Oregon Historical Society

“What is going to happen on November 5? We are going to vote one way or another either for authoritarianism or a new future and a brand new era in American politics. And what happens next is up to us.” — Heather Cox Richardson

What an inspiring, invigorating way to kick off our 2025 Mark O. Hatfield Lecture Series. Thank you, Professor Richardson, for returning to Oregon and spending the evening with us!

The history of transgender people in the West is an incomplete one, marked by sensational popular accounts and prejudice. Had these distorted portraits of transgender people not become visible, however, little might be known about them at all. Documentation of q***r people’s lives is often neglected, intentionally overlooked, or destroyed after their deaths. Without extensive written documentation, it is easy to assume that trans people did not exist in significant numbers prior to the modern era. This is not true.

Now on view at OHS, "Crossing Boundaries: Portraits of a Transgender West" shares stories of individuals who moved West and changed their activities, clothing, and behaviors to lead lives that were better aligned with their sense of self. On view through January 5, 2025, Crossing Boundaries is a powerful traveling exhibition created by the Washington State Historical Society in collaboration with Dr. Peter Boag, a historian, author, and educator at Washington State University–Vancouver.

Dr. Peter Boag will also give a curator talk on Thursday, November 14 at OHS on his scholarship about transgender people in the American West, originally shared in his 2011 book, Re-Dressing America’s Frontier Past. Visit our events calendar for more information on this event coming soon!

Learn more and plan your visit at ohs.org/crossingboundaries

OHS is excited to announce the newest addition to our Traveling Trunk program. Developed in partnership with Zachary Stocks of the Oregon Black Pioneers, the Oregon’s Black Pioneers trunk helps teachers share with students the lives of Black Oregonians who lived during the nineteenth century through seven place-based, hands-on, interactive lessons. Students explore the history of three individuals and two families — and the places in the state that were significant to them — through objects, photographs, and maps.

Traveling Trunks give students a tactile, hands-on way to explore various aspects of Oregon history. Trunks can be rented for up to two weeks for $25 per week, with rental and shipping fee waivers available for qualifying schools. Learn more about the Oregon’s Black Pioneers traveling trunk and other available trunks at ohs.org/travelingtrunks.

OHS has expanded our curriculum offerings to include Document Based Questions (DBQs)! Written for grades 6–12, OHS’s DBQs teach history in a way that allows students to practice the real-world skill of supporting an argument with evidence.

Each DBQ is a comprehensive unit that includes a background essay adapted from scholarly articles, a set of eight to twelve primary sources, detailed instructions, and an optional writing assessment. The background essays are based on Oregon Historical Quarterly articles or entries from The Oregon Encyclopedia, rewritten for middle and high school students. Many of the source documents are from OHS’s extensive museum and library collections.

Available DBQs include:

Chinese Diaspora in Oregon
Early Black Oregonians
Hood River Nikkei in the 1920s
Oregon’s Anti-Indian Immigrant Riot

Explore these and all of our curriculum and resources at https://www.ohs.org/education/curriculum-and-resources/

Image Credit: High school journalism students in Portland, Oregon. OHS Research Library, Org Lot 1284, box 33, 1558-3.

This evening’s 2024 presidential debate prompted OHS Boyle Family Executive Director Kerry Tymchuk to consider the history of elections in Oregon. In this recent post on “Dear Oregon,” he discusses the first presidential election in which Oregon voters participated, the many individuals who served as secretary of state, and a few unusual and notable figures in Oregon election history.

https://www.ohs.org/blog/to-the-polls-a-history-of-oregon-elections.cfm

Image: Oregon voters first participated in the 1860 presidential election, which was a four-way race among Abraham Lincoln, Stephen Douglas, John Breckinridge, and John Bell. Breckenridge’s running mate was Joseph Lane, Oregon’s first territorial governor and one of Oregon’s first senators. In this political cartoon, Lincoln and his running mate, Hannibal Hamlin, prepare to destroy the Democratic party, which at that time was paralyzed by internal dissention. Library of Congress, LC-DIG-pga-04984.

