Showing 152 results for tag History

Unpacking Our Past: History as a Catalyst for Change

Oregon has a particularly unique history of racial injustice that in some ways mirrors and in other ways is distinct from the larger history of racial oppression that exists in our nation as a whole. As Oregonians, we’ve inherited these histories, and their legacies connect to present-day injustices. But what does it look like to confront them, as individuals and communities? And beyond that, how might we come together to shape those histories being written today?

Event | May 4, 2024

Ponderosas and Junipers

George James Kenagy writes about the trees that defined his childhood and his family ties to Central Oregon.

Beyond the Margins | February 16, 2024

Buying In

Michael Heald explores the history and recent reemergence of worker-owned cooperatives in Oregon.

Magazine | December 15, 2023

Room 5

Adam Sawyer writes about finding hope and healing in a hundred-year-old hotel on the Oregon Coast

Beyond the Margins | November 24, 2023

We Will Be Here

Lana Jack writes about the mourning, resilience, and resistance of the Celilo Wy-am.

Magazine | April 19, 2023

Trip to Richland

Laura Feldman writes about trying to make sense of a secret history.

Beyond the Margins | April 3, 2023

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?

Magazine | August 24, 2022

Here Lies

Paul Susi writes about Chee Gong, a Chinese migrant laborer who was wrongfully convicted and executed in Portland on August 9, 1889.

Beyond the Margins | August 9, 2022

A Bridge Between

Kate Lucky on how we connect to family history as it turns from memory into myth.

Beyond the Margins | July 29, 2022

We're Here for Each Other

Jennifer Perrine writes about how Oregonians of color are building relationships in the outdoors.

Beyond the Margins | July 8, 2022

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.

Event | June 11, 2022

People, Places, Things

Lana Jack (Celilo Wy-am) performs a dance in honor of her ancestors, photographed by Josué Rivas.

Magazine | April 26, 2022

A History of Housing Discrimination in Oregon

Oregon has a little-known history of housing displacement, discrimination, and segregation that has laid the foundation for the disparities we see in our state today. Starting from Oregon's founding as a territory, we'll look at how racist practices from that time still have an impact today, examine how governmental policies and programs reinforced systemic racism through practices like redlining, and delve into how the real estate industry and the Federal Housing Administration further solidified racial and economic disparities in the state.

The event will stream live on the Forest Grove City Library's YouTube channel. The program is supported by a grant from Oregon Humanities.

Event | April 5, 2022

Consider This: How Do You Reconcile a Lynching?

Join Forest Grove Public Library for a live-streamed Consider This conversation with Taylor Stewart, founder and executive director of the Oregon Remembrance Project. This program will broadcast live on the Forest Grove City Library’s YouTube channel starting at 6:30 p.m.

Event | February 8, 2022

Preserving the Future

An archivist reflects on navigating loss and collecting histories.

Beyond the Margins | January 21, 2022

The Skanner Foundation: Martin Luther King, Jr. Breakfast (virtual)

The Skanner Foundation again invites the community to share breakfast and celebrate the life, work, and vision of civil rights icon the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. with its 36th annual celebration the morning of January 17, 2022.

In past years, the breakfast has hosted more than a thousand attendees, often including the governor and both state and U.S. senators and representatives. Out of caution, the foundation has elected to hold its celebration on a virtual platform for a second year.

Event | January 17, 2022

World Arts Foundation: Keep Alive the Dream

On January 17, the World Arts Foundation will present Keep Alive the Dream, a film directed by Elijah Hasan that highlights pioneering activists, community leaders, artists, musicians, and youth whose valiant efforts have left lasting impacts in Oregon’s African American community. This event is made possible in part by a SHARP general operating support grant from Oregon Humanities.

The film will be screened at Portland’s historic Hollywood Theatre. In addition to the film, the program will feature live music and a Q&A with community members. Proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test is required for entry. Admission is free. To read more about this event and reserve a ticket, visit hollywoodtheatre.org/events/keep-alive-the-dream.

Event | January 17, 2022

Not a Circle, Not a Line

Susan DeFreitas writes about Ursula K. Le Guin's long view of the American West

Magazine | December 15, 2021

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. 

Register for this free event.

