Nettie Spencer was born near Corvallis in 1861 to Oregon pioneer parents. She graduated from Corvallis College in 1882, and spent the next several years teaching and studying at various places in the U.S. and abroad, including Portland, Davenport College (North Carolina), Berlin, Paris, London and India. She returned to Oregon in 1916 and taught at Eugene and Roseburg High Schools. Spencer received a masters degree in sociology from Oregon State in 1928. She was a charter member of the Mazamas, a Portland mountain climbing club, and in 1935 was elected president of the Oregon State Women's Press Club. Spencer died in Portland in 1953.
From the guide to the Nettie Spencer Papers, 1878-1897, (Oregon State University Libraries)