This Place
Each week on This Place, we ask one Oregonian to tell us about the places that matter to them. What is it like to be where you are?
The Long View
An excerpt from Stephen Most's book River of Renewal explores myth and restoration in the Klamath Basin.
The Flow Below
Josephine Woolington writes about learning to see the hidden springs and streams that shape Portland.
Becoming Water Wise
Natalie Olsen explores how residents of the Deschutes River Basin are adapting a century-old water management system for a drought-persistent era.
Channeling the Stories of the Local Watershed
Taking inspiration from an unlikely source, a new production by Sarah Fox spotlights the interconnected narratives of the Columbia River Gorge.
Editor's Note: Currents
Ben Waterhouse on the complexity of telling stories about water in Oregon
The Power of Community Spaces
Joni Kabana writes about how the Spray General Store is bridging divides.
People, Places, Things: Paul Knauls, Portland
A photo of Paul Knauls, the unofficial mayor of Northeast Portland, by Emily Fitzgerald
Every September in Pendleton
Olivia Wolf writes about people for whom the Pendleton Round-Up and Happy Canyon show are about more than spectacle—they’re a family legacy.
Our Encampments
An excerpt from Jessica E. Johnson's memoir, "Mettlework: A Mining Daughter on Making Home"
In the Company of Cougars
Carrie Walker writes about navigating fear and awe in the outdoors.
Unwritten
Jessica Yen on the anxieties and frustrations of parenting in multiple languages.
Finding Common Ground Speaker Series: High Desert Partnership
Learn about the many ways the High Desert Partnership in Harney County supports a community of diverse perspectives to collaboratively solve the complex challenges facing rural America. Speakers include Brenda Smith, executive director of HDP; Mara Polenz, communications director; Josh Hanson, forest and range ecological coordinator; Kaylee Littlefield, community involvement and monitoring coordinator; Melissa Petschauer, Harney Basin ecological coordinator; Camille Torres, collaborative project coordinator; and Denise Rose, Harney internship coordinator.
This event is supported by a Minigrant for Rural Libraries from Oregon Humanities.
Ponderosas and Junipers
George James Kenagy writes about the trees that defined his childhood and his family ties to Central Oregon.
Rural Places
Stacey Rice talks to three older LGBTQ+ adults about living and building community in rural Oregon.
Treasures
Sam Mowe on Buddhism, heritage, and his family home
Losing the Forest for the Trees
Juliet Grable writes about how a massive die-off of white fir has unsettled the mountain community in Southern Oregon where she lives.
Room 5
Adam Sawyer writes about finding hope and healing in a hundred-year-old hotel on the Oregon Coast
For the People
Jordan Hernandez writes about how Oregon libraries are responding to the evolving needs of their communities.
Conversation Project: Understanding Urban/Rural Divides
We live in a time of increasing polarization that often correlates to divides between urban and rural regions in our state. This polarization is so extreme that it often seems like the two sides may have completely different experiences of the world. Join facilitator Nick Nash in a conversation that asks, How does the urban/rural divide affect the ways we relate to each other as Oregonians? What is the urban/rural divide, and how do we understand it? How does this divide affect our day-to-day lives, our experiences of being governed, and of the COVID-19 pandemic? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the beliefs we have about our urban or rural neighbors with a focus on discovering and abandoning misbeliefs, investigating and learning about the real differences between the urban and the rural, and trying to find things that we all share as Oregonians.
Creation Stories
Melissa Bennett writes about the bittersweet search for her Indigenous roots as a transracial adoptee.
We Will Be Here
Lana Jack writes about the mourning, resilience, and resistance of the Celilo Wy-am.
Consider This: Redrawing Borders
Join us for an onstage conversation on borders and divides. Why are our borders in the places they are, and when should they be redrawn? Our confirmed guests for this event are Matt McCaw, spokesperson for the Greater Idaho movement; Alexander Baretich, designer of the Cascadian flag; and Carina Miller, chair of the Columbia River Gorge Commission.
Staged Frights: Banding Together around a Playful, Creative Cause
What happens when a community bands together around a playful, creative cause? In this workshop, Haunt Camp program director JR Rymut will share how a rural community can be a perfect and unexpected incubator of avant-garde art.
Conversation Project: Understanding Urban/Rural Divides
We live in a time of increasing polarization that often correlates to divides between urban and rural regions in our state. This polarization is so extreme that it often seems like the two sides may have completely different experiences of the world. Join facilitator Nick Nash in a conversation that asks, How does the urban/rural divide affect the ways we relate to each other as Oregonians? What is the urban/rural divide, and how do we understand it? How does this divide affect our day-to-day lives, our experiences of being governed, and of the COVID-19 pandemic? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the beliefs we have about our urban or rural neighbors with a focus on discovering and abandoning misbeliefs, investigating and learning about the real differences between the urban and the rural, and trying to find things that we all share as Oregonians.
Cascadian Gothic
Sabra Boyd writes about experiencing a timely kindness as a homeless teenager in Portland.
From the Director: Grounding
Adam Davis on not knowing where we will be buried
“My Heart Belongs Where the Trees Are”
Community Storytelling Fellow Bruce Poinsette explores Black placemaking in Eastern Oregon.
Purple Prairie
Josephine Woolington on how tribal members and conservationists are trying, camas patch by camas patch, to create a patchwork of native prairie in the Willamette Valley. An excerpt from Where We Call Home: Lands, Seas, and Skies of the Pacific Northwest
Stretching Toward the Sun
T. Nguyen writes about moving from Vietnam to Eastern Oregon
Conversation Project: Moving through Our Communities: How We Experience Safety and Vulnerability
Our sense of safety and vulnerability moving through our communities may be different if we are walking, biking, rolling, taking public transit, or driving. Join facilitator LeeAnn O’Neill in a conversation that asks, How does the way you move through your community affect your sense of safety and vulnerability? What else affects your sense of safety and vulnerability? How might you change the way you interact with others as you move through your community to create a greater sense of safety for everyone? This conversation is a chance to reflect on our personal roles in creating greater safety for all as we move through our communities.
Gray Matters
Ryan Pfeil on how the challenges of 2020 affected his work, family, and memory
Woksemi
In this video—the first in a series of stories about life in Oregon called Yamatala—filmmaker Ke-As Ne-Asht Sheshatko follows a family on the Klamath Tribes' reservation during Woksemi, or Wokas harvest season.
Adventures on the Turtle's Back
Joe Whittle writes about hiking canyons in the Wallowa Mountains with people whose ancestors traveled those lands since time immemorial.
Consider This with Kiese Laymon
Join us for an onstage conversation with Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy and How to Slowly Kill Yourself and Others in America.
This event is part of our Consider This series on People, Place, and Power. In his writing, Laymon engages with the personal and the political: race and family, body and shame, poverty and place.
"Just Go Do It"
Bruce Poinsette explores the stories of three Black Muslim community leaders in Oregon.
Conversation Project: Understanding Urban/Rural Divides
We live in a time of increasing polarization that often correlates to divides between urban and rural regions in our state. This polarization is so extreme that it often seems like the two sides may have completely different experiences of the world. Join facilitator Nick Nash in a conversation that asks, How does the urban/rural divide affect the ways we relate to each other as Oregonians? What is the urban/rural divide, and how do we understand it? How does this divide affect our day-to-day lives, our experiences of being governed, and of the COVID-19 pandemic? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the beliefs we have about our urban or rural neighbors with a focus on discovering and abandoning misbeliefs, investigating and learning about the real differences between the urban and the rural, and trying to find things that we all share as Oregonians. This event will take place in room 214/215. Enter on the east side of the building facing the parking lot.
Editor's Note
In this issue, we explore how we remember and forget, as individuals and communities. Who and what do we remember? How are memories made and lost? And what, if anything, do they mean?
Mëshatàm Lënapehòkink: I remember the land of the Lenape
A photoessay by Joe Whittle about finding joy and mourning on four journeys home.
A Winner Every Time
Sallie Tisdale on a memorable night at the fair and the untrustworthy nature of remembering.
The Civic Love Ride
Civic love has been described as "one’s love for society, expressed through a commitment to the common good. It is a belief in the idea that we’re all better off, when we are all better off." Join Oregon Humanities on a ride to various places where civic love blossomed, thrived, flailed, and failed. We will hear from people who demonstrate a commitment to civic love, including special guests from Albina Vision Trust, Street Books, Albina Music Trust, and North Star Civic Foundation. Throughout the ride, we'll connect with each other utilizing the National Public Housing Museum's 36 Questions for Civic Love, which were created to help us all rise in civic love. Civic-love-themed prizes and tunes are sure to sweeten the deal. We'll begin at Lovejoy Fountain Park, south of the SW 3rd and Harrison Portland Streetcar stop. The ride will last approximately two hours, including presentations and conversations, with about four miles of mostly flat traveling. We'll end at Dawson Park (1 N. Stanton St.) with an optional post-ride hangout.
Oregon's Black History: 450 Years in 45 Min
Friends of Seaside Public Library welcome Zachary Stocks, public historian and Executive Director of Oregon Black Pioneers. Stocks will trace the history of people of African descent who have lived and worked in Oregon since before the founding of the earliest English-speaking settlements in the Americas. This presentation will bring new light to the historic legal and social marginalization of African Americans in Oregon.
This event was made possible by a grant from Oregon Humanities. The event will be held in the Community Room of the Seaside Public Library.
Indigenous Culture Day
Culture Day is a celebration of the reclamation of traditional lands for Indigenous Peoples that provides an accurate cultural experience for the whole community. This free, all-ages event offers the chance to listen and learn from Indigenous educators in the culturally rich land now known as Tryon Creek State Natural Area.
Newport's Diverse Paths to an American Dream: Join the Conversation
The theme of this program is American Dreams, American Myths, American Hopes, which will provide framework to explore the origins and aspirations of Newport and how these have changed for different segments of our community, affecting us all. This program will be an opportunity for meaningful conversations and community engagement.
Conversation Project: Understanding Urban/Rural Divides
We live in a time of increasing polarization that often correlates to divides between urban and rural regions in our state. This polarization is so extreme that it often seems like the two sides may have completely different experiences of the world. Join facilitator Nick Nash in a conversation that asks, How does the urban/rural divide affect the ways we relate to each other as Oregonians? What is the urban/rural divide, and how do we understand it? How does this divide affect our day-to-day lives, our experiences of being governed, and of the COVID-19 pandemic? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the beliefs we have about our urban or rural neighbors with a focus on discovering and abandoning misbeliefs, investigating and learning about the real differences between the urban and the rural, and trying to find things that we all share as Oregonians.
Writing on the Landscape: Reimagining Monuments and Memorials
The public statues and markers we build are meant to tell stories and mark place. We know that their meaning goes far deeper than the surface. As debates over controversial monuments and memorials have occurred in the past number of years, statues have come down, sparking discussion about what should go up in their place and laying the groundwork for us to consider how we might go about that in new ways. Join David Harrelson and Jess Perlitz in this workshop, where they will share thoughts and considerations about the contemporary monument and memorial discussion. Using two proposals submitted by Grand Ronde as test cases, they will discuss some of the ideas and issues at stake. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in smaller group conversation to talk about what is being debated, how we go about reimagining, and what examples we already have that we can turn to for guidance and inspiration.
Not a Circle, Not a Line
Susan DeFreitas writes about Ursula K. Le Guin's long view of the American West
People, Places, Things
Mike Vos offers a glimpse beyond our world into an alternate timeline, where nature reclaims the industrial landscape.
Conversation Project: Are You Safer Outside?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor spaces have taken on new significance as we struggle to address the need for connection without the health risk that now comes with enclosed places. While some of us may be rediscovering parks and trails that we once took for granted, others may be feeling the stressors of unwelcoming or inaccessible outdoor areas more than ever before. Join facilitator Mareshah “MJ” Jackson to discuss what makes an outdoor space a “safe” space. How does one’s identity intersect with security in a park, on a trail, or on a patio? In what ways have our perceptions of these spaces changed since the pandemic and recent protests, and how may they change in the years to come? This conversation is a chance to reflect on the role open spaces play in our lives and how our perceptions may differ from each other’s.
Hidden Histories: Pendleton's Early Chinese Community
The ninth and final program in the Portland Chinatown Museum's series Hidden Histories: Oregon's Early Chinatowns and Chinese Worker Settlements looks at the history of Pendleton. Since at least the 1980s, tourism, media depictions, and even well-known works of fiction have promoted the idea that nineteenth-century Chinese immigrants built and occupied an extensive tunnel network under the city of Pendleton and in many other locations throughout the American West. In this program, Priscilla Wegars, PhD, and Renae Campbell, MA, will explore these "Chinese tunnel" rumors and compare those in Pendleton with the historical record of Pendleton’s Chinese community.
Hidden Histories: Deconstructing the Astorian Chinese Experience
The Portland Chinatown Museum is pleased to announce the eighth program in the Hidden Histories: Oregon's Early Chinatowns and Chinese Worker Settlements series. Please join us on Saturday, October 30, 2021, with featured speakers Dr. Chelsea K. Vaughn, Liisa Penner, and Suenn Ho. In 1870, Astoria had thirteen Chinese residents. A decade later, that number had grown to 1,208 in Astoria proper, with an additional 924 individuals in what was then described as “Upper Astoria,” at the east end of town. Countywide, there were 2,317 residents of Chinese descent, accounting for a full one-third of Clatsop County’s population. The recruitment of laborers to work in the fish canneries accounted for a majority of this growth, but this period also saw an influx of Chinese merchants, whose businesses would cater to both the local Chinese community as well as the broader population of Astoria. Increased mechanization within the canneries combined with exclusionary laws would greatly reduce the number of Chinese laborers living in Astoria by century’s end, and in the years that followed, the full scope of this history would be minimized and the poor treatment experienced by many in the community would be obscured. For our panel, we will look at this larger history, question what it means for this history to be deliberately forgotten, and examine the experiences of the small Chinese American community that remained. This program is made possible in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities.
Consider This with Robin Wall Kimmerer
Join us for an online conversation with Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of Braiding Sweetgrass and Gathering Moss. Kimmerer is a mother, scientist, decorated professor, and enrolled member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation. This event will be streamed live as part of our series American Dreams, American Myths, American Hopes.
Hidden Histories: The Dalles Chinatown: Remembering a Community
The Portland Chinatown Museum presents the seventh program in the Hidden Histories: Oregon's Early Chinatowns and Chinese Worker Settlements series on Saturday, September 18, with featured speakers and archaeologists Jacqueline Cheung and Eric Gleason.
Hidden Histories: Picturing the Past
Using the Oregon city of Jacksonville as a case study, this program will feature a presentation of its archaeology and history followed by a discussion highlighting the challenges, opportunities, and importance of researching and documenting the stories of early Chinese Americans.
Housing and Belonging
Housing and homelessness is a visible and divisive issue in local media, in politics, and across different communities within our state. Many of us were experiencing housing instability and economic uncertainty even during the “boom” times before the current crisis. This conversation will explore common assumptions and perspectives about the experience of houselessness/homelessness and seek to answer the question, How do we decide who “belongs” in our community?
Five Cemeteries
Bija Gutoff writes about seeking serenity among old headstones after the sudden death of her father.
So Much Together - The People’s Park: Reclaiming Spaces for Our Communities
Lauren Everett is a Portland-based artist, community activist, and researcher. In 2020, Lauren led the creation of the People’s Park, a temporary community space created on a vacant lot in the St. Johns neighborhood. In this two-part workshop, she will share the story of how the park came about, framed by a discussion about the ideology of property in the United States. Participants will collaborate to design their own community spaces and learn some of the basic practical aspects of doing this kind of project.
So Much Together - The People’s Park: Reclaiming Spaces for Our Communities
Lauren Everett is a Portland-based artist, community activist, and researcher. In 2020, Lauren led the creation of the People’s Park, a temporary community space created on a vacant lot in the St. Johns neighborhood. In this two-part workshop, she will share the story of how the park came about, framed by a discussion about the ideology of property in the United States. Participants will collaborate to design their own community spaces and learn some of the basic practical aspects of doing this kind of project.
Seeking Common Ground: Looking Past the Rural-Urban Divide
National political discourse has amplified a conflict between rural and urban interests, culture, and values that has resulted in a bifurcated reality: two “bubbles” of experience whose paths do not often cross in the media nor in our daily lives. This session will shed light on the potential common interests in these disparate experiences, toward consensus about what the future could be. This program is supported by a Public Program Grant from Oregon Humanities.
People, Places, Things
Chava Florendo's photo of her brother, Justice Florendo.