Event | December 18, 2021

To Bear Witness: Extraordinary Lives - Opening Reception

The Immigrant Story and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education invite you to visit “To Bear Witness – Extraordinary Lives,” a multimedia exhibition that celebrates the lives of men and women who endured unthinkable cruelty elsewhere in the world, only to resume productive lives in Oregon.

“To Bear Witness” takes its name from the words of the late Nobel Prize–winning writer, activist, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, who emphatically proclaimed, “For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.” The exhibition features profiles of survivors of the Nazi Holocaust; genocides in Europe, Africa, and Asia; and unimaginable atrocities of war. The profiles are united by the troubling truth that human despotism sometimes knows no bounds, but each is also a portrait of courage and human resilience. We present these stories in hopes that they will inspire, inform, and possibly instruct.

This multimedia exhibition opens on December 12, 2021, at the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. The exhibit will run through May 15, 2022.

Event | December 12, 2021

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.

Event | October 30, 2021

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.

Event | September 18, 2021

Connect in Place - Do You Remember? Why We Celebrate Anniversaries and Holidays

Memorials, holidays, and anniversaries are opportunities to tell stories about how we relate to what came before, and how that informs what we see as the work ahead. This time of year is full of anniversaries and holidays, including Stonewall, Juneteenth, Fourth of July, and the racial justice uprisings of last summer. What does it mean to commemorate, and why do we do it?

Event | June 29, 2021

Consider This with David Treuer

On July 15, David Treuer (Ojibwe), author of The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, will join Oregon Humanities for a conversation on land, possession, and justice. The history of the Americas is inextricable from the theft of land from Native people. How should we, in the present, deal with this fact?

Event | July 15, 2021

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.

Event | June 19, 2021

Lies of Discovery

Sal Sahme explores the doctrine that enabled European colonization and argues for it to be revoked.

Magazine | April 27, 2021

Love and Noodles

Marilou Carrera writes about the meaning of pancit, a dish that is so much more than just fried noodles—it's history, family, and community.

Beyond the Margins | March 3, 2021

Inheritance Stories: Oral Histories of Food Culture with Lola Milholland

Lola Milholland produces food-related art installations and events that bring together interactive public engagement with art making and food activism. In this workshop, Lola will share her work and ideas and guide participants in creating a cookbook together by interviewing and listening to each other.

Event | April 3, 2021

Consider This with Clint Smith

A conversation on education, memory, race, and democracy with the author of How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America.

Event | April 13, 2021

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).

Event | March 15, 2021

Connect in Place: What are we learning from the COVID-19 pandemic, and how will we remember it?

How can we put our energy, intention, and creativity into nurturing deep individual and collective learning that will outlive the pandemic? How do we shape a better “new normal,” wherein even the concept of normal itself is liberated from various constraints? We can start by talking about it.

Event | March 9, 2021

Kitchen Ghost

Digging into the origins of her family's Filipino–Polish food traditions, Lola Milholand finds a tangle of colonialism, identity, and hurt.

Magazine | December 17, 2020

Cuentos del Rio (River Tales)

Program Coordinator Rozzell Medina will interview director Julie Schroell after this online screening presented by Portland EcoFilm Festival.

Event | September 24, 2020

People, Places, Things

Gwen Trice in Maxville, Oregon

Magazine | August 24, 2020

Conspiracy Theories: Truth, Facts, and Tin Foil Hats with Jennifer Roberts

Why do we gravitate toward conspiracy theories to make sense of the world? What human need do these stories fill? In this program, we’ll explore some conspiracy theories old and new, famous and obscure.

Event | June 16, 2020

CANCELED - Live to Work or Work to Live?: Exploring What Makes a Job Good

Most adults spend most of their waking hours working. Yet, we rarely have the time to consider why certain work brings us satisfaction and other work does not. Do our jobs define our personal success? Are some jobs more valuable than others? How do jobs contribute to national success or failure? This conversation, led by historian Nikki Mandell, will engage participants in thinking about and discussing work more deeply. Participants will explore the quality and meanings of work in their own lives and those of people different from themselves and the connections between work as a personal endeavor and jobs as part of local and national economies. This conversation can be adapted to the needs and goals of the host organization and group of participants.

This event has been postponed and will be rescheduled.

Event | May 27, 2020

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?

