University history museum begins lecture series
The Museum of Natural and Cultural History launches
'Uncommon Treasures' and honors a late history professor
BY HALEY GORDON
FREELANCE REPORTER
A crowd buzzing with excitement
sat in the Knight Law Center on Fri
day to listen to the story of one man
who came to Oregon to preach
but found himself digging in the dirt
for fossils.
Director of the Condon Collection
Dr. William Orr presented slides and
told stories about different fossils and
specimens housed in the University’s
Condon Collection.
The lecture kicked off the Univer
sity’s Museum of Natural and Cultur
al History annual archeology lecture
series, “Uncommon Treasures:
Stories from the University of Oregon
Museum and Library Collection.”
Thomas Condon was Oregon’s first
geologist and the University’s first
natural history professor.
Condon was a “rapacious collec
tor,” who acquired large amounts of
specimens and material, Orr said.
Both Condon and his wife initially
traveled to Oregon to preach Chris
tianity.
“He was very religious, but had no
problem with evolution. He saw it as
God’s way,” Orr said.
According to Orr, 1,500-1,700
out of the 75,000 specimens in the
Condon collection originally
belonged to Condon. Condon’s im
pact on the study of natural history
in Oregon is apparent in the many
buildings named after him: The pri
mary visitors’ center of the John
Day Fossil Beds National Monu
ment is named in recognition of
Condon, as is the University’s Con
don Hall, which houses the geology
department’s offices.
Condon’s children sold his collec
tion to the University after he died
in 1907.
Currently, modern bones, used for
comparative research, make up one
tenth of the collection, and the rest is
roughly half animals and half plants,
Orr said.
The lecture touched on the vast va
riety in the collection and also dis
cussed what paleontologists and
New York
Times
reporter
David Cay
Johnston
promotes his
book about
the in
equities of
American tax
law, “Perfect
ly Legal," at
the Knight
Law School
on
Saturday
afternoon.
Tim Bobosky
Photographer
$
Pftj#
Johnston: Writer pleads for voter involvement
Continued from page 1
it," Johnston said.
Johnston also alluded to the poten
tial for a social revolution if Americans
continue to lose jobs and the economic
gap increases.
“The French set up a system
in which all the wealth was tied up in
trusts between the church and the aris
tocracy. So what happened to King
Louie?” Johnston said, “I don’t want
that to happen here. I think the
prospect of revolution in this country
would make the terror of the French
revolution look quite mild. ”
Johnston ended his speech
with a positive theme and a plea for
awareness.
“One of the wonderful things
I’ve seen lately is all those pictures on
TV of people lining up to vote.
I don’t care who they’re voting
for — they’re getting involved,” John
ston said. “The most minimum thing
you can do is read a decent newspaper
every day. Listen to people whose
opinions are not like yours ... people
you don’t like can sometimes have
good ideas.”
Johnston quoted author Neil Post
man, saying “without even realizing it,
we are giving away our democracy. ”
Michael A. Booth is a freelance
reporter for the Daily Emerald
geologists learn from such fossils.
Orr also showed slides of the
“only fossil egg we know of in Ore
gon” and explained that fossils are
able to stay intact for thousands of
years because of Oregon’s volcanic
history. Orr’s lecture ended with a
reception in the Museum of Natural
and Cultural History, where the au
dience was given a glance at the
renovations in progress. The lecture
series “gives people another oppor
tunity to engage” in the museum,
Education Coordinator Allison
Kramer said.
It also “shows the extent of what we
know of Oregon’s past and showcases
what the University does,” C. Melvin
Aikens, museum director, said.
The series is arranged in chrono
logical order, beginning with the fos
sil collection, he said.
The next lecture, titled “Historical
TYeasures from the Museum of Nat
ural and Cultural History,” will be
held Friday in Knight Law Center
Room 175.
Haley Gordon is a freelance reporter
for the Daily Emerald
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