Knight Library is the main facility of the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

's (UO) library system. It is located on the university's campus in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

, United States. The library design is emblematic of the architecture of the university's older buildings, and it serves as a hub of student activity. As of 2008 it has a collection of more than 3 million volumes. The library also holds collections of primary sources such as photographs and manuscripts on various topics at the Special Collections & University Archives. It is also a depository for the

Federal Depository Library Program The Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) is a government program created to make U.S. federal government publications available to the public at no cost. As of April 2021, there are 1,114 depository libraries in the United States and its ter ...

. The library was previously known as the Main Library and it was renamed the Knight Library in 1988, in honor of the family of

Phil Knight Philip Hampson Knight (born February 24, 1938) is an American billionaire businessman. He is the co-founder and chairman ''emeritus'' of Nike, Inc., and was previously chairman and CEO of the company. As of October 3, 2022, Knight was ranke ...

Construction and history

The building was opened in 1937 to replace the original library building (the "Old Libe," Fenton Hall, completed in 1907), which the University's collections had outgrown. Construction of the library was financed as a

Depression-era The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

(WPA) project, spearheaded by

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Frederick Steiwer and took more than two years to complete. "The New Libe" as the ''

Oregon Daily Emerald The ''Daily Emerald'' is the independent, student-run weekly newspaper produced at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Its predecessor, the ''Oregon Daily Emerald'' newspaper, founded in 1899, trained many prominent write ...

'' student newspaper had christened the building, was designed by Ellis F. Lawrence of the Oregon-based architectural firm Lawrence, Holford, and Allyn. Lawrence was also a driving force in much of the core architecture of the UO campus and was the first Dean of the School of Architecture and Allied Arts. The rich architecture of the building reflects an

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

aesthetic with "modernized Lombardy and Greco-Roman" elements as well as many integrated artistic embellishments including "the fifteen stone heads by Edna Dunberg and Louise Utter Pritchard, ornamental memorial gates by O. B. Dawson, carved wooden panels by Arthur Clough, and two large murals painted by Albert and Arthur Runquist." Three major renovations of the library, in 1950, 1966, and 1994, have kept the building up-to-date and it is a daily hub of learning and research to University of Oregon's more than 20,000 students. 1994's $27 million renovation added 132,000 square feet (12,000 m²) to the building. The project was partially funded by

, UO alumnus and cofounder of

athletic shoe Sneakers (also called trainers, athletic shoes, tennis shoes, gym shoes, kicks, sport shoes, flats, running shoes, or runners) are shoes primarily designed for sports or other forms of physical exercise, but which are now also widely used fo ...

company

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

. The library was renamed Knight Library in honor of Knight's family. In late June 2020 UO officials said the original 1937 portion of Knight Library had been vandalized with paint on the sidewalk and the front door. The vandalism was directed at the phrase "our racial heritage" in a mission statement on a mural. According to KEZI news, the same mural words had been vandalized in 2018. Library staff had posted a statement a week earlier, "We will cover the Knight Library murals that contain racist content by October 1st."

Collections

The University of Oregon Special Collections & University Archives collects and preserves over 3000 collections of primary sources on a variety of topics. These collections range from rare books, manuscripts, original art, photographs, architectural drawings and many more. It is located on the second floor of the Knight Library of

. They help not only students and community members, but also faculty research using special collections.

Architecture and Inscriptions

The original 1937 section of the library, designed by Lawrence, contains inscriptions along the tops of each of seven large windows on the main (north) facade. These read, "Philosophia," "Historia," "Religio," "Ars," "Natura," "Societas," and "Litterae," and are meant to represent (in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

), the seven major disciplines contained in the library's collection. Above the main entry doors (also on the north facade), is a passage from the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

(John 8:32), which proclaims over the northeast doors "Ye shall know the truth", and over the northwest doors "and the truth shall make you free."

National Register of Historic Places

The University of Oregon Library and Memorial Quadrangle, which consists of the library and the quadrangle that spans from the north facade of the library to 13th Avenue, was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1990. The quadrangle was part of E. F. Lawrence's design for the UO campus, and is bordered by the

Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art :''see also the ''Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art'', Washington State University, Pullman, Washington Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art (JSMA) is an art museum located on the campus of the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. The original building ...

and Chapman Hall on the east, and

Prince Lucien Campbell Hall Prince Lucien Campbell Hall (PLC) is a high rise building on the University of Oregon (UO) campus in Eugene, Oregon, USA. Named for Prince Lucien Campbell, the fourth president of the university, PLC houses classrooms, staff offices, and an aud ...

and

Condon Hall Condon Hall can refer to: *Condon Hall (University of Washington) John T. Condon HallRivera, Ray.New law school wows UW grad it's named for" ''Seattle Times''. Friday September 12, 2003. Retrieved on March 3, 2012. is an academic building of the U ...

on the west. The landscaping of the quad includes eight English oak trees planted in 1940. A pavement on the south of the memorial quadrangle features several inscriptions: "Wonder, not doubt, is the root of knowledge" —

Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Joshua Heschel (January 11, 1907 – December 23, 1972) was a Polish-born American rabbi and one of the leading Jewish theologians and Jewish philosophers of the 20th century. Heschel, a professor of Jewish mysticism at the Jewish T ...

"Who asks, finds" —Arabic proverb "Learning without thought is labor lost. Thought without learning is perilous" —

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

"Books are humanity in print" —

Barbara Tuchman Barbara Wertheim Tuchman (; January 30, 1912 – February 6, 1989) was an American historian and author. She won the Pulitzer Prize twice, for ''The Guns of August'' (1962), a best-selling history of the prelude to and the first month of World ...

Images

File:UO KnightLibrary West.jpg, West side of the Library, showing all three main phases of construction File:UO KnightLibrary EastDoor.jpg, Detail of the inscription over the east door File:UO KnightLibrary DoorWest.jpg, Detail of the inscription over the west door File:UO MemorialQuad Dedication.jpg, Plaque dedicating walks of the quadrangle to war veterans File:UO MemorialQuad South.jpg, View of the quad looking south toward the library File:UO MemorialQuad North.jpg, View of the quad looking north toward 13th Ave. File:Paulson Reading room at the Special Collections & University Archives, University of Oregon.jpg, Paulson Reading room at the Special Collections & University Archives (SCUA) at the University of Oregon

References

External links

University of Oregon - Knight Library History
* ttp://researchguides.uoregon.edu/historic-knight Historic Knight Library: Art and Architecture {{Authority control 1937 establishments in Oregon Buildings and structures in Eugene, Oregon Federal depository libraries Library buildings completed in 1937 Libraries on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Eugene, Oregon University and college academic libraries in the United States University of Oregon buildings Works Progress Administration in Oregon