Fall 2008

The Society is gearing up for the biennial legislative session. OHS will be working with the members of the Ways and Means Committee in coming months to press the case for continuation of our traditional state appropriation, which

is now $1.4 million per year. As the political season nears, please consider reminding any candidates whom you support with a donation of OHS’s importance to you and your family and of the need to renew the appropriation!

In This IssuePuppetry: An Out of Body Experience Ends 10/19

Holiday Cheer Author Event

Carleton Watkins Exhibit

Pendleton Blankets & Holiday Shopping in the Store

Holiday Gift Memberships Available

It’s Election Season!

It is with a great deal of sadness that I note the passing of a great friend of the Oregon Historical Society, Mrs. Mary Mark. Looking out my office window, I am reminded daily of her vision and exceptional style. It was Mary’s gift that brought us our new flowering plant beds, Italian cypresses and attractive new brick patterns for our plaza. Mary and Pete Mark brought new life to the Oregon Historical Society in many ways. We will miss Mary dearly. I’m happy to announce that the year has brought us good fortune from old friends. We have received notice of significant bequests coming to OHS, including an endowment for Oregon maritime history from the late Robert N. Shears and an unrestricted gift of approximately $1.7 million from the late Walter Z. Brown. The Society benefits greatly from planned gifts such as these and encourages all of its members to consider OHS in estate planning. In late 2007, the Society moved its endowment to the Oregon Community Foundation, which offers full assistance to anyone requiring help in planning estate gifts to nonprofits. We will be providing additional information to our members in coming months. Reminder: If you contribute to Oregon political candidates this fall, please let the recipients know how much OHS means to you. We need to renew our state appropriation in the next session.

George L. VogtExecutive Director

Carleton E. Watkins (1829–1926) is considered one of the finest landscape photographers of the early American West. During a series of trips from 1867 to 1885, he photographed Portland and the Columbia River Gorge, creating some of the first photographs of Castle Rock, Cape Horn, and Multnomah Falls.

The Oregon Historical Society’s collection contains the most comprehensive set of Watkins’s images of Oregon ever assembled by an institution. The exhibit will display nearly one hundred photographs of the Columbia River Gorge that Watkins printed in the popular, nineteenth-century stereoscopic format. When viewed through a special lens, this printing method makes the image three-dimensional. The OHS exhibit will allow visitors the opportunity to view these images as they were meant to be seen: in “3D.”

The exhibit will be conducted in partnership with the Portland Art Museum’s Wild Beauty exhibit. Visitors to Carleton Watkins: Stereoviews of the Columbia River Gorge can use the ticket for a 50 percent discount on admission to Wild Beauty, which includes many of the Society’s large format photographic prints.

Also, keep an eye out for Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Oregon Experience: The River They Saw on November 10, at 9 p.m. This one-hour special will chronicle the history of the Gorge with rarely seen images crafted by Carleton Watkins, Sarah Ladd, Benjamin Gifford, Al Monner, and many others. These early photographers left a stunning visual legacy of images still considered among the greatest landscape photos ever made.

Carleton Watkins: Stereoviews of the Columbia River Gorge opens October 4, 2008!

3

Our Mission

The Oregon Historical Society’s mission is preserving and interpreting Oregon’s past in thoughtful, illuminating, and provocative ways.

Hours

Museum10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday - SaturdayNoon - 5 p.m. Sunday Research Library1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Tuesday Open to Members only.

10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Wednesday - Saturday Open to the general public. Museum Store10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday - SaturdayNoon - 5 p.m. Sunday

1200 SW Park AvenuePortland, OR 97205503-222-1741WWW.OHS.ORG

Get your hands on the extraordinary life size (and larger) puppets of Michael Curry Designs before they’re gone on October 19. From the two-story white bear greeting you in the lobby to the large Day of the Dead marionettes that visitors can actually manipulate, the exhibit will entertain and enlighten guests of all ages.

Michael Curry, a Scappoose resident, has worked on massive puppets from such big name shows as the Broadway production of The Lion King, the opening ceremonies of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Cirque du Soleil productions, and Super Bowl half-time shows.

A recent visitor commented: “The Michael Curry exhibit was the highlight of my weeklong visit to Portland. I especially appreciated being able to touch, photograph, and play with the various creations…awesome!”

Catch Puppetry: An Out of Body Experiencebefore it’s gone!

Save the Date

HOLIDAY CHEER: A CELEBRATION OF OREGON AUTHORS AND ARTISTS

Join us on Sunday, December 7, 2008, from noon to 5 p.m. for the Oregon Historical Society’s 41st annual Holiday Cheer event. Gather for an afternoon with more than sixty Oregon authors and artists as they display, autograph, and sell their latest work at this popular event. It’s the perfect chance to get your holiday gift buying finished early.

• Meet the authors and have their latest books signed between 1 and 4 p.m. • Discover local artists who have created new and exciting gift items, including jewelry, pottery, glass, music, textiles, and 2009 calendars featuring Oregon icons for sale from noon to 5 p.m. • Enjoy entertainment throughout the day with special events just for the kids.

THE MARK O. HATFIELD DISTINGUISHED HISTORIANS FORUM - SESQUICENTENNIAL SERIES

Doris Kearns Goodwin on Abraham LincolnFebruary 18, 2009

Robert K. Sutton, Chief Historian, National Park Service, on The Civil War in OregonMarch 24, 2009

Charles Wilkinson, Professor, University of Colorado, on Siletz Tribal HistoryApril 21, 2009

David McCullough on George WashingtonMay 12, 2009

Raymond Loewy: Designs for a Consumer Culture

Raymond Loewy was the most prominent industrial designer of the twentieth century. He once said his firms created everything from lipsticks to locomotives. Loewy became involved in the emerging world of industrial design in the 1920s, after a successful career in commercial illustration. He eventually became the best-known industrial designer in the world, spending more than five decades streamlining and modernizing silverware and fountain pens, supermarkets and department stores.