The countdown is on for the Pacific Northwest History Conference, taking place in downtown Portland October 18 and 19.

The keynote conversation between Dr. Katy Barber and Dr. Laurie Arnold, “Far Afield: A Conversation about Our Region and Its History,” will frame the conference with a discussion of how two practitioners are “doing and using history in more ways and more forms than ever before.”

Dr. Barber, Professor of History and Chair of the History Department at Portland State University, uses the lens of settler colonialism (and critiques of it), racial and gender formations, and nationalism to interrogate cross cultural alliances, contingent Americanization, and Indigenous survivance in place-based historical studies of the American West, Pacific Northwest, and Columbia River Basin.

Dr. Arnold, an enrolled member of the Sinixt Band of the Colville Confederated Tribes and Professor of History and Director of Native American Studies at Gonzaga University, is currently researching how contemporary Native American playwrights are using theatre to tell Native narratives of the past and present.

Registration is open now and OHS is offering conference registration waivers for Oregon K–12 Social Science educators. Register before prices go up on October 1!

Register now --> https://www.ohs.org/pnwhc2024

Curated in collaboration with historian Peter Boag, the Washington State Historical Society’s original exhibition "Crossing Boundaries" shares seldom-spotlighted historical narratives of transgender people in the West.

Spanning from 1860 to 1940, the exhibition highlights the lives of specific individuals who did not conform to gender norms, connecting those histories to contemporary aspects of today’s LGBTQ+ community. Among those featured are Harry Allen, a heartbreaker who was wanted by the police; Dr. Alan Hart, a medical doctor and Northwest novelist; and the mysterious Mrs. Nash, a laundress to the famed Seventh Cavalry (and an officer’s wife).

"Crossing Boundaries" is on view at OHS September 6, 2024, through January 5, 2025.

https://www.ohs.org/museum/exhibits/crossing-boundaries.cfm

Image: As a child in 1850s New York, Joe Monahan (pictured here) shortened the name given to him at birth as “Joe,” dressing only in boy’s clothing and selling newspapers as a boy. Tales came out of the West of women who dressed and lived as men in the gold fields of California. Inspired by this, in 1867, Monahan told his family that he was going west to make his fortune. Joe Monahan became one of the most famous transgender people from the Old West, his story told and retold in books, newspapers, theatrical productions, and film. However, his transgender identity was erased in these retellings which described Monahan as a heteros*xual woman whose troubles with men led them to create a new life in the West. Detail of an article from The American Examiner, 1904. Public domain image.

There is still time to sign up for tonight's free virtual Historians and the News event with Salim Yaqub and Christopher McKnight Nichols. In this conversation, Dr. Yaqub and Dr. Nichols will discuss how their historical scholarship shapes their understandings of government actions, social protests, and media rhetoric related to the violence in Israel and Gaza and to the political conversations about it here in the United States.

Sign up now to join the live event at 6pm, or, register to be sent a recording to watch later this week!

https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_CyL8wq6NQGeDfHkGm6nLYQ #/registration

Visitors of all ages are invited to a free Community Day program on Saturday, September 14 celebrating our current exhibition, "A Fountain of Creativity: Oregon’s 20th Century Artists and the Legacy of Arlene Schnitzer." Presented in partnership with the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC), this program will feature book-making demos and the opportunity for visitors to make their own pocket notebooks to capture their thoughts about the works of arts on display in the exhibition.

Participants will come away with an understanding of the tools required for softcover bookbinding and will have the opportunity to learn how to create a softcover book with a pamphlet stitch, a folded zine, and the option to create saddle-stapled notebooks. This is a family-friendly activity appropriate for a range of ages and abilities that will be available from noon to 4pm. Admission to OHS is free all day.

https://www.ohs.org/events/book-arts-zines-and-book-forms.cfm

Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation Independent Publishing Resource Center

Ivan L. Collins created historically accurate models of horse-drawn vehicles using painstaking research to ensure that every detail was authentic. Built at one-eighth scale, these models represent transportation technology before the automobile, from wagons used in Euro-American westward migration to those used in industry and for personal use. Collins saw this work as more than a hobby; his models were a way to preserve history for future generations.

