The Pines

By Eilene Lyon

It’s that time of year when new and returning students head to college campuses: moving into dorms, apartments, sorority and fraternity houses. In honor of my niece moving into the dorm for her freshman year this week, I’m going to share a different living arrangement that my mom had in her college years.

In the 1930s, Oregon State College (now University) developed some co-operative houses for men and women who did not join sororities and fraternities. It created an affordable living option for students, as well as social opportunities. The first female co-op was called The Pines. These houses existed up into the 1960s. There were as many as 17 of the women’s co-ops in that time frame.

Two views of The Pines, a women’s co-op residence at Oregon State in Corvallis, 1956.

My mother, Sylvia Smith, joined The Pines co-op, probably at the end of her freshman year. She and my dad attended Oregon State from 1954–58. Mom majored in Home Ec. In addition, she also earned her “M.R.S.” degree. She and Dad married the summer after their junior year.

Mom enjoyed living at The Pines. It may be the only time in her life she had a nickname: “Sly.” The co-op house was located at 27 Park Terrace while Sly lived there, but they moved to a different location around 1967. As near as I can tell, neither the house, nor that street address exist anymore, due to newer constructions on campus.

Here are some photos from Mom’s co-op years.

Sunbathing 50s style on the lawn.
Third place house sign for homecoming. That critter on the porch is a Beaver, of course (OSU mascot).
Not sure what this is all about, but Mom is on the floor on the right.
Ceiling decoration for the 1956 Co-Hop dance.
Additional Co-Hop dance decor.
My parents (right) and another couple dressed up for the dance.
The Pines Co-Hop Queen: Süri from Estonia.
New co-op officers in March 1956. Mom is bottom left.
This pic from December 1955 is Mom getting “hazed” for her engagement.
My parents both played violin in the college orchestra and participated in musical theater. Here they are in costume for The Pirates of Penzance.
Mom and Dad around the time of the Co-Hop party. Probably dressed up for church in front of my grandmother’s house in Corvallis.

Feature Image: Women who lived at The Pines at Oregon State in the 1950s. Mom (Sly) is in the front row, second from left.

49 thoughts on “The Pines”

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  1. What made it a co-op as opposed to a sorority? We had co-ops on my college campus in the early 1970s, and it meant the students did their own cooking and cleaning to save money instead of getting the (disgusting) college dining hall food and cleaning services. You had to qualify for financial aid to live in one of them.

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    1. I don’t know how the students applied to join the co-op. There was a non-profit co-op business that ran all the co-op houses. Sororities are part of the “Greek” system and have a different organizational structure (and generally a lot of ceremonial substance, like if you joined the Masons).

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    1. Sometimes I don’t see the flash message “Reply sent!” and have to retype my comment. I don’t know what causes the glitch. I especially hate it when I’ve written a long comment and it vanishes! If it happens more than once for the same comment, try again later.

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  6. What a wonderful experience to have! I sure wish I had gone away to college. It’s not a thing here in Canada. Most people just go to uni nearest to home. I have five to choose from in Montreal (not that I attended any for more than a few classes…)

    Wonderful photos, Eilene!

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  10. Quite a different system to ours I think, sororities / fraternities don’t exist here. I don’t know what it was like in the 50s, but in the 70s I missed out on a Hall of Residence in my first year, there weren’t enough places, and lived in lodgings with one other student and an elderly landlady. I then spent the next two years sharing a house with two friends (though I have to say I was no longer friends with one of them at the end of it!) These days student accommodation is mostly commercial and big business. Huge blocks everywhere.

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    1. I had a miserable time in the college dorm my freshman year. Had an attic room for the summer than lived by myself a couple years. Sharing an apartment with a friend had a similar outcome to yours—no longer friends when we parted. A shame.

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  11. Eilene, wonderful photos and a fun story, including your parents. I agree that nostalgia clouds our judgement on how life was for women back then. It was perhaps not a simple existence but one of fighting to be heard and doing what they wanted, not what was expected of them.

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    1. I think my mother felt (perhaps wrongly) that she had few options other than marriage. But maybe she just didn’t have a clue what she wanted out of life. Glad you enjoyed the photos. I’m glad Mom labeled them all!

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      1. Even in our era many thought that marriage is the only way and especially having children which became easier due the benefit. That was established to free abused women from their relationship. Yes, many of our old family photos weren’t labelled so well done to your Mum for doing so. My Mum wanted to travel not have five kids. Though she eventually got both 😉

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      2. My parents actively discouraged marriage (theirs was not all that happy and ended in divorce). I am glad I was told I could do/be what my heart desired. It was liberating and I’m grateful to them for that gift.

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      3. Your Mum was wise and mine certainly did not encourage marriage. They had to wait for a while before they got grandchildren not by me though. Yes, I remember you saying your parents divorced. In many ways, mine should’ve. My grandparents (Mums) separated when she was a young woman and Grandad went off with a woman the same age as her give or take a year. All of them now deceased, apart from Mum, who now very rarely mentions Dad’s name. Life is sometimes had to work out. Best now to 😉

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  13. What a treasure trove of photos from your mom’s college days and also the budding romance/marriage with your dad. How nice to have all these photos Eilene and to share them in a post to toast your niece as she embarks on her freshman year of college.

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  14. It looks so innocent compared to today’s college experiences. The girls sunbathing in their swimsuits! I have to admit a small part of me wouldn’t mind visiting this timeframe for a day.

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  15. Pingback: Friday’s Family History Finds | Empty Branches on the Family Tree

      1. I too was not interested in living at the Science ’44 Co-op and much preferred the traditional residence option. I went back as a Residence Don while at Grad School (2 years)… Despite the awful food, my sister, who is much more out-going than I am, quite enjoyed the experience, so it was definitely a good option.

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      2. After my freshmen year in the dorm and a summer stay renting a room in a house with others, I had my fill of roommates and rented my own apartment for a couple years. Had one final roommate in my final two months ears and we did not part on good terms when I graduated. You could say I was a difficult person to live with!

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