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Secretary of the Senate

Oregon State Legislature Fun Page

Senate History Rooms

​In 2011, the Oregon State Senate adopted Senate Resolution 3 naming five rooms behind the Senate Chamber after notable figures in Oregon history.  Please enjoy the pictures of these rooms below and feel free to visit them the next time you are in the Oregon State Capitol. 

Senator W. H. Strayer Gallery
​Senator W.H. Strayer was the longest serving member of the Oregon State Senate and the longest serving Senator in Oregon's old Capitol that was destroyed by fire in 1935.  According to the Oregon Voter magazine, Senator Strayer was known as "one of the ablest thinkers and most impressive speakers in the upper house."  Senator Strayer represented Baker County in the Senate from 1915 to 1946.

Senator Kathryn Clarke Cloakroom
​Senator Kathryn Clarke was the first woman elected to the Oregon State Senate.  Senator Clarke was elected in a special election in 1915 from Douglas County after a constitutional controversy over the Governor's ability to fill a vacant Senate seat.  In Oregon, women obtained the right to vote in 1912 and were first eligible for office in 1914. 
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Senator Lenn Hannon Reading Room
​Senator Lenn Hannon was the second longest serving State Senator in Oregon history and the longest serving Senator in Oregon's current Capitol.  Senator Hannon was known for his bipartisan friendships and was as a Senator who "told it to you straight."  Senator Hannon represented Ashland in the Senate from 1975 to 2004.

Senator Eugene "Debbs" Potts Conference Room
​Senator Eugene "Debbs" Potts represented Josephine County in the Oregon State Senate from 1961 to 1984.  Senator Potts served as Senate President from 1967 to 1971 and served a total of 196 days as Governor when Gov. Tom McCall was occasionally out of state.  Governor McCall honored Senator Potts as "one of the most decent public men, anywhere." 

Floyd G. McMullen Conference Room
​Floyd G. McMullen, a 22 year old volunteer firefighter and student at Willamette University, was the only person killed in the fire that destroyed Oregon's old Capitol on April 25, 1935.  Mr. McMullen, from Hermiston, was fatally struck by a cornice that fell from the burning Capitol building.