Models in Motion: The Ivan L. Collins Collection of Historic Vehicles in Miniature showcases a majority of the wagons that Collins made during his lifetime. Don't miss you chance to visit before the exhibition closes Sunday, September 8!

https://www.ohs.org/museum/exhibits/models-in-motion-ivan-collins-miniature-vehicles.cfm

Image Credit: This gooseneck dray (1939) is modeled after a wagon Ivan Collins’s father used for merchandizing and freight business in The Dalles, Oregon, in 1895. Collins rediscovered the wagon in Corvallis, Oregon, and was able to make drawings for his model. OHS Museum, 71-119.66.1-.16.

OHS recently processed the Gordon Gilkey drawings and photographs collection (Coll 1045), which is preserved in OHS's research library. Gilkey (1912–2000) was an artist, art professor at Oregon State University, and curator at the Portland Art Museum. The collection consists of photographs and drawings from Gilkey’s childhood and early adulthood. These include several practice cartoon drawings he did as part of a correspondence course, which include feedback notes. These materials were donated by Gilkey’s sister, Grace Gilkey Dawson, in 2008.

Browse the collection guide at https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:80444/xv86370

Learn more about Gordon Gilkey on The Oregon Encyclopedia at https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/gilkey-gordon/

Thank you to our friends at Oregon Historical Society and McMenamins Kennedy School for a fantastic History+Forest Pub night. It was a great evening listening to Vivek Shandas and Joshua Howe discuss the longstanding entanglement of humans and forests in Oregon.

We look forward to our next History+Forest Pub on November 25. Stay tuned!

One of the artists featured in our current exhibition "A Fountain of Creativity: Oregon’s 20th Century Artists and the Legacy of Arlene Schnitzer" is Louis Bunce. A legend in Oregon modernism, Bunce was a major painter and printmaker from the 1930s through the 1970s, influencing many artists in the Pacific Northwest. Bunce is pictured here in 1958 posing next to an abstract mural he painted for Portland International Airport, which created controversy for its use of modern abstraction techniques instead of a more traditional style. This was a deliberate choice by Bunce, who wanted to convey the feeling of modern air travel instead of literal representations of flight. The mural remains part of the airport’s collection.

Learn more about Louis Bunce on The Oregon Encyclopedia: https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/bunce_louis_1907_1983_/

Image Credit: Louis Bunce poses with his mural for the Portland International Airport in 1958. OHS Research Library, bb003369.

OHS recently added to its museum collection a small bronze sculpture entitled Sacajewea and Pomp, by Agnes Vincen Talbot. The 23-inch-tall sculpture depicts Sacagawea holding her infant, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, nicknamed Pomp, in her arms. The sculpture is a miniature of 6-foot-tall versions — one was unveiled in Charbonneau, Oregon, in September 2023. Sacagewea’s descendent, Rose Ann Abrahamson, and the artist were present at the community celebration. The sculpture was donated by Dick Reiten, who purchased it from Valley Bronze of Oregon in Astoria.

Learn more about Sacagewea on The Oregon Encyclopedia:

https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/sacagawea/

In “Oregon and Climate Change: The Age of Megafires in the American West,″ published in the Fall 2021 issue of the Oregon Historical Quarterly, historian William G. Robbins draws on historical data and decades of research and writing to highlight the “effects of global warming,” which “provide powerful evidence that fires are now burning more often and in places they seldom occurred before” due to human-caused climate change.
https://www.ohs.org/oregon-historical-quarterly/upload/Robbins_Oregon-and-West-Age-of-Megafires_OHQ-122_3_Fall-2021_web.pdf

Read the article for free online, then join us for History Pub at McMenamins Kennedy School on Monday, August 26, to hear a talk on “Trees, Landscapes, Climate, and What Comes Next,” by Joshua Howe and Vivek Shandas. Tickets are $5 in advance and $6 at the door.

https://www.ohs.org/events/trees-landscapes-climate-and-what-comes-next.cfm

Image Credit: This photograph was featured on the cover of the Fall 2021 issue of the Quarterly and shows Bureau of Land Management Fire Crew 7 marching just north of McDermitt, Oregon, into the fire zone of the Long Draw fire in 2021. Photo by Kevin Abel. Courtesy of U.S. Bureau of Land Management, Oregon.

