Resources: Archives, Documents & Research

A Treasure Trove of History

Primary Documents

The Aurora Colony Historical Society houses a collection of personal letters, land and business records, music manuscripts and several thousand photographs that document life in the Aurora Colony. Researchers may utilize the library’s resources or submit questions to staff.  Materials are constantly being collected that enhance our understanding of life within one of America’s most successful communal societies.

ACHS maintains active family history files about Colony descendants including correspondence, family related research, photography files and lists of museum artifact donations. These files are open to qualified researchers - contact us to learn more.

Research on the Aurora Colony

Numerous student and scholarly papers have been published about the Colony and these have been presented in a variety of conference and public venues. While many topics concerning the Colony have been researched, there is great potential for more. Scholars have not as yet tapped into the majority of new documents that have been uncovered in recent years. In addition to the research files and photographs that are archived for public use in our museum library, the historical society actively encourages research into aspects of Colony history.

A Colony Historian: William Bek

William Bek was a professional historian who visited the Bethel Colony in 1909 and wrote an appraisal of life with Dr. Keil’s Colony.  His full account was published in 1909 and 1910 editions of The German American Chronicles under the title of “The Community at Bethel, Missouri, and Its Offspring at Aurora, Oregon”  Start with the New Series, Vol 7, No. 5 September and October 1909. Bek’s work included the first translation of Dr. Keil’s letters from the Oregon Trail.  The originals are not currently located, though he had access to them.

A Colony Historian: Clark Moor Will

Cornelia Marvin, the Oregon State Librarian in the 1920’s, called Clark Moor Will’s personal notes “the missing link of Oregon history”.  It was Mr. Frederick Woodward Skiff who urged Clark Moor Will to jot down as much as possible of the conversations specially that of historical bearing saying “those friends of your father may not be with us much longer.”  From those days on he wrote and treasured many remarks made by the ex-colonists of which his foster mother and father were two. 

Research Available for Download

While the vast majority of research material requires a visit to the library, some examples of completed research are available for download.

RESOURCES FOR STUDENT LEARNING

Educational Resources

  • A museum video is available for classrooms planning museum tours.  Once you have scheduled your classroom tour a video will be mailed to you to watch prior to your tour, or you may choose to watch the video when you visit with your students.

  • The Stauffer-Will Farm teacher notebook is available for classes scheduled to attend the farm program.  This valuable tool will be available to you when your class has been scheduled and will be made available once your deposit is received.

  • Band directors can find original Aurora Colony music scores made possible through The Oregon Music Project.

We Encourage Students to Contact Us

Newsletters

Web Sites Related to the Aurora Colony:

For Volunteers

For detailed information Colony history, download our handbooks: