Page:Debt of Pacific Northwest to Dr. Joseph Schafer.djvu/7

 The recent death of Dr. Joseph Schafer makes this a fitting time to recognize the important part which he played from 1900 to 1920 in promoting historical studies in Oregon. In the primary responsibility of developing the department of history in the University, he succeeded largely because of a certain contagious enthusiasm in research, particularly in the field of Oregon and western history. The students in his classes felt that history was a living subject and that they could further it. In the university library we find scores of theses written by seniors at graduation under his direction. These papers frequently throw light on some obscure point. He was also a competent and interesting lecturer. So the department under his leadership rapidly assumed a position of importance.

The same qualities of open-mindedness and enthusiasm which won the students were equally successful outside in his contact with the old settlers and others interested in Oregon history. Himself the son of a pioneer in southern Wisconsin and a student of Frederick Jackson Turner, he loved and understood the West and almost upon arrival became a loyal Oregonian. The lives of the prominent men who had made Oregon meant much to him. On one occasion, learning that there was no adequate portrait of Jesse Applegate in his old age, he took great pains to have one made from memory.

Dr. Schafer in his early days rejoiced in a splendid physical constitution and worked far into the night in his researches. His first study took the form of a monograph on the early educational history of Eugene which appeared in volume II of the Oregon Historical Quarterly. Later he spent a winter in London examining the archives and papers connected with the settlement of the Oregon question. The results of this study appeared in the Quarterly and the American Historical Review. These were but typical of his indefatigable energy as a researcher. Two books resulted from these studies. The first of these, a volume in Guy Carleton Lee's History of North America covered the entire Pacific Coast. The second, The History of the Pacific Northwest, combined a sympathetic synthesis of his researches with a clear readable narrative of the outstanding events which made it for many years the most usable short history of the Oregon country.

In the stormy period of the University's history, which began in 1911, Dr. Schafer played an important role by the side of President P. L. Campbell in explaining the purposes of the institution to the public and rallying support. During the years from 1911 to 1917, he acted as head of the extension division. In academic policies, he was a liberal, having large faith in student initiative and distrusting iron-clad requirements and limitations.

In all the relations of life, Dr. Schafer was unusually direct and straightforward, generous to a fault, quick to recognize merit in others, but no man could hit harder when his confidence had been abused, or cling more tenaciously to a point when his mind was made up. Fundamentally, he was an optimist and an idealist; with difficulty could be brought to accept evidence of corruption in public men. Many of the qualities of his