Thank you to our parents for a fantastic celebration of Pietro Belluschi’s Portland legacy and the history of architecture in Oregon!

On August 18, 1920, Tennessee became the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Combined with the previous ratification by 35 other states, including Oregon on January 12, 1920, the right to vote could no longer be denied based on s*x, nationwide.

One hundred years later, the Oregon Historical Society commemorated the bravery of the activists behind the campaign for women’s voting rights in an original exhibition, “Nevertheless, They Persisted: Women’s Voting Rights and the 19th Amendment.” This exhibit, which is available for free online, shows the many ways that Oregon history connects to the national history of woman suffrage, and to the complex history of democracy in the United States.

https://www.ohs.org/museum/exhibits/nevertheless-they-persisted.cfm

In addition to the online exhibit, OHS offers an original curriculum for middle and high school students, which includes lessons that connect to women’s rights throughout U.S. and Oregon history and the broader contexts of civil rights, citizenship, and equality. Like all of OHS’s educational materials, the curriculum is free to use and aligns with state standards.

https://www.ohs.org/education/curriculum/nevertheless-they-persisted.cfm

Image: Alice Paul sews stars on flag to represent each state as it ratifies the 19th Amendment, 1920, Library of Congress, LC-F8- 7084 [P&P], National Photo Company Collection, Library of Congress

Established by soldiers from the 23rd U.S. Infantry on August 16, 1867, the U.S. Army’s Camp Harney provided a strategic military presence in southeast Oregon that—under the auspices of protecting EuroAmerican mining, residents, and transportation—waged war against the Northern Paiute, Modoc, Nez Perce, Bannock, and other tribes during the Indian War era, until its closure in June 1880. Located just north of Harney Valley, east of Burns, the camp served as a hub that connected even more remote posts to Portland, The Dalles, and Canyon City by way of the The Dalles–Boise Military Road; to the Willamette Valley by way of the Willamette Valley and Cascade Mountain Military Road; and to the Oregon Central Military Road by way of the military road to Fort McDermit.

Learn more at the Oregon Encyclopedia:

https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/fort_harney/

Image credit: Camp Harney, 1872. OHS Research Library, 1682, photo file 405

Happy Birthday, Susan Castillo!

Susan Castillo was the first Latina elected to the Oregon State Legislature and the first to hold statewide elected office as superintendent of public instruction. She was also the last person to fill that post, which was abolished by legislation in 2011. Castillo made important legislative and policy contributions to Oregon and has provided leadership during challenging times for education in the state and the nation.

Read more on the Oregon Encyclopedia:

Susan Castillo (1951-) Susan Castillo was the first Latina elected to the Oregon State Legislature and the first to hold statewide elected office as superintendent of public instruct…

OHS’s research library cares for more than 350 architectural, engineering, and landscape design collections that range in size from single plans for Portland-area residences and businesses to multi-format collections documenting the output of major firms across decades. In this blog post, Chief Development Officer Molly Cochran writes about some of the highlights among these important collections as well as how recent fundraising efforts will allow these materials to be made more accessible to researchers around the world.

https://www.ohs.org/blog/a-sense-of-place.cfm

FINAL DAYS! Our Museum Store Summer Sale ends this Sunday, and all sale items have been marked down to 50% off!

Visit the store on Saturday (10am to 5pm) or Sunday (12pm to 5pm) to snag great deals on books and assorted merchandise. For a limited time, save on select jewelry, t-shirts, housewares, and locally-made gift items!

Sale runs through August 11 or while supplies last.