Event | January 20, 2020

On Paper Wings—2008

Brett Campbell writes about how an Oregon filmmaker set out to tell the story of six Oregonians killed by Japanese balloon bombs during World War II in the 2008 “Strangers” issue.

Magazine | December 23, 2019

Our Most-read Stories of 2019

Our readers' favorite articles and videos from the past year explore housing and exclusion, hidden histories, race, gender, and poverty.

Beyond the Margins | December 18, 2019

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.

Event | November 14, 2019

CANCELED - Conversation Project: What Are You?

The number of mixed-race people and interracial families in Oregon is growing. What are the challenges and benefits of growing up mixed-race, raising mixed-race children, or being an interracial couple in a state that’s historically been mostly white? How can we openly discuss our own ethnic and racial heritage with each other without being regarded as odd or unusual? How have the answers to “What are you?” changed through the decades? Dmae Roberts, who has written essays and produced film and radio documentaries about being a biracial Asian American in Oregon, leads a discussion of heritage that goes beyond checking one race on US Census forms. This conversation will take place at the PCC Rock Creek Event Center, Section A.

This event has been postponed and will be rescheduled.

Event | April 15, 2020

OH Grant Event: Oregon Experience: “The Modoc War”

Oregon Experience: The Modoc War examines one of the most dramatic American Indian wars in US history—and one that happened in and near Klamath. The Modoc War of 1872 to 1873 was one of the costliest American Indian wars in US history, considering the number of people involved. For nearly seven months, a handful of Modoc Indian warriors and their families held off hundreds of US Army soldiers. The documentary revisits the battle scenes, and uses rare historical images and original wood cut drawings from the period. Interviews with Modoc descendants, national historians and written first-hand accounts, bring the Modoc War to life. There will be a Q & A after the showing, as well as a reception with the Klamath County Museum.

Event | October 13, 2019

Conversation Project: What Are You?

The number of mixed-race people and interracial families in Oregon is growing. What are the challenges and benefits of growing up mixed-race, raising mixed-race children, or being an interracial couple in a state that’s historically been mostly white? How can we openly discuss our own ethnic and racial heritage with each other without being regarded as odd or unusual? How have the answers to “What are you?” changed through the decades? Dmae Roberts, who has written essays and produced film and radio documentaries about being a biracial Asian American in Oregon, leads a discussion of heritage that goes beyond checking one race on US Census forms. This event will take place in the Education Room.

Event | November 1, 2019

Conversation Project: Live to Work or Work to Live?

Most adults spend most of their waking hours working. Yet, we rarely have the time to consider why certain work brings us satisfaction and other work does not. Do our jobs define our personal success? Are some jobs more valuable than others? How do jobs contribute to national success or failure? This conversation, led by historian Nikki Mandell, will engage participants in thinking about and discussing work more deeply. Participants will explore the quality and meanings of work in their own lives and those of people different from themselves and the connections between work as a personal endeavor and jobs as part of local and national economies. This conversation can be adapted to the needs and goals of the host organization and group of participants.

Event | September 10, 2019

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?

Event | October 2, 2019

Black Mark, Black Legend

Intisar Abioto writes about uncovering the lineage of Black artists in Portland.

Magazine | April 29, 2019

Black Mark, Black Legend

Intisar Abioto explores the legacy of Black artists in Portland and the meaning of that history for current creators in the community, as part of Oregon Humanities' Emerging Journalists, Community Stories fellowship program.

Beyond the Margins | April 25, 2019

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?

Event | May 3, 2019

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?

Event | April 3, 2019

Oregon Shorts

The Northwest Film Festival's program of Oregon short films includes Sika Stanton and Donnell Alexander's "An Oregon Canyon," produced as part of Oregon Humanities' This Land project.

Event | March 16, 2019

Conversation Project: What Are You? Mixed-Race and Interracial Families in Oregon’s Past and Future

The number of mixed-race people and interracial families in Oregon is growing. What are the challenges and benefits of growing up mixed-race, raising mixed-race children, or being an interracial couple in a state that’s historically been mostly white? How can we openly discuss our own ethnic and racial heritage with each other without being regarded as odd or unusual? How have the answers to “What are you?” changed through the decades? Dmae Roberts, who has written essays and produced film and radio documentaries about being a biracial Asian American in Oregon, leads a discussion of heritage that goes beyond checking one race on US Census forms.