Connect in Place: Emerging from Our Homes
Join facilitator LeeAnn O’Neill in this conversation that asks, How does the way you move through your community affect your sense of safety and vulnerability? What else affects your sense of safety and vulnerability? How might you change the way you interact with others as you move through your community to create a greater sense of safety for everyone?
Flowers for Block 14
Holly Hisamoto on reckoning with race, erasure, grief, and belonging at Portland's Lone Fir Cemetery.
Rekindling Our Ancestral Relations through Food with Michelle Week
In this So Much Together workshop, Farmer Michelle Week will talk about what inspires her and what fuels her hope as she builds food sovereignty and connection through Good Rain Farm. Throughout the event, participants will have the opportunity to explore their unique heritages through activities, dialogue, and reflection, reconnecting to practices of reverence for place and for all those we share our homes with.
Consider This on the Klamath Basin
A discussion on the history and future of settlement and water use in the Klamath Basin with panelists Russell Attebery (Chairman, Karuk Tribe), Mark Bransom (CEO, Klamath River Renewal Corporation), Don Gentry (Chairman, Klamath Tribes), Becky Hyde (Klamath Basin rancher), and Joe James (Chairman, Yurok Tribe).
Glassed In
Wendy Wagner on seeing, being seen, and choosing not to see.
People, Places, Things
A photo of the Wood River by Paul Robert Wolf Wilson
Into the Woods
Dionisia Morales writes about what happened when she dragged her her father, a life-long New Yorker, to see the California Redwoods for the first time.
Solace
Stacey Rice writes about finding peace in the mountains of North Carolina.
Heavy and Hiking
Being big and hiking has its challenges, not least the judgement and impatience of others. But Oregon’s trails were made for me too. An essay by Karina L. Agbisit
Editors' Note: Outside
In this issue, we’ve taken an expansive view of what it means to be outside. In addition to stories about outdoor recreation and who gets to enjoy it, you’ll find stories of living outside, on city streets and amid the woods; stories about leaving the places we feel safe for work and about making new spaces outside the mainstream.
Steelhead
An excerpt from Tina Ontiveros's memoir, rough house.
People, Places, Things
Gwen Trice in Maxville, Oregon
Connect in Place: Music and Place
This project will dive into the role of music in shaping memories, communities, and place. Join facilitator Donovan Smith to explore music and place through an interactive discussion that will include reflections.
Connect in Place: Are You Safer Outside?
During the COVID-19 pandemic, outdoor spaces have taken on new significance as we struggle to address the need for connection without the health risk that now comes with enclosed places. While some of us may be rediscovering parks and trails that we took for granted before, others may be feeling the stressors of unwelcoming or inaccessible outdoor areas more than ever before. Join facilitator Mareshah “MJ” Jackson to discuss what makes an outdoor space a “safe” space.
Black Opera: Singing over Ourselves
Singer Onry writes about making a place for himself as a Black man in the white world of opera.
Connect in Place: This Place Now
These are uncertain and undetermined times which call for, as Rebecca Solnit has written, “an imagination adequate to the possibilities and the strangeness and dangers on this earth in this moment.” How has where you are affected your experience of the pandemic? How have you seen yourself and your community adapt? What can you imagine recovery might look like? This virtual community conversation will connect Oregonians to reflect on our resilience, to compare notes about our experiences during this pandemic, to share and learn about the places we live, and to imagine what healing is needed for the places we share. This week’s conversations are for people living in the Central Oregon, Southern Oregon, and the Willamette Valley.
Connect in Place: This Place Now
These are uncertain and undetermined times which call for, as Rebecca Solnit has written, “an imagination adequate to the possibilities and the strangeness and dangers on this earth in this moment.” How has where you are affected your experience of the pandemic? How have you seen yourself and your community adapt? What can you imagine recovery might look like? This virtual community conversation will connect Oregonians to reflect on our resilience, to compare notes about our experiences during this pandemic, to share and learn about the places we live, and to imagine what healing is needed for the places we share. This week’s conversations are for people living in the Columbia River Gorge, in Eastern Oregon, and on the Oregon Coast.
Organizing from the Outside
Jyothi Natarajan talks with Oregonians finding connection while protesting oppression in Kashmir from afar.
The Struggles That Unite Us
Eric K. Ward reflects on how the idea of the urban-rural divide only serves to separate us.
The View from Council Crest
Ruby McConnell writes about revisiting the landscape of her sister's fatal overdose.
Connect in Place: This Place Now
Each Tuesday evening, we’re hosting virtual conversations with communities around the state. Our aim is to create spaces, in this physically separated moment, for Oregonians to gather, connect, reflect, and talk with one another. This week's online conversation will explore what COVID-19 means for us and our local communities with people living on the Oregon Coast, in Eastern Oregon, and around the Columbia River Gorge. This online conversation will explore what COVID-19 means for us and our local communities with people living on the Oregon Coast, in Eastern Oregon, and around the Columbia River Gorge.
Connect in Place: This Place Now
Each Tuesday evening, we’re hosting virtual conversations with communities around the state. Our aim is to create spaces, in this physically separated moment, for Oregonians to gather, connect, reflect, and talk with one another. This conversation will explore what COVID-19 means for us and our local communities with people living on the Oregon Coast, in Eastern Oregon, and around the Columbia River Gorge.
CANCELED - Conversation Project: What Makes Oregon Hip Hop?
Hip hop is nothing if not adaptable. It is owned by everyone and no one. Its constant evolution has kept it at the forefront of both mainstream and underground cultural movements for decades. It has been adopted, co-opted, incorporated, stolen, appreciated, revered, feared, hated, and celebrated since its inception. If hip hop is everywhere, then where and how does it arise in Oregon? Join artist and educator Jason Graham to explore questions such as, Where is hip hop embraced in Oregon, where is it rejected? How is it received and perceived throughout the rural, urban, suburban communities in which we live? What effect has hip hop had on Oregon, and what impact has Oregon made on hip hop? This conversation may include some hands-on activities.
Indian Enough
Emma Hodges writes about how the "enduring colonialist notion" of blood quantum fails to encompass the complexity of Native identity.
CANCELED - Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest and the Trees
We live in a state with abundant forests, and yet we don’t all see the same thing when we look into the woods. Oregon is known for both its timber industry and its deep environmental values. For many decades now management of our public forests has made headlines and driven apart neighbors. Facilitator Mariah Acton will lead this conversation to explore the values, identities, and beliefs we each have about our forests and what we, as a state, do to steward, manage, and protect this special resource. This event will take place in the large meeting room.
This event has been postponed and will be rescheduled.White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs. This conversation is open to and welcomes people of all racial backgrounds and identities.
Beyond Invitation: How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
CANCELED - Seeing the Forest and the Trees: Stewarding Our Public Forests
We live in a state with abundant forests, and yet we don’t all see the same thing when we look into the woods. Oregon is known for both its timber industry and its deep environmental values. For many decades now management of our public forests has made headlines and driven apart neighbors. Facilitator Mariah Acton will lead this conversation to explore the values, identities, and beliefs we each have about our forests and what we, as a state, do to steward, manage, and protect this special resource.
This event has been postponed and will be rescheduled.CANCELED - Oregonians and the State’s Racist Past, Present, and Future
Oregon has a long history of racism that continues to influence the state today. While we often look at how the state’s racist history affects policies and institutions, we talk less about how it affects people’s personal understanding of racism and racist experiences. Join facilitator Tai Harden-Moore in a conversation that asks, What does Oregon’s racist past mean for Oregonians? How does the state’s history affect how bias shows up for individuals? This conversation will also look at how we can identify our own racial biases and work toward concrete ways to move forward as individuals and community.
This event has been postponed and will be rescheduled.Oregonians and the State’s Racist Past, Present, and Future
Oregon has a long history of racism that continues to influence the state today. While we often look at how the state’s racist history affects policies and institutions, we talk less about how it affects people’s personal understanding of racism and racist experiences. Join facilitator Tai Harden-Moore in a conversation that asks, What does Oregon’s racist past mean for Oregonians? How does the state’s history affect how bias shows up for individuals? This conversation will also look at how we can identify our own racial biases and work toward concrete ways to move forward as individuals and community.
White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs. This conversation is open to and welcomes people of all racial backgrounds and identities.
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs. This conversation is open to and welcomes people of all racial backgrounds and identities.
