Oregon State Archives News

Stone Carver Visits the Oregon State Archives


	Enlarge image. Eighth-graders from Salem's Grant Community School join (left to right, in back) State Archivist Roy Turnbaugh, teacher Daniel Jarnsa, stone carver Frank Maurer, and principal Grant Foster in the exhibit room of the State Archives. Maurer presented two carved stones to Turnbaugh in a brief ceremony.

Frank Maurer, of Davis, California, presented an Oregon tartan stone to the State Archives on Wednesday, November 10, 2004. Maurer practices the ancient Pictish art of stonecarving. Picts were inhabitants of the northern part of Britain before the Scots. Maurer’s genealogical research led him to the discovery that he is related to the first Scottish king, MacAlpin.

Dr. Maurer carved the two stones at Grant Community School in Salem, and provided an opportunity for Grant students to interact during the three day visit. On Tuesday, November 9, Secretary of State Bill Bradbury and State Archivist Roy Turnbaugh spoke briefly during an event in the Grant gymnasium and thanked Maurer for his efforts.



Enlarge image. This tartan stone includes carvings of several Oregon state symbols. A second stone features a Chinook salmon.

The next afternoon, Grant's eighth-graders accompanied Maurer to the Archives and were present when he donated the stones. Turnbaugh presented Maurer with a certificate of appreciation featuring a facsimile of a colorful Oregon trademark label from the Archives holdings. After the ceremony, Archives Manager Layne Sawyer led the group on a tour of the Archives that gave students a look at the original 1857 Oregon Constitution, Oregon's 1912 women's suffrage proclamation, and other important state documents.

The stones have carvings of a Chinook salmon, a beaver, a western meadowlark, and a Douglas fir branch. The U.S. Senate designated April 6 as Tartan Day because the Declaration of Arbroath, Scotland’s Declaration of Independence, was signed on April 6, 1320.

Oregon’s tartan stone will be on display at the Archives Building, 800 Summer St. NE, Salem. The staff of the Archives would like to thank Maurer for his generous donation and the Grant students for their visit.