Cover page. “Fairview Training Center: History in the Making”. Rev 7/93.
After my most recent visit to the Oregon State Archives, I finally stumbled across something I have been desperately searching for since my research began half a year ago- a booklet detailing the history of Fairview. What makes this discovery even more exciting and fascinating is the fact that this booklet was published by Fairview through Oregon Human Resources, therefore making this booklet a primary document. As some might already know, a primary document, or source, is much more beneficial and reliable than a secondary source of material. To clarify, a primary source is original material (such as speeches, books, artifacts, etc) that was created or produced during the time that is being researched. A secondary source is what happens when someone who does not have any relation to or partook in the publication of these materials and gives their best interpretation. The most common form of a secondary source is a scholarly article or published book.
“Fairview Training Center: A History in the Making” excerpt on “The Second Decade 1918- 1928”.
Finding any form of a historical narrative on Fairview is rare, let alone a Fairview- produced booklet such as this. If we look at the picture to the right, we see an excerpt describing the “Second Decade: 1918- 1928”. Notice that the information the creators of this booklet felt were the crucial points to include in this small paragraph. Do you believe this paragraph gives you enough information to identify the events of Fairview (at the time it was considered the Oregon State Institution for the Feeble- Minded) during this ten year period?
~T
You can find the whole booklet on file at the Oregon State Archives, in the Community Liaison Files under the Fairview Training Center. Locator 5/21/07/04 Box 11. All images courtesy of the Oregon State Archives.