Conversation Project: Oregonians and the State’s Racist Past, Present, and Future
Oregon has a long history of racism that continues to influence the state today. While we often look at how the state’s racist history affects policies and institutions, we talk less about how it affects people’s personal understanding of racism and racist experiences. Join facilitator Tai Harden-Moore in a conversation that asks, What does Oregon’s racist past mean for Oregonians? How does the state’s history affect how bias shows up for individuals? This conversation will also look at how we can identify our own racial biases and work toward concrete ways to move forward as individuals and community. This event will take place in the Austin Room.
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
This conversation aims to bring people together to discuss the diverse experiences of belonging in Oregon. Challenging stereotypical visions of what it means to be an “Oregonian,” participants are asked to consider how being an Oregonian or part of the community looks different for all of us. Centered around participants’ unique identities, we will look inward and share how our race, gender and other identity markers shape our relationships to our community and the world around us. We will touch on Oregon’s founding racial exclusion laws, immigration trends and share how we can foster inclusion in our own lives.
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Many Oregonians have a vision of a future that includes communities built on values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. At the same time, we live in a society that marginalizes and excludes people of color. Facilitators Traci Price and Anita Yap will lead participants in a conversation that looks at how Oregon’s history of racism influences our present and asks, How can understanding Oregon’s historic and current impacts of racism contribute to our sense of place and vision of the future? How can diversity and inclusion create thriving communities?
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs. This conversation is open to and welcomes people of all racial backgrounds and identities.
The State That Timber Built—2012
Tara Rae Miner considers what Oregon owes to the struggling timber communities that helped shape the state’s identity in this essay from the 2012 “Here” issue.
The Air I Breathe—2014
Ifanyi Bell writes about growing up tolerated and underestimated in Portland in the 2014 “Quandary” issue.
Conversation Project: Oregonians and the State’s Racist Past, Present, and Future
Oregon has a long history of racism that continues to influence the state today. While we often look at how the state’s racist history affects policies and institutions, we talk less about how it affects people’s personal understanding of racism and racist experiences. Join facilitator Tai Harden-Moore in a conversation that asks, What does Oregon’s racist past mean for Oregonians? How does the state’s history affect how bias shows up for individuals? This conversation will also look at how we can identify our own racial biases and work toward concrete ways to move forward as individuals and community.
OH Grant Event: Stories My Mother and Father Told Me: Diana Lo Mei Hing
Diana Lo Mei Hing shares stories about growing up in China on the eve of the Cultural Revolution and in Italy. She was born in Hong Kong and spent her childhood in Canton City, China in the years leading up to the Cultural Revolution. When she was eleven, the family fled to Milan, Italy where she received a fine arts education. She is a well known artist in Italy where she continues to exhibit. Since 2015, she and her American husband, a fine art photographer, have made their home in Portland. This event is part of the Portland Chinatown History Museum's ongoing series, Stories My Mother and Father Told Me, a series exploring the experiences of immigrants in Oregon featuring artists, writers, and community elders.
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs. This conversation is open to and welcomes people of all racial backgrounds and identities. This event will take place in the auditorium.
CANCELED - Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
This conversation aims to bring people together to discuss the diverse experiences of belonging in Oregon. Challenging stereotypical visions of what it means to be an “Oregonian,” participants are asked to consider how being an Oregonian or part of the community looks different for all of us. Centered around participant’s unique identities, we will look inward and share how our race, gender and other identity markers shape our relationships to our community and the world around us. We will touch on Oregon’s founding racial exclusion laws, immigration trends and share how we can foster inclusion in our own lives. This event will take place at the Multnomah Arts Center in room 30.
This event has been postponed and will be rescheduled.Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be American?
The United States is a culturally diverse nation with residents who can trace their heritage to countries across the globe, and our diversity is projected to continue to increase over the next several decades. Given the differences of race, ethnicity, place, religion, wealth, language, education, and ideology that exist in the US, what are the things that unite us a nation? How do we understand what it means to be American and what we hold valuable? Join this conversation led by facilitator Ellen Knutson to share your ideas about what it means to be American and hear others’ ideas, to identify differences and points of connection that may lead us toward the ideal stated in our nation’s motto: E pluribus unum, out of many, one.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion. This event will take place at the Multnomah Arts Center in room 30.
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs. This conversation is open to and welcomes people of all racial backgrounds and identities. The event will begin at 5:00 p.m., and the conversation will begin at 5:45 p.m.
Conversation Project: Oregonians and the State’s Racist Past, Present, and Future
Oregon has a long history of racism that continues to influence the state today. While we often look at how the state’s racist history affects policies and institutions, we talk less about how it affects people’s personal understanding of racism and racist experiences. Join facilitator Tai Harden-Moore in a conversation that asks, What does Oregon’s racist past mean for Oregonians? How does the state’s history affect how bias shows up for individuals? This conversation will also look at how we can identify our own racial biases and work toward concrete ways to move forward as individuals and community. This conversation will take place in the auditorium.
If You've Made It This Far
An excerpt from Don Waters' memoir These Boys and Their Fathers
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be American?
The United States is a culturally diverse nation with residents who can trace their heritage to countries across the globe, and our diversity is projected to continue to increase over the next several decades. Given the differences of race, ethnicity, place, religion, wealth, language, education, and ideology that exist in the US, what are the things that unite us a nation? How do we understand what it means to be American and what we hold valuable? Join this conversation led by facilitator Ellen Knutson to share your ideas about what it means to be American and hear others’ ideas, to identify differences and points of connection that may lead us toward the ideal stated in our nation’s motto: E pluribus unum, out of many, one. This conversation will take place in the Boxer Pause Room in Washburne Hall in the University Center.
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest and the Trees
We live in a state with abundant forests, and yet we don’t all see the same thing when we look into the woods. Oregon is known for both its timber industry and its deep environmental values. For many decades now management of our public forests has made headlines and driven apart neighbors. Facilitator Mariah Acton will lead this conversation to explore the values, identities, and beliefs we each have about our forests and what we, as a state, do to steward, manage, and protect this special resource.
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be American?
The United States is a culturally diverse nation with residents who can trace their heritage to countries across the globe, and our diversity is projected to continue to increase over the next several decades. Given the differences of race, ethnicity, place, religion, wealth, language, education, and ideology that exist in the US, what are the things that unite us a nation? How do we understand what it means to be American and what we hold valuable? Join this conversation led by facilitator Ellen Knutson to share your ideas about what it means to be American and hear others’ ideas, to identify differences and points of connection that may lead us toward the ideal stated in our nation’s motto: E pluribus unum, out of many, one. This event will take place in Meeting Room A.
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs. This conversation is open to and welcomes people of all racial backgrounds and identities. This event will take place in the Lee Conference Room.
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Studies show that neighbors interact much less than in previous decades. This has been theorized as a kind of side effect of modern life and the result of technology, limits on attention, and in some instances, differences in cultural concepts of what it means to be neighborly. Join facilitator Jen Mitas in this conversation that asks, How do you interact with your neighbors? How do you feel about those relationships? How might you improve or change these relationships in order to make a positive impact on the places you live? This conversation is a chance to reflect on one’s own role in the social networks that make up the places we live, and to complicate clichés about neighborliness that may be unconsciously rooted in the mid-twentieth century ideal of the American suburb. This event will take place in the Community Room, on the main floor of the library. RSVPs requested, email Terrie at: terriev1211@gmail.com
This Place Is Beautiful, This Place Is Gross
Sarah Cook writes about learning to see beauty and perseverance while living in The Dalles.
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Many Oregonians have a vision of a future that includes communities built on values of diversity, equity, and inclusion. At the same time, we live in a society that marginalizes and excludes people of color. Facilitators Traci Price and Anita Yap will lead participants in a conversation that looks at how Oregon’s history of racism influences our present and asks, How can understanding Oregon’s historic and current impacts of racism contribute to our sense of place and vision of the future? How can diversity and inclusion create thriving communities?
“Our Story on Our Territory”
Leslie Ann McMillan, an enrolled Chinook member, writes about how her people's lands were stolen and how they are starting to reclaim them.
Bridge City
Anna Vo writes on the dark side of local pride and the changes in our attitude toward place required to make Portland a welcoming home for all.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: What Makes Oregon Hip Hop?
Hip hop is nothing if not adaptable. It is owned by everyone and no one. Its constant evolution has kept it at the forefront of both mainstream and underground cultural movements for decades. It has been adopted, co-opted, incorporated, stolen, appreciated, revered, feared, hated, and celebrated since its inception. If hip hop is everywhere, then where and how does it arise in Oregon? Join artist and educator Jason Graham to explore questions such as, Where is hip hop embraced in Oregon, where is it rejected? How is it received and perceived throughout the rural, urban, suburban communities in which we live? What effect has hip hop had on Oregon, and what impact has Oregon made on hip hop? This conversation may include some hands-on activities.