Event | April 19, 2019

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | February 8, 2019

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | February 4, 2019

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?

Event | March 10, 2019

Conversation Project: What Are You? Mixed-Race and Interracial Families in Oregon’s Past and Future

The number of mixed-race people and interracial families in Oregon is growing. What are the challenges and benefits of growing up mixed-race, raising mixed-race children, or being an interracial couple in a state that’s historically been mostly white? How can we openly discuss our own ethnic and racial heritage with each other without being regarded as odd or unusual? How have the answers to “What are you?” changed through the decades? Dmae Roberts, who has written essays and produced film and radio documentaries about being a biracial Asian American in Oregon, leads a discussion of heritage that goes beyond checking one race on US Census forms.

Event | March 10, 2019

Black Nightshade and Bierocks

Heather Arndt Anderson writes about finding connections to her Volga German ancestors through recipes and semi-poisonous berries.

Magazine | December 13, 2018

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | November 16, 2018

A Lot to Ask of a Name

Natchee Blu Barnd on how Native American names are used as symbols in white spaces

Magazine | August 30, 2018

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

Event | May 28, 2018

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

Event | May 27, 2018

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

Event | May 26, 2018

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

Event | May 25, 2018

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.

Event | May 24, 2018

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.

Event | May 23, 2018

White Man's Territory

Kenneth R. Coleman writes about the exclusionary intent behind the 1850 Donation Land Act in this excerpt from his book, Dangerous Subjects: James D. Saules and the Rise of Black Exclusion in Oregon.

Magazine | April 27, 2018

Never Paid in Full

April Slabosheski on what Holocaust reparations can teach us about seemingly immeasurable debts

Magazine | April 27, 2018

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Facilitators Anita Yap and Traci Price will lead participants in a conversation that looks at how Oregon’s history of racism influences our present and asks, How can understanding historic and current impacts of racism in Oregon contribute to our sense of place and vision of the future?

Event | June 26, 2018

Conversation Project: What Makes a Job Good?

This conversation engages participants in exploring the quality and meanings of work in their own lives and in the lives of others.

Event | May 19, 2018

Conversation Project: Stone Soup

How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community

Event | April 14, 2018

Conversation Project: Stone Soup

How Recipes can Preserve History and Nourish Community

Event | June 23, 2018

Conversation Project: What Makes a Job Good?

This conversation, led by historian Nikki Mandell, will engage participants in thinking about and discussing work more deeply. Participants will explore the quality and meanings of work in their own lives and those of people different from themselves and the connections between work as a personal endeavor and jobs as part of local and national economies.

Event | May 3, 2018

Conversation Project: Stone Soup

How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community

Event | March 17, 2018

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | March 23, 2018

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | May 9, 2018

Read. Talk. Think.

Things that make you say O. Hm.

Magazine | December 15, 2017

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | January 25, 2018

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | April 20, 2018

Unresolved Issues of the Twentieth Century: The Quest For the Repatriation of Nazi Looted Art

Donald S. Burris, one of a small group of American lawyers who have dedicated their careers to assisting survivors and their heirs in regaining artworks stolen from them by the Nazis, will talk about his firm's successful retrieval of Gustav Klimt's "Woman in Gold."

Event | December 5, 2017

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | February 8, 2018

Conversation Project: What Makes a Job Good? *POSTPONED*

Most adults spend most of their waking hours working. Yet, we rarely have the time to consider why certain work brings us satisfaction and other work does not. This conversation, led by historian Nikki Mandell, will engage participants in thinking about and discussing work more deeply.

Event | February 28, 2018

Conversation Project: Stone Soup

How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community

Event | March 15, 2018

PLAYA Presents: Earth Shaking News

A discussion with noted vulcanologist Katharine Cashman about how our landscape got here and how we live on it now. This program is made possible in part by a Public Program Grant from Oregon Humanities.

Event | November 11, 2017

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | December 7, 2017

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | February 15, 2018

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | October 26, 2017

Conversation Project: Stone Soup

How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community

Event | February 24, 2018

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | May 12, 2018

CANCELED: History in the News

Discuss current events in historical context at a monthly roundtable with Mid-Valley historians, political scientists, and other experts. The topic of each discussion will be pulled straight from the headlines ten days in advance.

