American journalist (1838?1910)
Harvey W. Scott
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![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1d/Harvey_Whitefield_Scott_by_Buchtel_%26_Stolte_-_Original.jpg/220px-Harvey_Whitefield_Scott_by_Buchtel_%26_Stolte_-_Original.jpg) |
Born
| (
1838-02-01
)
February 1, 1838
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Died
| August 7, 1910
(1910-08-07)
(aged 72)
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Occupation(s)
| Newspaper editor,
The Oregonian
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Harvey Whitefield Scott
[1]
(1838?1910) was an
American pioneer
who traveled to Oregon in 1852. Scott was a long-time editorialist, and eventual part owner of
The Oregonian
newspaper. Scott was regarded by his contemporaries as instrumental in bringing the state of
Oregon
firmly into the political camp of the
Republican Party
.
Early years and education
[
edit
]
Scott was born February 1, 1838, in rural
Tazewell County, Illinois
, near the town of
Peoria
, the son of John Tucker Scott, a farmer.
[2]
The family crossed the
Rocky Mountains
as pioneers to
Oregon
in 1852. During the trip, his mother, Ann Roelofson Scott, died.
[3]
His eight siblings included notable sisters
Abigail Scott Duniway
, and
Catherine Amanda Coburn
.
[4]
The family settled in
Yamhill County
, where they remained one year before relocating north to
Mason County
on
Puget Sound
in the
Washington Territory
.
[2]
Harvey Scott in 1857.
In 1855 and 1856, Scott fought for a year as a volunteer in the
Puget Sound War
, serving with the local militia in skirmishes against the
Nisqually
,
Muckleshoot
,
Puyallup
, and
Klickitat
peoples.
[5]
With the so-called Indian War at an end, in 1857, Scott walked 150 miles from the family home on Puget Sound to
Forest Grove, Oregon
, where he attended high school for four months.
[2]
During this interval, Scott's parents moved their own home from the Washington Territory back to Oregon, establishing for themselves a new farm about 20 miles south of
Oregon City
.
[2]
The family moved again in 1859, establishing a saw mill at Forest Grove.
[2]
Harvey Scott spent the years from 1859 to 1863 splitting his time between farm work and mill work and education, working his way through school.
[2]
He entered the fledgling
Pacific University
at Forest Grove and in 1863 became the first alumnus of that institution, head of a graduating class consisting only of himself.
[6]
Career
[
edit
]
After graduation from school, Scott spent a year in
Idaho
as a
gold miner
.
[2]
This interlude proved brief, however, and in 1864 he returned to Oregon, studying law in the office of attorney E.D. Shattuck, a leading
Republican
and
Unionist
during the ongoing
American Civil War
.
[2]
Scott supported himself while
reading law
by working as the librarian of the
Library Association of Portland
.
[5]
In 1865, Scott's plans to become an attorney came to an abrupt end when he was offered and accepted a position as editorial writer for the Portland
Morning Oregonian
.
[2]
Newspaper editor
[
edit
]
Scott was editor of
The Oregonian
newspaper from 1866 to 1872. His
editorials
strongly supported the
Union
and the newly emerging
Republican
party during the
Civil War
. According to many sources, he was highly respected throughout his career, and did much to establish the field of journalism in Oregon. He was active nationally, and served on the board of directors of the
Associated Press
.
[7]
Alfred Powers questioned his legacy, writing in 1936 that Scott was "lacking in sympathy and humanity" and that he "held to outworn social theories," and that his scholarship and character were overestimated.
[8]
Later career
[
edit
]
Harvey W. Scott as he appeared near the end of his life.
After leaving the paper in 1872, Scott was the collector of customs for the
Port of Portland
until 1877.
[5]
He then bought a sizable amount of stock in
The Oregonian
and returned as its
editor-in-chief
.
[5]
Around 1880, he vociferously opposed
public high schools
in Oregon, especially Portland, stating "the machinery of the schools has grown too cumbrous and expensive a system; that there are too many studies; that the high school is not a proper part of the system of public education;... that those who desire for their children an education beyond the common branches of the old-fashioned common school should pay for it."
[5]
Scott was a
Scottish Rite
Freemason
.
[9]
Historian
[
edit
]
Scott also edited the first history of
Portland, Oregon
, published in 1890, and compiled the six-volume
History of the Oregon Country
with his son,
Leslie M. Scott
, who published it after Harvey's death.
Death and legacy
[
edit
]
Statue of Harvey W. Scott
by
Gutzon Borglum
at
Mount Tabor Park
. (installed: 1933 and toppled: 2020)
Scott died unexpectedly following surgery in
Baltimore, Maryland
, on August 7, 1910.
[9]
His body was buried at
River View Cemetery
in Portland.
[10]
His wife, Margaret Scott, died in 1925.