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit, rural communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs.
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
A majority of Americans now accept gay and lesbian relationships, but the queer population is made up of a diversity of communities and experiences. Are all queer people accepted, tolerated, and embraced everywhere? Where are we made to feel welcome? Where do we feel unwelcome and unsafe? How do race, language, gender identity, family structure, faith, where we work, and where we live shape how we are seen, welcomed, and accepted? Join facilitator Jill Winsor in a discussion that explores how the complexity of the queer community intersects with the spaces and communities that surround us.
Conversation Project: Why DIY?
Are we as self-sufficient as we can be? As we should be? What are the pleasures and pitfalls of doing it yourself? This conversation investigates why we strive to be makers and doers in a world that provides more conveniences than ever before. How might the “new industrial revolution” of tinkerers and crafters affect American schools and workplaces? How do maker spaces or skills courses foster greater engagement and involvement? What could be left behind when we increase self-sufficiency in a community? All kinds of DIY interests are welcome: we can focus on foraging, permaculture, prepping, woodworking, or hovercraft making—or perhaps all of these at once! Through our shared stories, we will seek to understand more deeply how DIY functions in American life.
Conversation Project: Oregonians and the State’s Racist Past, Present, and Future
Oregon has a long history of racism that continues to influence the state today. While we often look at how the state’s racist history affects policies and institutions, we talk less about how it affects people’s personal understanding of racism and racist experiences. Join facilitator Tai Harden-Moore in a conversation that asks, What does Oregon’s racist past mean for Oregonians? How does the state’s history affect how bias shows up for individuals? This conversation will also look at how we can identify our own racial biases and work toward concrete ways to move forward as individuals and community.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Oregonians love the wild beauty of our 363 miles of coastline, but finding truly local seafood can be hard, even on the coast. The US imports approximately 90 percent of its seafood and ships out nearly as much to the global market. Why aren’t we eating more local seafood, now that preserving and distribution technologies are the most sophisticated they have ever been? Why do we consider seafood more a delicacy now than it has been in the past? In this conversation, food writer Jennifer Burns Bright helps participants explore our relationship with the products of the sea and cultural traditions involving fishing, eating seafood, and understanding the ocean’s bounty and challenges.
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Studies show that neighbors interact much less than in previous decades. This has been theorized as a kind of side effect of modern life and the result of technology, limits on attention, and in some instances, differences in cultural concepts of what it means to be neighborly. Join facilitator Jen Mitas in this conversation that asks, How do you interact with your neighbors? How do you feel about those relationships? How might you improve or change these relationships in order to make a positive impact on the places you live? This conversation is a chance to reflect on one’s own role in the social networks that make up the places we live, and to complicate clichés about neighborliness that may be unconsciously rooted in the mid-twentieth century ideal of the American suburb. To RSVP, please email: piera@albertagrocery.coop.
Process and Privilege
Cynthia Carmina Gómez writes about how efforts to rename a Portland street for César Chávez faced intense opposition, despite following a process that other petitions were allowed to circumvent.
Black Mark, Black Legend
Intisar Abioto writes about uncovering the lineage of Black artists in Portland.
Emilly Prado and Inara Verzemnieks on Journalism and Representation
A conversation with 2018 Emerging Journalists, Community Stories fellow Emilly Prado and Inara Verzemnieks, her mentor for the fellowship, on questions of representation and responsibility in writing about immigration.
Les Zaitz and Caitlyn May on Journalism in Rural Communities
A conversation with 2018 Emerging Journalists, Community Stories fellow Caitlyn May and Les Zaitz, her mentor for the fellowship, on the challenges and rewards of working as a journalist in rural communities in Oregon.
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
A majority of Americans now accept gay and lesbian relationships, but the queer population is made up of a diversity of communities and experiences. Are all queer people accepted, tolerated, and embraced everywhere? Where are we made to feel welcome? Where do we feel unwelcome and unsafe? How do race, language, gender identity, family structure, faith, where we work, and where we live shape how we are seen, welcomed, and accepted? Join facilitator Jill Winsor in a discussion that explores how the complexity of the queer community intersects with the spaces and communities that surround us.
What I Do
Between writing, housekeeping, and mothering, my life is full. But I still feel pressure to make my mark, to show I was here. An essay by Jamie Passaro.
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit, rural communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion. This event will take place in Columbia Room 102.
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
A majority of Americans now accept gay and lesbian relationships, but the queer population is made up of a diversity of communities and experiences. Are all queer people accepted, tolerated, and embraced everywhere? Where are we made to feel welcome? Where do we feel unwelcome and unsafe? How do race, language, gender identity, family structure, faith, where we work, and where we live shape how we are seen, welcomed, and accepted? Join facilitator Jill Winsor in a discussion that explores how the complexity of the queer community intersects with the spaces and communities that surround us. This event will take place in the Keeston Room.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Although Census data show Oregon’s population becoming more racially diverse, the state remains one of the whitest in the nation. Many Oregonians value racial diversity and the dimension and depth it adds to our lives, yet we remain largely isolated from one another and have yet to fulfill the vision of a racially integrated society. Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation about the challenges to creating racially diverse, inclusive communities despite the accomplishments since the civil rights era. What does the racial integration of place require of us, and how might we prepare to create and embrace this opportunity?
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest and the Trees
We live in a state with abundant forests, and yet we don’t all see the same thing when we look into the woods. Oregon is known for both its timber industry and its deep environmental values. For many decades now management of our public forests has made headlines and driven apart neighbors. Facilitator Mariah Acton will lead this conversation to explore the values, identities, and beliefs we each have about our forests and what we, as a state, do to steward, manage, and protect this special resource.
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Although Census data show Oregon’s population becoming more racially diverse, the state remains one of the whitest in the nation. Many Oregonians value racial diversity and the dimension and depth it adds to our lives, yet we remain largely isolated from one another and have yet to fulfill the vision of a racially integrated society. Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation about the challenges to creating racially diverse, inclusive communities despite the accomplishments since the civil rights era. What does the racial integration of place require of us, and how might we prepare to create and embrace this opportunity?
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit, rural communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs.
Conversation Project: Ecology of Creative Space
What can an Aspen grove teach us about communication? What can we learn from a flock of geese about collaboration? Or from a mushroom about transformation? Oregon is experiencing a shift in the landscape of creative spaces in our communities. Population changes, (dis)investment, public policy or the lack of it, and climate change have all had a hand in opening, closing, and changing places that are important to us culturally and creatively. The natural world—of which we are a part—is constantly changing and evolving and has much to teach us about living in these times. Join facilitator Maesie Speer for a conversation that asks, Can we find inspiration from our natural surroundings to imagine new ways to build creative spaces? This conversation will include some hands-on activities.
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion. RSVP: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSctPXs1pMbZlDuVK5qCaZfYOX1cb2GG9oqXQ3Oe_WWi7wGxhA/viewform
Conversation Project: How Do We Create Equitable Spaces Within Our Public Lands?
The land and waterways of Oregon have always provided for its people and inhabitants, since time immemorial. In the last 200 years, the landscape has changed drastically. What does the past and present mean for the future of our natural lands? And for those who have been removed from these areas? Educator Gabe Sheoships leads a discussion about what a relationship with nature means, how we can provide inclusive and equitable spaces within our public lands and natural areas, and how we can begin to work toward healing relationships with our land. RSVP: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-do-we-create-equitable-spaces-within-our-public-lands-tickets-60426434091
Conversation Project: Showing Up
Being part of a community is an essential need for all of us. It is a place where we find others who share common ground, where our values and identities are reflected. Community is also a place where we are supported and thrive. Join facilitator Chi Mei Tam in this conversation to explore what it means to be part of a community. What does it looks like when community shows up for you and vice versa? How does it work? To what extent are shared values and identities in our community enough or not enough to help us thrive?
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
How Relationships Affect the Places We Live
The Quiet and In-between Moments
Joni Renee Whitworth writes about finding closeness and queerness through touch.
Conversation Project: How Do We Create Equitable Spaces Within Our Public Lands?