Raymond Loewy: Designs for a Consumer Culture draws heavily on Loewy’s personal archives at Delaware’s Hagley Museum and Library, a collection of images and information not previously available to researchers or the public. The exhibit brings his career to life with an array of original drawings, models, products, advertisements, photographs, and rare film footage.

A national magazine assessed his influence in 1950: “Loewy has probably affected the daily life of more Americans than any other man of his time.” Loewy and his teams designed the color scheme and logo for Air Force One, the John F. Kennedy memorial stamp, the Studebaker Avanti, the Greyhound Scenicruiser, and the interiors of the Concorde and NASA’s Skylab. Other clients included Coca-Cola, Exxon, and Lucky Strike cigarettes. Many of his designs are still in use today.

NEEDS LIST

Grand Piano – Steinway B or D or comparable 7 to 9 foot grand

A new permanent exhibit is coming to the Oregon Historical Society in 2009. Please help us complete our exhibit on outdoor Oregon. We need:

• Photos or home movies of camping and recreating in Oregon • Mid-century sports equipment, such as paddles, rackets, tents, canteens, a canvas water bag,cooler, sleeping bags, and cooking equipment. • Old Comics

THE OREGON STATE HISTORIC PRESERVATION OFFICE ANNOUNCES A NEW ONLINE TOOL FOR HISTORIC PRESERVATIONISTS AND ARCHITECTURE LOVERS.

The new Oregon Online Architectural Guide in an educational reference for identifying architectural materials, styles, and forms found in Oregon. A wiki-based website, the online guide is designed to be a constantly changing and dynamic reference tool. With the help of historic preservationists across the state, it is the hope that the Oregon Online Architectural Guide will continue to grow and become an invaluable educational resource. Check out the site today at http://oregonarchitecture.wetpaint.com/.

OHS Announcements

4 5

Holiday Shopping in the Museum Store

The Oregon History Museum Store is the perfect place to pick up gifts for those hard to please people on your list. This fall, the Museum Store will feature the Oregon Sesquicentennial Pendleton Blanket. The special edition blanket (64 x 80”) depicts an iconic Oregon scene: snow-covered Mount Hood bordered by Trillium flowers and ferns. In honor of the sesquicentennial, each blanket purchase includes a letter from First Lady Mary Oberst. Also available is a smaller baby blanket (44 x 44”), depicting the Oregon state flower and bird — Trillium and the Western Meadowlark.

In celebration of Carleton Watkins: Stereoviews of the Columbia River Gorge, the store will present framed reproductions of Watkins’s mammoth photographic prints from the museum’s permanent collection. These limited edition images of the Columbia River Gorge are printed on fiber paper with a finished size of 20 x 24”.

The store also carries jewelry, books, art, and other unique gifts related to Oregon and its rich abundance of history and interests. Don’t forget, as a member, you get 10 percent off all your purchases.

New Acquisitions

FOLDING CHAIR WITH EMBROIDERED BACK AND SEATThe chair once belonged to George L. Curry, a governor of the Oregon Territory.Donated by Beatrice Newton

BOOTH FROM THE OLD VIRGINIA CAFÉThe booth was donated by the Virginia Café when the cafe moved from its location on Park Avenue to SW 10th Avenue.

TROJAN PLANT CONSOLES The two control panels/consoles, one desk unit, one cooling tower strobe light, and two control board drawings came from the Trojan Nuclear Plant in Rainier, Oregon. One console will be featured in a new permanent exhibit scheduled to open in 2009. Donated by Portland General Electric

BARBER SHOP CABINET, CHAIRS WITH BUILT-IN HAIR DRYERS, OTHER RELATED ITEMS.The dryers once belonged to Inez Mayberry, the first African American woman to graduate from the Sanitary Beauty College in 1926. The hairdryer chair will be featured in a new permanent exhibit scheduled to open in 2009. Donated by Rachael Mateer

Year End Gift

As a member, you know better than anyone what an important asset the Oregon Historical Society is to the community. Over the next year, the Society will be working to rejuvenate its programs and attract new audiences. We’re designing new exhibits, expanding our educational program, and increasing public access to our extraordinary collections. But we can’t accomplish all this without you. Your annual support is urgently needed as we embark on ambitious plans leading up to Oregon’s 150th anniversary in 2009.

Please consider supporting the Oregon Historical Society with an annual gift. Your contribution will help us maintain our extensive Research Library, award-winning Education and Folklife departments, and publication of the Oregon Historical Quarterly, the journal of record for Oregon history more than a century.

Can’t find anything in the store? Know someone who already has everything? A gift membership with the Oregon Historical Society entertains throughout the year with benefits such as unlimited free admission to the museum, invites to special members only events and openings, and a subscription to the Oregon Historical Quarterly. Simply tear off the form below and send it back to us in the envelope with your payment. Don’t forget to write your own name and contact information on the envelope so we can tell the lucky recipient who sent the gift!

Your Name: _____________________________________________________________________________

Recipient’s Name: _________________________________________________________________________

Recipient’s Address: ________________________________________________________________________

Recipient’s Email: __________________________________________________________________________

Membership Type: Individual $55 Family $75

Special Message or Instructions related to this gift: ____________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________________

Gift Memberships

76

1200 SW Park AvenuePortland, OR 97205

NONPROFITORG.USPOSTAGE

PORTLAND,ORPERMITNO.710

PAID

Are you getting our email?

Make sure you are getting the latest information on exhibits, lectures, openings and other museum news. Send an email to Nic.McCarthy@ohs.org with your name and email address to be added to our mailing list.