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Yaaay! Fascinating topic. I wrote about some links detailing <a href="http://wwwhistoricalthreads.blogspot.com/2010/03/oregons-geologic-history.html">Oregon's geologic history</a>, and am looking forward to this conversation tomorrow.

posted 2 years, 6 months ago
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We currently have published entries on the Oregon Encyclopedia related to our history of race relations (Adams High School, George Aguilar, Day of Remembrance, 14th Amendment, Indian Boarding Schools, Klu Klux Klan, etc., etc.); we also have many more entries that are in-process.

posted 4 years ago
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Yes, Shawna -- if Dr. Vogt and the OHS Board want to appeal to numbers, they should provide the data on the cost comparisons that you articulate here, and explain how they used this data to make their decisions. I'm still waiting to be convinced.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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Thank you, Mr. Miller, Ms. Sabatier, and the entire Think Out Loud crew. This was an enlightening, well-moderated show, highlighting an important issue.

Things were just getting revved up when the hour expired -- but that's often how it goes! I just appreciate that TOL decided to feature this topic.

James V. Hillegas, Historian

Board Member, Northwest History Network

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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Thanks for the call-in question, Mary! Dr. Vogt finally provided a few more details to the question about current conversations with Multnomah County, the OR Univ. System, etc., regarding final disposition of the OHS Research Library collections.

A key part of Dr. Vogt's reply was that there are plans to keep the collection "intact."

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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Yes, Janice.

Also, see KathyTucker's post below from 8:44 a.m. for more discussion about "numbers."

Raw numbers are misleading without sufficient context.

I see it as more evidence of the lack of creative leadership of the OHS Board that they cannot collectively see beyond anything that doesn't have a $$$ sign in front of it. Very disappointing.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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What Dr. Vogt just said about people not asking to see numbers is not entirely accurate -- I asked last week for copies of the OHS Board meeting minutes from Nov 1 2008 to present, and an OHS staffer will be sending these to me some time this week.

Referencing "numbers" is a dodge on Dr. Vogt's part -- a critical part of the story is the failure of the OHS Board to appeal to the OHS staff and members for OTHER THAN financial support.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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Michael Bales just mentioned the fragility of some of the materials in the OHS collection. Conservation of these materials is critical and is exactly the reason why we need trained and dedicated professional library staff to help preserve and provide access to these materials.

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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The decision of the OHS Board threatens the "raw materials" of the history and culture of the entire Pacific Northwest. This issue is as important as the loss of opportunities and livelihoods during this economic downturn because it threatens the basic components of an engaged, democratic citizenry: access to information.

Here are my primary concerns:

** _Lack of Transparency_: The OHS Board opted to make its drastic decision in an anti-democratic, non-transparent fashion.

** _Lack of Respect for OHS Members and Staff_: The OHS Board ignored the collective expertise, experience, and passion of OHS members and staff.

** _Excessive Focus on Finances_: The OHS Board cites financial reasons for their decision; however, they did not attempt to appeal to their members or staff or look to other institutions for guidanced (such as the Autry National Center and the Historical Society of Pennsylvania).

** _Repitition of a Lamentable Pattern_: Iterations of the OHS Board have been making short-sighted decisions for many years, as evidenced by the dissolution of the oral history and folk life programs and the eradication of the entire Education Department.

I recently defended a graduate thesis on Willamette River pollution abatement efforts from 1926 to 1962. This project would not have been possible without the papers of David B. Charlton, a Portland bacteriologist actively involved in the issue. He donated his materials to the OHS precisely so that community members could help articulate a more complete story of the long, hard slog to creat a better world for future generations.

The decisions of the OHS Board show extreme disrespect to the thousands who have donated materials over the past 100+ years. These decisions also disrespect the staff and everyone with an interest in our state and region.

The Northwest History Network calls upon the governor to create a task force to develop a solution with the following elements:

1) Keep the collections intact;

2) Ensure the collections remain in Oregon;

3) Employ trained and dedicated professional staff to oversee trained and dedicated volunteers;

4) Have a transparent and democratic conversation about sustaining our collective history and culture.

See: http//www.thepetitionsite.com/1/Save-the-OHSRL-and-staff

James V. Hillegas, Historian

Board Member, Northwest History Network

posted 4 years, 1 month ago
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I'm currently writing my history MA thesis on early water pollution abatement efforts along the Willamette, from 1926 to 1962. This period covers the beginning of the first concerted effort to address the issue of water pollution, and ends with Tom McCall's iconic television documentary on the topic of Willamette water quality, _Pollution in Paradise_. I'll be done with the thesis in November.

One of my biggest questions is, what did the Oregon State Sanitary Authority (OSSA) accomplish between its creation by citizen initiative in 1938 and it's absorption within the Oregon DEQ in the late 1960s? I'm not quite prepared with any conclusions on this specific question, but my preliminary findings are that the OSSA was staffed by qualified and committed staff members who really did do as much as they could to abate water pollution, given their funding, statutory mandate, and the science and technology of the period.

Another key element to remember is that the mentality of just about all Americans up until the later 1960s was that some streams and rivers were most useful serving as urban and industrial waste sinks all the time, and most streams and rivers were useful as waste sinks at least some of the time. The work of water pollution abatement advocates in Oregon (and nationally) -- including the OSSA, Izaak Walton League, League of Women Voters, and others -- involved changing this mentality as much as it did in enacting appropriate laws and finding appropriate technologies.

I could write much more on this topic.

In closing, I would not swim in the Willamette except in the headwaters. Though it is DRASTICALLY more clean in 2008 than it was in 1928 or 1958, I still wouldn't swim in it.

James V. Hillegas
MA Candidate, Portland State University

posted 4 years, 9 months ago
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