SOURCING BRICKS: AN HHXRF STUDY OF WILLAMETTE UNIVERSITY'S OLDEST BUILDING

Willamette University’s Waller Hall is the oldest collegiate building in the west still in use. At over 150 years old, the building has generated much speculation about its origins. A popular claim retold on college-admissions tours is that Waller Hall was built using clay excavated from the campus quad immediately to the south of the building. Older sources from beginning in the 1860s state that the bricks were made from clay removed to construct the Waller Hall basement. To test these unsubstantiated claims, clay samples were collected from various sources within the Salem, Oregon area. Sample locations were chosen based on their proximity to the Willamette Campus, geologic diversity, their likely accessibility in the mid-19th century CE, and the historical significance of the sample area. Using a handheld X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, geochemical profiles were collected from each of the clays and compared to the profiles of four original bricks from Waller Hall. The data reveal that the campus tour guides may need to update their story.