The land and waterways of Oregon have always provided for its people and inhabitants, since time immemorial. In the last 200 years, the landscape has changed drastically. What does the past and present mean for the future of our natural lands? And for those who have been removed from these areas? Educator Gabe Sheoships leads a discussion about what a relationship with nature means, how we can provide inclusive and equitable spaces within our public lands and natural areas, and how we can begin to work toward healing relationships with our land.
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest and the Trees
We live in a state with abundant forests, and yet we don’t all see the same thing when we look into the woods. Oregon is known for both its timber industry and its deep environmental values. For many decades now management of our public forests has made headlines and driven apart neighbors. Facilitator Mariah Acton will lead this conversation to explore the values, identities, and beliefs we each have about our forests and what we, as a state, do to steward, manage, and protect this special resource.
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities.
Conversation Project: Ecology of Creative Space
Gathering Inspiration from the Natural World
Conversation Project: Ecology of Creative Space
Gathering Inspiration from the Natural World
Talking about Place, Race, and Family
An interview with Ezra Marcos Ayala, a photographer and father of three living in Ashland.
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
How Relationships Affect the Places We Live
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest and the Trees
Stewarding Our Public Forests
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Although Census data show Oregon’s population becoming more racially diverse, the state remains one of the whitest in the nation. Many Oregonians value racial diversity and the dimension and depth it adds to our lives, yet we remain largely isolated from one another and have yet to fulfill the vision of a racially integrated society. Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation about the challenges to creating racially diverse, inclusive communities despite the accomplishments since the civil rights era. What does the racial integration of place require of us, and how might we prepare to create and embrace this opportunity?
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit, rural communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs.
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Studies show that neighbors interact much less than in previous decades. This has been theorized as a kind of side effect of modern life and the result of technology, limits on attention, and in some instances, differences in cultural concepts of what it means to be neighborly. Join facilitator Jen Mitas in this conversation that asks, How do you interact with your neighbors? How do you feel about those relationships? How might you improve or change these relationships in order to make a positive impact on the places you live? This conversation is a chance to reflect on one’s own role in the social networks that make up the places we live, and to complicate clichés about neighborliness that may be unconsciously rooted in the mid-twentieth century ideal of the American suburb.
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
A majority of Americans now accept gay and lesbian relationships, but the queer population is made up of a diversity of communities and experiences. Are all queer people accepted, tolerated, and embraced everywhere? Where are we made to feel welcome? Where do we feel unwelcome and unsafe? How do race, language, gender identity, family structure, faith, where we work, and where we live shape how we are seen, welcomed, and accepted? Join facilitator Jill Winsor in a discussion that explores how the complexity of the queer community intersects with the spaces and communities that surround us.
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
In 2015, Oregon’s population exceeded 4 million people. Not only are we growing in number, we’re also changing demographically. Considering that Oregon has a history of racial exclusion, these changes prompt questions about Oregonian identity and values. How do we build communities that welcome people of all backgrounds? How are minority and under-represented populations included and treated today? Drawing on the diverse histories and backgrounds of attendees, Kerani Mitchell leads a conversation that asks what makes us Oregonian and how can we create inclusive communities.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Oregonians love the wild beauty of our 363 miles of coastline, but finding truly local seafood can be hard, even on the coast. The US imports approximately 90 percent of its seafood and ships out nearly as much to the global market. Why aren’t we eating more local seafood, now that preserving and distribution technologies are the most sophisticated they have ever been? Why do we consider seafood more a delicacy now than it has been in the past? In this conversation, food writer Jennifer Burns Bright helps participants explore our relationship with the products of the sea and cultural traditions involving fishing, eating seafood, and understanding the ocean’s bounty and challenges.
Editor's Note: Finite and Unpredictable
Editor Kathleen Holt writes about the settling and unsettling of an aging parent.
Family Ties
Emilly Prado writes about how changes to immigration legislation shape the lives of undocumented families in an excerpt from "More than Words," her project for Oregon Humanities' Emerging Journalists, Community Stories project.
Relearning Home
Mark Putney writes about finding belonging in a Willamette Valley hazelnut orchard after leaving the wilds of Kodiak, Alaska.
Letters from Home
Letters from four Oregonians about the places where they live, from our 2018 Dear Stranger project.
Conversation Project: How Do We Create Equitable Spaces Within Our Public Lands?
Educator Gabe Sheoships leads a discussion about what a relationship with nature means, how we can provide inclusive and equitable spaces within our public lands and natural areas, and how we can begin to work toward healing relationships with our land.
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be American?
The United States is a culturally diverse nation with residents who can trace their heritage to countries across the globe, and our diversity is projected to continue to increase over the next several decades. Given the differences of race, ethnicity, place, religion, wealth, language, education, and ideology that exist in the US, what are the things that unite us a nation? How do we understand what it means to be American and what we hold valuable? Join this conversation led by facilitator Ellen Knutson to share your ideas about what it means to be American and hear others’ ideas, to identify differences and points of connection that may lead us toward the ideal stated in our nation’s motto: E pluribus unum, out of many, one.
Conversation Project: From the Desert to the Sea
What are people really asking when they ask, “Where do you live?” In Oregon, philosophical and political divides have deep connections to geographic location. This conversation, led by author Kristy Athens, will explore the assumptions Oregonians have historically made about each other based on both literal and figurative place—including east versus west and urban versus rural—as well as the potential benefits and harms of conflating where you are (or have been) with who you are.
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
Studies show that neighbors interact much less than in previous decades. This has been theorized as a kind of side effect of modern life and the result of technology, limits on attention, and in some instances, differences in cultural concepts of what it means to be neighborly. Join facilitator Jen Mitas in this conversation that asks, How do you interact with your neighbors? How do you feel about those relationships? How might you improve or change these relationships in order to make a positive impact on the places you live? This conversation is a chance to reflect on one’s own role in the social networks that make up the places we live, and to complicate clichés about neighborliness that may be unconsciously rooted in the mid-twentieth century ideal of the American suburb. RSVP to this event here.
Conversation Project: How Do We Create Equitable Spaces Within Our Public Lands?
The land and waterways of Oregon have always provided for its people and inhabitants, since time immemorial. In the last 200 years, the landscape has changed drastically. What does the past and present mean for the future of our natural lands? And for those who have been removed from these areas? Educator Gabe Sheoships leads a discussion about what a relationship with nature means, how we can provide inclusive and equitable spaces within our public lands and natural areas, and how we can begin to work toward healing relationships with our land.
Conversation Project: Ecology of Creative Space
What can an Aspen grove teach us about communication? What can we learn from a flock of geese about collaboration? Or from a mushroom about transformation? Oregon is experiencing a shift in the landscape of creative spaces in our communities. Population changes, (dis)investment, public policy or the lack of it, and climate change have all had a hand in opening, closing, and changing places that are important to us culturally and creatively. The natural world—of which we are a part—is constantly changing and evolving and has much to teach us about living in these times. Join facilitator Maesie Speer for a conversation that asks, Can we find inspiration from our natural surroundings to imagine new ways to build creative spaces? This conversation will include some hands-on activities.
Conversation Project: Can We Get Along?
Examining Our Personal Experiences of Connection and Community
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
Organizations and communities are working to invite broader groups of people to engage in their work as employees, patrons, board members, and donors. Having a statement at the end of a job announcement to encourage communities of color, queer people, and women to apply can be a start, but how do policies, environment, and culture support this invitation? How do they fail to support it? How do you know if a space is inclusive and accessible for all, and is such a goal even possible? What do you do about the tension between people who have different needs to feel included? Join Rachel Bernstein to explore what it takes to make the shift from invitation to inclusion.
Conversation Project: It's a Free Country
Ever heard the expression "America: land of the brave and free" or "It's a free country! I can do what I want"? Maybe you think or say these things yourself. But what does it mean to "be free"? Join Ann Su for a conversation that explores the impact of culture on how we define, value, and experience freedom personally and in community. Participants will discuss different questions: Does everyone have access to freedom in the same way? What choices come with freedom and what are the responsibilities that accompany those choices? How does the concept of "freedom" play out in a diverse, democratic society?
Conversation Project: Showing Up
Being part of a community is an essential need for all of us. It is a place where we find others who share common ground, where our values and identities are reflected. Community is also a place where we are supported and thrive. Join facilitator Chi Mei Tam in this conversation to explore what it means to be part of a community. What does it looks like when community shows up for you and vice versa? How does it work? To what extent are shared values and identities in our community enough or not enough to help us thrive?