We are excited to announce open positions to join our team and support OHS’s mission to preserve our state’s history and make it accessible to everyone.

Architecture & Design Librarian: This position provides care, management, and access to the OHS research library’s holdings of over 350 archival collections of architecture, engineering, landscape, and design (AELAD) records. Currently funded for two years, the librarian will also rehouse, arrange, and describe high-priority collections.

Reference Librarian: This position provides direct research assistance at the public reference desk and remote services for all library collections, conducts in-depth research, and creates and delivers instruction and programs to diverse audiences.

https://recruiting.paylocity.com/recruiting/jobs/All/a1a12960-28c8-4651-b777-9367c20e39f6/Oregon-Historical-Society

In 1950, Gertrude Glutsch Jensen, a former Oregonian reporter, was disheartened to see logging spoiling the scenery along the Columbia River Highway. Jensen took her grievances to her peers at the Portland Women’s Forum, and members uncovered tracts all over the gorge being sold for private logging.

In 1952, Jensen led the Oregonian on a tour of gorge logging tracts. On hand was photographer Al Monner, who documented clear-cuts at gems such as Latourell Falls. The next year, the Oregon Legislature created the Columbia River Gorge Commission, which Jensen chaired for 16 years. Although she died in 1986 — the same year Congress established the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area — Jensen helped lay the groundwork for the continued protection of the Columbia River Gorge that we enjoy today.

View more images on OHS Digital Collections, which now features more than 42,000 archival materials from our research library collections.

https://digitalcollections.ohs.org/informationobject/browse?mediatypes=136&topLod=0&query=save+the+gorge+committee&sq0=save+the+gorge+committee&sort=relevance&sortDir=desc

Image Caption: Latourell Falls viewed from the Columbia River Highway after logging operations removed trees in the area. Al Monner captured this and a series of photographs published in the Oregon Journal on April 6, 1952. OHS Research Library, Org. Lot 1284, box 41, 1964-9.

Celebrate Pietro Belluschi’s Portland Legacy on his 125th birthday in just two weeks! Please join us for a festive gathering on Sunday, August 18 at 4pm at the Portland Art Museum with wine, appetizers, and an inspiring panel discussion highlighting one of Oregon’s most honored architects that promises to illuminate the importance of architecture, preservation, art, and history in our lives.

In this special conversation, journalists Jeff Gianola (KOIN 6 news anchor) and Brian Libby (architecture critic), historian William Willingham, and architect (and son of Pietro) Anthony Belluschi will reflect on Pietro’s enduring influence on Portland’s built environment and cultural landscape.

Tickets are $75 with a limited number of tickets available for $40 for students and emerging professionals with less than ten years of experience in the field of architecture. Proceeds support OHS and partner organizations Architectural Heritage Center, Restore Oregon, Portland Art Museum, and Architecture Foundation of Oregon.

https://www.ohs.org/events/pietro-belluschis-portland-legacy.cfm

The story of John Leach and Lilla Leach spans nearly a century. Their lives and careers encompass botanical explorations and discoveries, civic leadership and development in Portland, and the transformation of their beloved home and garden, Sleepy Hollow, into the present-day Leach Botanical Garden.

Through their belongings and photographs, which were donated to OHS, the original exhibition "Oregon's Sleepy Hollow: The Legacy Legacy," illustrates the legacy of this remarkable couple. Don't miss your chance to visit before the exhibit closes this Sunday!

https://www.ohs.org/museum/exhibits/oregons-sleepy-hollow.cfm

Image Caption: Lilla Leach holding Kalmiopsis leachiana in the Siskiyou mountains. OHS Research Library, Org. Lot 370, box 5, folder 21.

On July 4, 2026, the United States of America will commemorate the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. In recognition of that event, the America 250 Oregon Commission will highlight Oregon’s deep and complex history, including all who have called this place home since time immemorial, as well as look towards the future of our state and our nation.

The commission, which is chaired by OHS executive director, Kerry Tymchuk, will meet for the first time on August 6 and the public is welcome to attend. Learn more and register to attend at oregon250.org.


America250