The Paving Inspector Job

A unique chapter of Linus Pauling’s life played out over the summers of his undergraduate years at Oregon Agricultural College. A theme that had shadowed much of his young adult life – problems with finances – would continue to follow him into his graduate studies. The absence of a steady source of income, as well [...]

Life in the Cold War 1980s

Three new additions to our archive of Pauling Peace Lectureship presentations have been added recently to the Events and Videos page of the OSU Libraries Special Collections website.  Dating to the mid-1980s, each is a reflection of the major, and mounting, concerns that peace activists and critics of U.S. foreign policy harbored during the eight [...]

Fred Allen’s Notebook

During his time at Oregon Agricultural College, Linus Pauling quickly built a reputation as being the smartest man on campus. This reputation would eventually evolve into international considerations of Pauling as one of the top scientists in all of history. Understandably, because of his abilities in the classroom and the laboratory, he made significant impressions [...]

Period of Transition: Pauling in Corvallis

Corvallis, the home of Oregon State University, sits adjacent to the Willamette River in the central Willamette Valley. Nestled between Portland and Eugene, and a reasonable distance from both the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade mountain range, Corvallis offers close proximity to a large variety of outdoor activities and big city accommodations while maintaining the [...]

Remembrance

Fifteen years ago, on August 19, 1994, at around 7:20 PM PDT, Dr. Linus Pauling died at the age of 93, a victim of prostate cancer.
Pauling was cremated and, some eleven years later, his and Ava Helen’s ashes were interred at the Oswego Pioneer Cemetery, the final resting place of Pauling’s parents Herman and Belle, [...]

Checking in on Condon

Over time we have written with some frequency about Condon, Oregon, the small farming community where Linus Pauling spent much of his youth.  And though we have come know a fair amount about the history of this little town in Gilliam County, it was not until recently that the Blog had an opportunity to actually [...]

The Hiroshima Appeal

“The principal action of the Fifth World Conference was to prepare and approve this statement, which is called The Hiroshima Appeal. I enclose a copy of this Appeal, which seems to me to be a good document.”
-Linus Pauling, letter to Gunnar Jahn, September 4, 1959.
Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Hiroshima Appeal, written [...]

Pauling’s Best Friend: Lloyd Jeffress

As a child, Linus Pauling had relatively few friends. After moving from Condon, Oregon to Portland, the death of his father and subsequent poverty forced him to work when not in school. The remainder of his time was consumed with studying and household chores, leaving little room for companionship. Pauling, even as [...]

Stuck on a Cliff

On the morning of January 30, 1960, Linus Pauling told his wife Ava Helen that he would be out checking the fence lines along the boundaries of their ranch near Big Sur, California. A little before 10:00AM, Ava Helen watched as Linus walked towards the coast south of their cabin but did not notice [...]

Many Years…

I just saw a statement by Dr. Joyce Brothers about vacation, who said, you can never plan to go with your companion for longer than three days on vacation, because people can’t stand being with one another for more than three days.  She just doesn’t know anything!  Thirty years ago, we were in our cabin [...]