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
In 2015, Oregon’s population exceeded 4 million people. Not only are we growing in number, we’re also changing demographically. Considering that Oregon has a history of racial exclusion, these changes prompt questions about Oregonian identity and values. How do we build communities that welcome people of all backgrounds? How are minority and under-represented populations included and treated today? Drawing on the diverse histories and backgrounds of attendees, Kerani Mitchell leads a conversation that asks what makes us Oregonian and how can we create inclusive communities.
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
What does it mean to be a white ally, especially in close-knit, rural communities? And what does it mean to have the support of white allies? What is needed from white people in our communities to move the conversation about racism—both statewide and nationally—forward in a productive and respectful way? In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities. This conversation will set the table for bringing discussions about racism, white culture, and identity to your dining room, living room, and backyard BBQs.
Conversation Project: Showing Up
Being part of a community is an essential need for all of us. It is a place where we find others who share common ground, where our values and identities are reflected. Community is also a place where we are supported and thrive. Join facilitator Chi Mei Tam in this conversation to explore what it means to be part of a community. What does it looks like when community shows up for you and vice versa? How does it work? To what extent are shared values and identities in our community enough or not enough to help us thrive?
Looking Forward, Looking Past
An excerpt from Emilly Prado's upcoming story about undocumented and mixed-status families living in Oregon.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Seeing the Forest for the Trees:
Stewarding Our Public Forests
Conversation Project: Race and Place
Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future
Conversation Project: Ecology of Creative Space
Gathering Inspiration from the Natural World
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
How Relationships Affect the Places We Live
Conversation Project: White Allyship in Close-knit Communities
In this conversation led by facilitator Alexis James, participants will have the chance to explore their identities, learn how to acknowledge different lived experiences without alienating friends and neighbors, and move toward action in their own communities.
Conversation Project: What Does It Mean to Be American?
Join this conversation led by facilitator Ellen Knutson to share your ideas about what it means to be American and hear others’ ideas, to identify differences and points of connection that may lead us toward the ideal stated in our nation’s motto: E pluribus unum, out of many, one.
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation about the challenges to creating racially diverse, inclusive communities despite the accomplishments since the civil rights era.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
How Relationships Affect the Places We Live
Conversation Project: Power, Privilege, and Racial Diversity in Oregon
Willamette University professor Emily Drew will lead participants in a conversation about the challenges to creating racially diverse, inclusive communities despite the accomplishments since the civil rights era.
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
How Relationships Affect the Places We Live
Conversation Project: Won't You Be My Neighbor?
How Relationships Affect the Places We Live
Conversation Project: Beyond Invitation
How Do We Create Inclusive Communities?
Creating Connection Across Oregon
Bridging Oregon and Dear Stranger are starting conversations about the places we call home.
A Lot to Ask of a Name
Natchee Blu Barnd on how Native American names are used as symbols in white spaces
Out of the Woods
Ruby McConnell on meeting a lost boy in a Cascades forest
Showing Up: What Does It Mean to Belong to a Community?
Join facilitator Chi Mei Tam in this conversation to explore what it means to be part of a community. What does it looks like when community shows up for you and vice versa? How does it work? To what extent are shared values and identities in our community enough or not enough to help us thrive?
Conversation Project: Showing Up
What Does It Mean to Belong to a Community?
What Work Does a Street Sign Do?
A conversation with geographer Natchee Blu Barnd on how place-naming shapes perspectives of history related to Indigenous peoples in the US.
Conversation Project: Fish Tales
Traditions and Challenges of Seafood in Oregon
Vanport Mosaic Festival 2018
The 2018 Vanport Mosaic Festival offers six days of memory activism opportunities, commemorating the seventieth anniversary of the Vanport Flood and the fiftieth anniversary of the Fair Housing Act through screenings, live performances, tours, exhibits, and community engagement initiatives
Vanport Mosaic Festival 2018
The 2018 Vanport Mosaic Festival offers six days of memory activism opportunities, commemorating the seventieth anniversary of the Vanport Flood and the fiftieth anniversary of the Fair Housing Act through screenings, live performances, tours, exhibits, and community engagement initiatives
Vanport Mosaic Festival 2018
The 2018 Vanport Mosaic Festival offers six days of memory activism opportunities, commemorating the seventieth anniversary of the Vanport Flood and the fiftieth anniversary of the Fair Housing Act through screenings, live performances, tours, exhibits, and community engagement initiatives
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
Drawing on the diverse histories and backgrounds of participants, Kerani Mitchell leads a conversation that asks what makes us Oregonian and how can we create inclusive communities.
Conversation Project: Showing Up
Join facilitator Chi Mei Tam in this conversation to explore what it means to be part of a community. What does it looks like when community shows up for you and vice versa? How does it work? To what extent are shared values and identities in our community enough or not enough to help us thrive?
Conversation Project: Showing Up
Join facilitator Chi Mei Tam in this conversation to explore what it means to be part of a community. What does it looks like when community shows up for you and vice versa? How does it work? To what extent are shared values and identities in our community enough or not enough to help us thrive?
Finding Our Way Amidst the Unhoused
A community conversation on homelessness, transiency, the housed and unhoused in Southern Oregon. Facilitated by Adam Davis of Oregon Humanities and Ryan Stroud of CommuniTalks.
Unclaiming the Land
Melissa Madenski writes about leaving her home of forty years and what binds us to the places in our lives.
Film screening: No Man's Land
The High Desert Museum presents a screening of David Byars' documentary about the 2016 occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, followed by a facilitated discussion. This program is made possible in part by a Responsive Program Grant from Oregon Humanities.
Whose Land?
The High Desert Museum presents a community conversation about public lands. This program is made possible in part by a Responsive Program Grant from Oregon Humanities.
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Malheur Reflections, Two Years Later
A discussion of the Malheur occupuation, restoration, and public lands in Oregon. This program is made possible in part by a Responsive Program Grant from Oregon Humanities.
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
To Heart Mountain
Alice Hardesty travels to see the site of a World War II prison camp that her father designed.
Cuts and Blows
Tashia Harris on living without expectation of safety
Posts
Readers write about Harm
Read. Talk. Think.
Things that make you say O. Hm.
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
A majority of Americans now accept gay and lesbian relationships, but the queer population is made up of a diversity of communities and experiences. Are all queer people accepted, tolerated, and embraced everywhere? Join facilitator Jill Winsor in a discussion that explores how the complexity of the queer community intersects with the spaces and communities that surround us.
SuperReal: Our Town, Onstage!
RiverStars Performing Arts presents a holiday comedy created by local youth through interviews with community members.
SuperReal: Our Town, Onstage!
RiverStars Performing Arts presents a holiday comedy created by local youth through interviews with community members.
Conversation Project: How Do We Create Equitable Spaces Within Our Public Lands?
Educator Gabe Sheoships leads a discussion about what a relationship with nature means, how we can provide inclusive and equitable spaces within our public lands and natural areas, and how we can begin to work toward healing relationships with our land.
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
A majority of Americans now accept gay and lesbian relationships, but the queer population is made up of a diversity of communities and experiences. Are all queer people accepted, tolerated, and embraced everywhere? Join facilitator Jill Winsor in a discussion that explores how the complexity of the queer community intersects with the spaces and communities that surround us.
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Growth in Portland: Whose Livability?
Adam Davis, executive director of Oregon Humanities, moderates a panel discussion on the Portland comprehensive plan.
"The Numbers" Screening and Discussion
Join filmmakers Sika Stanton and Donovan Smith for a screening of "The Numbers," a short film produced as part of Oregon Humanities' This Land project, followed by a community conversation with participants in the film.
Place Justice: Making a Place for Everyone
City Repair presents a conversation with Portland activists and community leaders on reclaiming place in a rapidly developing and segregating city.
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
Join facilitator Jill Winsor in a discussion that explores how the complexity of the queer community intersects with the spaces and communities that surround us.
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: A Place to Call Home
Exploring Housing in Oregon
Conversation Project: Where Are Queer People Welcome?
A majority of Americans now accept gay and lesbian relationships, but the queer population is made up of a diversity of communities and experiences. Are all queer people accepted, tolerated, and embraced everywhere?
Reaching Back for Truth
Gwen Trice has spent the last fifteen years uncovering her father’s legacy and the history of Oregon’s Black loggers, who lived and worked in Wallowa County at a time when Oregon law excluded Blacks from the state.
What Is Mine
Editor Kathleen Holt on looking for identity in the post-colonial welter of midcentury Hawaii.
