miss Vonderahe at the
Alpha Phi house before 5 p.m.
Friday. If more than four Oregon
teams enter, a campus play-off
will be held next week, according
to tourney directors.
Four top teams from Oregon
will then compete in the Western
regional mail elimination play-off
later this month. Winners of the
Western sector, which includes all.
colleges west of the Mississippi,
will be sent to a national cham
pionship play-off in Chicago in
April.
The Western play-off will be a
standard contract mail tourna
ment. Teams will play prepared
hands and high scores will be for
warded to tournament headquar
ters where regional winners will be
selected.
City Group Gives
Term SchoJorship
Deadline for submitting appli
cations for a spring term scholar
ship offered by the Eugene group
of Quota International is Feb. 20,
Mrs. James V. Danielson, service
chairman, reports.
One University woman student
will be awarded the scholarship,
which covers fees for the coming
spring term.
Application blanks may be ob
tained from Mrs. Golda P. Wick
ham, director of women’s affairs,
in room 201, Emerald Hall. Mrs.
Wickham urges women interested
to apply immediately.
A six-woman committee from
the Quota group will judge appli
cations on six main points. These
are scholarship, promise, person
ality, activities, and financial need.
Winner of the scholarship will
be announced Mar. 22.
Skeleton Added
T o Anthro Classes
“*Dr. W. S. Laughlin’s advanced
classes in physical anthropology
have a new addition. Looking on
from the sidelines in the future
will he the “fantastically large”
skeleton of a gorilla.
Dr. Laughlin, whose classes are
taught to measure and compare
the sex, race, and age of human
skeletons, feels that the new skele
ton will be of great assistance in
the study of the evolution of hu
man beings.
The newly acquired gorilla will
be placed in a collection which
eventually will contain examples
of all the anthropoid apes. Already
included are the skeleton of a
chimpanzee and the forearm of an
orangutan.
Services Today
For Senior Girl ■
Funeral services for Dora Mae
Hohmann, 24, senior in history
during fall term, will be held at
2 p.in. today at the Poole-Larsqn.
Funeral Chapel in Eugene. The
body will be shipped to Balier, her
birthplace, for interment.
Mrs. Hohmann, a four-year stu
dent at the University, died Sun
day morning. Her newborn baby
died Tuesday morning.
Mrs. Hohmann is survived by
her widower, William D. Hohmann,
whom she married in March, 1946;
her mother, Mrs. Lavina Powers,
a step-brother, Estel Powers; and
a step-sister, Mrs. Madge Francis,
all of Baker.
University Life
Topic of Speech
Mrs. Golda P. Wickham, direc
tor of women’s affairs, will speak
today before high seniors in. Junc
tion City and Halsey on life in the
University.
Representatives from Oregon
State College, the colleges of edu
cation, and the State Board of
Higher Education will also talk to
the seniors. The group plans to
visit high schools throughout the
state to give information about
Oregon colleges and universities.
Stan Kenton’s boys have sax appeal
June Christy's jazz makes rhythm reel
Opponents blow to beat the band
But Kenton beats the baby grand.