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As a documentary filmmaker, I have depended heavily on the collections found in the OHS Research Library.  When authors, researchers, and filmmakers like myself have access to these collections and the history found within these collections, we are then able to create projects that share this history with the rest of the world.

My documentary film "On Paper Wings" chronicles the WWII incident in which a Japanese balloon bomb landed in Southern Oregon, claiming the lives of the only six people to be killed on the U.S. mainland as the result of enemy action during WWII.  The film goes on to explore the peaceful reconciliation that occurred forty years later between the Japanese and Oregonian civilians directly affected by this incident.   The film recounts a little-known yet very significant event in our country's history, an event that happened right here in Oregon.  The OHS Library's collections were instrumental to the making of the film.

Since completing the film, I have now been able to share this piece of our history with other Oregonians, and with people all over the country.  The film has screened in ten film festivals nationwide and will show at the Japanese American National Museum in LA later this year.  It is currently screening at Sesquicentennial events all around Oregon, and every screening allows me to share this piece of our history with more people.  And it is still an incredibly relevant piece of history sixty years later.

“On Paper Wings” was born at and was only made possible because of the absolutely amazing collections available at the OHS Research Library in Portland.  This library contains documents, photos, tape recordings, and newspaper articles related to this historic WWII incident that do not exist anywhere else.  Over my five years of making this film, I researched the National Archives, the Air Force Historical Research Association, various presidential libraries, and several museums and historical societies throughout the country, and none of them had the vital local documentation that I found at the OHS Library. 

It is imperative that these collections remain open and accessible to the public.

Thanks for your program!

-Ilana

posted 4 years, 2 months ago
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