Event | October 19, 2017

History in the News: Oregon's Own History of Sexual Harassment, Abuse, and Assault

Discuss current events in historical context at a monthly roundtable with Mid-Valley historians, political scientists, and other experts. The topic of each discussion will be pulled straight from the headlines ten days in advance.

Event | November 16, 2017

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | November 11, 2017

Conversation Project: Stone Soup

How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community

Event | November 16, 2017

History in the News: Whose Monuments? Whose Memory?

Join Willamette Heritage Center for a panel discussion on historical monuments, memory, and the complex history of colonialism, racism, and white supremacist imagery in American culture. This is an Oregon Humanities grant-funded event.

Event | September 21, 2017

Finding Home at the Mims

From the 1940s to '60s, the Mims House was a safe place to stay for African Americans traveling through Oregon. Now it’s a gathering place for the Black community in Eugene. Video by Nisha Burton.

This Land | September 11, 2017

Conversation Project: Race and Place

Racism and Resilience in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | December 16, 2017

Conversation Project: What Are You?

Mixed-Race and Interracial Families in Oregon’s Past and Future

Event | November 18, 2017

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.

This Land | August 24, 2017

More to the Story

A grade-school musical offers educators and students a chance to reexamine history. An article by Marty Hughley with photos by Fred Joe

Magazine | August 22, 2017

History in the News

A panel discussion putting the August 21, 2017 total solar eclipse in social and historical perspective with other monumental natural phenomena. This event is funded in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities.

Event | August 17, 2017

Think & Drink with Walidah Imarisha

A conversation on criminalization, poverty, prisons, harm, and systems of accountability within the US criminal justice system with writer and educator Walidah Imarisha.

Event | October 9, 2017

History in the News: Should Historians Be Pundits?

Recent editorials in the New York Times, The Atlantic, and The Washington Post have raised questions about whether and how historians ought to opine on current events and political issues. Are historians supposed to be apolitical? How should historians engage in political debate—if at all? This event is funded in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities.

Event | July 20, 2017

History in the News: Real Stories of "Fake" News

Accusations and allegations about “fake news" and the manipulations of “mainstream media” aren’t unique to America in the twenty first century. Join Willamette Heritage Center for a conversation about the history of journalism’s role in educating, empowering, and enraging Oregonians. This event is funded in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities.

Event | June 15, 2017

Conversation Project: What Are You?

Mixed-Race and Interracial Families in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | June 3, 2017

History in the News: Citizenship and Civil Liberties on the World War I Home Front

Discuss current events in historical context at a monthly roundtable. This is an Oregon Humanities grant-funded event.

Event | May 18, 2017

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.

Event | May 26, 2017

The Opposite of What We Know

Writer Putsata Reang reflects on the project "Bitter Harvest"

This Land | April 24, 2017

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.

This Land | April 17, 2017

Conversation Project: Stone Soup

How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community

Event | August 16, 2017

History in the News: Crowds and Controversies in Oregon's Parks and Wilderness

Discuss current events in historical context at a monthly roundtable. This is an Oregon Humanities grant-funded event.

Event | April 20, 2017

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.

Event | May 3, 2017

Conversation Project: Stone Soup

How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community

Event | May 9, 2017

Conversation Project: Stone Soup

How Recipes Can Preserve History and Nourish Community

Event | May 20, 2017

Conversation Project: A World without Secrets

Privacy and Expectations in the US

Event | May 30, 2017

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.

Event | March 22, 2017

History in the News: Immigration in Oregon's Past and Present

The first program of the 2017 History in the News forum series explores the history of immigration, immigration law, and immigrant rights in Oregon. This is an Oregon Humanities grant-funded event.

Event | March 16, 2017

Dry Years, Wet Years, Tradition and Change: An Evening with Patricia Nelson Limerick

This is an Oregon Humanities grant-funded event.

Event | March 27, 2017

Conversation Project: What Are You?

Mixed-Race and Interracial Families in Oregon's Past and Future

Event | March 5, 2017

Race Tool Kit Workshop

Event | February 19, 2017

Conversation Project: What Are You?

Event | February 9, 2017

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.