A City's Lifeblood
As efforts to clean up Portland Harbor begin, the communities most affected by pollution see a chance to reconnect to the Willamette River. By Julia Rosen
S'so's Tamales
Sal Sahme writes about finding his spiritual path as a boy on First Mesa.
The Orphan and the Oxbow
Matthew Minicucci writes about searching for the origin of a tiny sliver of public land in Marion County.
Posts
Readers write about Claim
Stake Your Place
The Cully neighborhood of Portland offers a glimpse at the complex racial, ethnic, and economic factors at play in a community trying to resist the forces of gentrification, displacement, and change.
Conversation Project: Homeless in the Land of Plenty
How does homelessness affect the lives of all people within a community? What does it mean for there to be masses of people who are not adequately housed? Join storyteller Ryan Stroud to share your stories and learn about the experiences of others.
Hearing the Houseless
This is an Oregon Humanities grant-funded event.
Who is Not at the Table?
Filmmaker Ifanyi Bell reflects on the making of “Future: Portland 2”
The Numbers
As Portland's urban core has gentrified, thousands of residents have been displaced to neighborhoods east of 82nd Avenue, an area that locals call "The Numbers." In this video, young people living in The Numbers talk about their hopes for their community.
Vanport Mosaic Festival
Theater, documentaries, historic exhibits, lectures, and tours will explore will explore the history and legacy of Vanport. Oregon Humanities is a cosponsor of this event.
"Priced Out" Screening and Dialogue
Watch an excerpt from the film and then join the discussion about how rising housing prices are displacing Portland's black community. Oregon Humanities is a cosponsor of this event.
Conversation Project: Where Are You from?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
The Opposite of What We Know
Writer Putsata Reang reflects on the project "Bitter Harvest"
Bitter Harvest
Writer Putsata Reang and filmmaker Ivy Lin explore the stories of Chinese laborers in the 1900s who helped establish the state's reputation as an international beer capital, despite exclusion laws that kept them from owning the hop farms where they worked.
Conversation Project: Where Are You from?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: Where Are You from?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: Homeless in the Land of Plenty
How does homelessness affect the lives of all people within a community? What does it mean for there to be masses of people who are not adequately housed? Join storyteller Ryan Stroud to share your stories and learn about the experiences of others.
Walk On
An innovative program connects physical activity and memory to improve the health of Portland communities affected by change. An article by Marty Hughley with photos by Tojo Andrianarivo
Split
Lessons about men’s and women’s work divide a boy from his community. An essay by Ryan Stroud
Conversation Project: What We Want from the Wild
In this conversation, Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis will help participants step back from policy decisions and consider more basic questions about our relationship to the mountains, air, trees, animals, and streams around us. What do we want from nature? What do we understand nature to be, and how do we see ourselves fitting in?
Race & Place: Old Town's Chinatown and Japantown through Chinese American and Nikkei Eyes
Chinese and Japanese American elders explore Old Town's multiethnic and multiracial past. This is an Oregon Humanities grant-funded event.
Conversation Project: Are International Trade Agreements Good for Oregon?
Oregonians have been active and vocal participants in global debates over trade since the creation of North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Lawyer and researcher Michael Fakhri will lead participants in a conversation about how we assess the value of international trade agreements.
Conversation Project: What We Want from the Wild
Oregonians across the political spectrum place a high value on the diverse natural resources of our state, but we are divided about how these resources should be used and talked about. In this conversation, Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis will help participants step back from policy decisions and consider more basic questions about our relationship to the mountains, air, trees, animals, and streams around us.
Conversation Project: Where Are You from?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: Homeless in the Land of Plenty
How does homelessness affect the lives of all people within a community? What does it mean for there to be masses of people who are not adequately housed? Join storyteller Ryan Stroud to share your stories and learn about the experiences of others.
Think & Drink on Poverty, Displacement, and Inequality
A conversation with Portland leaders and activists working on creative ways to mitigate the effects of the city's housing shortage and build more stable, prosperous communities.
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Race & Place: Old Town's Chinatown and Japantown through Chinese American and Nikkei Eyes
Chinese and Japanese American elders explore Old Town's multiethnic and multiracial past. This is an Oregon Humanities grant-funded event.
Conversation Project: Where Are You from?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Conversation Project: Homeless in the Land of Plenty
How does homelessness affect the lives of all people within a community? What does it mean for there to be masses of people who are not adequately housed? Join storyteller Ryan Stroud to share your stories and learn about the experiences of others.
Think & Drink on the Future of Urban Development in Portland
A conversation about the future of housing and urban development in Portland with civic leaders and developers poised to make it happen.
Conversation Project: What We Want from the Wild
Oregonians across the political spectrum place a high value on the diverse natural resources of our state, but we are divided about how these resources should be used and talked about. In this conversation, Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis will help participants step back from policy decisions and consider more basic questions about our relationship to the mountains, air, trees, animals, and streams around us.
Dry Years, Wet Years, Tradition and Change: An Evening with Patricia Nelson Limerick
This is an Oregon Humanities grant-funded event.
Conversation Project: Where Are You From?
Exploring What Makes Us Oregonians
Portland Expo Center: A Hidden History
This film produced by Jodi Darby for Oregon Humanities shares the experiences of Japanese Americans who were imprisoned in the Portland Expo Center during World War II.
An Oregon Canyon
In 2014, a canyon in Jefferson County was renamed for John A. Brown, one of the first Black homesteaders in Oregon. By Sika Stanton and Donnell Alexander
Facing the N-Word
Writer Donnell Alexander reflects on the making of “An Oregon Canyon”
Words Have Life
Filmmaker Sika Stanton reflects on the making of “An Oregon Canyon”
Sunday, Laundry Day
Every quarter counts in subsidized senior housing. An essay by Josephine Cooper
Bum Count
An excerpt about searching for lost sheep in the wilderness of Hells Canyon from Joseph author Pamela Royes’ book, Temperance Creek
"I'm Not Staying Here Another Day"
A conversation about the Great Migration with Isabel Wilkerson and Rukaiyah Adams
The Gift of a Known World
Oregon Humanities magazine editor Kathleen Holt on the power--and privilege--of rooting oneself to places
Just People Like Us
Writer Guy Maynard on a little-known history of a Southern Oregon community during World War II where prisoners of war were more welcome than US military of color
A Tremendous Force of Will
A conversation about the Great Migration's and the civil right movement with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson
Not Built for Ghosts
Writer Helen Hill on consequences she faced after leaving her beloved home in the hands of others
Stolen Land and Borrowed Dollars
Creative resistance bloomed in the lead up to the Vancouver Olympics. An excerpt from Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics by Jules Boykoff
Between Ribbon and Root
Hope and a history of tragedy live together in a Cowlitz woman's son. An essay by Christine Dupres
Posts
Readers write about Root
Rootedness
An essay by Brian Doyle
Whose State Is This?
Journalist Brent Walth on how legal measures targeting Latino Oregonians reflect fears of change.
Community in Flux
The long-persecuted Roma people begin to speak out. By Lisa Loving
Posts
Readers write about Move
A Temporary Insanity
Torn between the pull of family and the pull of home. An essay by Gail Wells
The Air I Breathe
Filmmaker Ifanyi Bell writes about growing up underestimated in Portland
Another Life
I think often of the taste of my grandfather's grapes and of the meat from my father's knife. An essay by Hanna Neuschwander
The State That Timber Built
Tara Rae Miner on what Oregon owes the struggling timber communities that helped shape the state’s identity
A Region by Any Name
From Ecotopia to Cascadia Megaregion, visions of the Pacific Northwest have been secessionist in nature. An essay by Carl Abbott
Where Are You From?
Connecting to the places where we live. An essay by Wendy Willis
The Newcomers
The boundaries between "what was" and "what is." An essay by Dionisia Morales
Paradise
Tragedy on a hot summer day. An essay by Monica Drake
Where We Live Now
Abandoning the tragedy of the city for a new way of thinking and talking about place. An essay by Matthew Stadler
Designing the Good Life
Beauty is a desirable bonus when design improves our lives. An essay by Lisa Radon
What Remains
A search for the site of a notorious massacre in Hells Canyon
The Guilty Traveler
The complexities of being an American tourist in an inequitable world. An essay by Lucy Burningham
Neverland
The striking difference between travel and escape. An essay by Apricot Irving
The Crossing
A two-week journey toward hope and home. By Vicente Martinez.
Distance as an Illusion
John Yeon and the landscape arts of China and Japan. An essay by Kevin Nute