[9]
Mount Scott
, an extinct volcano in
Happy Valley
, was named after him, as was Harvey Scott Elementary School in Northeast Portland. Using $10,000 left in his widow's will for the purpose,
Gutzon Borglum
(notable for sculptures on
Mount Rushmore
) was commissioned to erect a
statue of Harvey W. Scott
.
[9]
The city council chose the summit of
Mount Tabor
for the statue in 1928 and Borglum placed a model of the statue there in 1930.
[9]
The bronze statue was dedicated on July 22, 1933, with approximately 3000 in attendance, 23 years after Scott died.
[9]
Oregon governor
Julius Meier
was chairman of the event and
Chester Harvey Rowell
gave a speech.
[9]
The statue was toppled during the early morning hours of October 20, 2020 in relation to racial justice protests in Portland.
[11]
An unauthorized bust of
York
was installed around February 17, 2021 in the now-empty location where Scott's statue used to be.
[12]
On October 24, 2022,
The Oregonian
published evidence that Scott's 40-year tenure as the newspaper's editor was an era when "overtly racist words" were commonly published in its pages.
[13]
In response to the article, in December 2022, the board of Pacific University voted unanimously to remove Scott's name from a campus building.
[14]
Works
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
Note: Middle name also spelled "Whitfield".
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
Portrait and Biographical Record of Western Oregon: Containing Original Sketches of Many Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present.
Chicago, IL: Chapman Publishing Co., 1904; pp. 71-73.
- ^
Esarey, Logan (1921).
Indiana Magazine of History
. Vol. 17?18 (Public domain ed.).
- ^
Mills, Hazel E.; Bordwell, Constance; Vaughan, Thomas (2002).
Frances Fuller Victor: The Witness to America's Westerings
. Peregrine Productions for the Oregon Historical Society Press.
ISBN
978-0-9726948-0-3
.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
Edward L. Polich (1950).
A History of Portland's Secondary School System with Emphasis on the Superintendents and the Curriculum
(PhD).
University of Portland
. pp. 35?36, 39.
- ^
John B. Horner,
Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature.
Corvallis, OR: Gazette-Times, 1919; pg. 160.
- ^
"Associated Press Elections".
The New York Times
. 19 September 1902. p. 16.
- ^
Winther, Oscar Osburn (December 1936). "Reviewed Work: History of Oregon Literature by Alfred Powers".
Pacific Historical Review
.
5
(4).
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
Eugene E. Snyder,
Portland Potpourri.
Portland, OR: Binford & Mort, 1991; pp. 73?79.
- ^
River View Cemetery
Archived
2007-06-09 at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
Ryan, Jim (2020-10-20).
"Harvey Scott statue atop Mount Tabor torn down"
.
The Oregonian
. Retrieved
2020-10-20
.
- ^
Foden-Vencil, Kristian (2021-02-22).
"New, mysterious Portland monument honors York, an early explorer of Oregon"
.
OPB
. Retrieved
2021-02-23
.
- ^
Davis, Rob (24 October 2022).
"Publishing Prejudice: The Oregonian's Racist Legacy"
.
The Oregonian
. Retrieved
14 December
2022
.
- ^
Coyle, Jenny (4 December 2022).
"Confronting History"
.
Pacific University
. Retrieved
14 December
2022
.
Further reading
[
edit
]
- Chapter 22 of the
History of Oregon Literature
(Powers, 1935)
- Volume 14, Number 2
of the
Oregon Historical Quarterly
(June 1913) was dedicated to the life and career of Harvey W. Scott.
- Horner, John B. (1919).
"Harvey Whitefield Scott"
.
Oregon: Her History, Her Great Men, Her Literature
. J. K. Gill.
- Lee Nash, "Abigail vs. Harvey: Sibling Rivalry in the Oregon Campaign for Woman Suffrage,"
Oregon Historical Quarterly,
vol. 98 (Summer 1997), pp. 134?163.
In JSTOR
- Lee Nash,
"Harvey Scott (1838-1910),"
The Oregon Encyclopedia,
Oregon Historical Society, 2015.
- Lee Nash, "Scott of the Oregonian: Literary Frontiersman,"
Pacific Historical Quarterly,
vol. 45 (August 1976), pp. 357?378.
In JSTOR
- Lee Nash, "Scott of the Oregonian: The Editor as Historian,"
Oregon Historical Quarterly,
vol. 70, no. 3 (September 1969), pp. 197?232.
In JSTOR
- Oregon Historical Society,
"Harvey W. Scott (1838-1910),"
Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society, 2018.
- Turnbull, George S. (1939).
"Harvey Scott, the Leader"
.
History of Oregon Newspapers
.
Binfords & Mort
.
- Oregonian
, 1911:
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn83025138/1911-02-04/ed-1/seq-19/
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