Beyond the Margins | February 9, 2017

Words Have Life

Filmmaker Sika Stanton reflects on the making of “An Oregon Canyon”

This Land | February 8, 2017

Facing the N-Word

Writer Donnell Alexander reflects on the making of “An Oregon Canyon”

This Land | February 8, 2017

Within Makeshift Walls

Author Eric Gold on the Portland Expo Center’s era as a prison for Japanese Americans during World War II.

Magazine | December 6, 2016

The Farmers of Tanner Creek

Writer Putsata Reang on the little-known history of Chinese farmers and vegetable peddlers in Portland

Magazine | August 11, 2016

"I'm Not Staying Here Another Day"

A conversation about the Great Migration with Isabel Wilkerson and Rukaiyah Adams

Beyond the Margins | June 28, 2016

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

Magazine | April 11, 2016

A Tremendous Force of Will

A conversation about the Great Migration's and the civil right movement with Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson

Magazine | April 11, 2016

Between Ribbon and Root

Hope and a history of tragedy live together in a Cowlitz woman's son. An essay by Christine Dupres

Magazine | April 11, 2016

Posts

Readers write about Root

Magazine | April 7, 2016

Oregon Stories: Astoria

Event | April 2, 2016

Community in Flux

The long-persecuted Roma people begin to speak out. By Lisa Loving

Magazine | December 18, 2015

Civil Rights with Guns

Are there alternatives to police that could keep communities safe? Author Kristian Williams discusses lessons from the Black Freedom Movement.

Magazine | August 11, 2015

A Return Passage

Reporter Putsata Reang and photographer Kim Nguyen share their stories of leaving their home countries as refugees, meeting as students at the University of Oregon, and returning to Southeast Asia as journalists. A film produced by Dawn Jones for Oregon Humanities.

Beyond the Margins | August 5, 2015

What's the Use?

Why bother with history? Why bother at all? An essay by Robert Leo Heilman

Beyond the Margins | October 16, 2014

Origin Stories

The surprising beginnings of six of Oregon’s claims to fame

Magazine | July 31, 2014

A Hidden History

Walidah Imarisha on revealing the stories and struggles of Oregon’s African American communities.

Magazine | August 13, 2013

Dangerous Subjects

An excerpt from R. Gregory Nokes's book Breaking Chains looks back at Oregon's history of exclusionary laws.

Magazine | August 9, 2013

Fearful Beauty

Embracing both the wonder and terror of awe. An essay by Courtney Campbell

Magazine | July 25, 2013

Rodeo City

Pendleton has built its identity around a dogged loyalty to tradition. An essay by Sarah Mirk

Magazine | July 25, 2013

A Century of War

Writer and historian Andrew Bacevich on changing the way Americans think about war

Magazine | August 7, 2012

Against Custom

The first peace advocates imagined a new story for the United States. An essay by Margot Minardi

Magazine | August 7, 2012

Water Wars

Journalist J. David Santen Jr. on how battles, compromises, and resolutions abound in a state flush with water.

Magazine | August 7, 2012

The State That Timber Built

Tara Rae Miner on what Oregon owes the struggling timber communities that helped shape the state’s identity

Magazine | April 8, 2012

Under God

Frances Bellamy and the origins of the Pledge of Allegiance. By Richard Ellis

Magazine | December 10, 2011

Immobile Dreams

How did the trailer come to be a symbol of failure? An essay by Rebecca Hartman

Magazine | December 10, 2011

Legally White

Muslim immigrants vie for citizenship in the early twentieth century. By Kambiz Ghaneabassiri

Magazine | August 12, 2011

Drown

Two rivers; two Western tales of hubris

Magazine | April 4, 2011

A Nation of Can-Do Optimists

A brief history of American cheerfulness by Ariel Gore

Magazine | December 5, 2010

Continual Watching

Historian Bob Bussel on Oregon'’s long history of protecting workers

Magazine | August 10, 2010

What Remains

A search for the site of a notorious massacre in Hells Canyon

Magazine | March 17, 2010

Seen Though Not Heard

In the designs on a Klikitat basket, a woman finds an unspoken link to her past. An essay by Christine Dupres

Magazine | March 17, 2010

Far from Home

The history and future of Slavic refugees in Oregon. By Susan W. Hardwick

Magazine | November 23, 2009