Exhibits

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Draft version of the Oregon State Constitution’s preamble and bill of rights, 1857. Mss 1227

Current Exhibit

Oregon’s Constitution

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

When the Oregon Constitutional Convention opened on August 17, 1857, sixty elected delegates—all white men—built a state government. Their work was philosophical and mundane, fascinating and meticulously detailed. While Oregon Trail pioneers were building communities for themselves, Native people were losing their homelands, immigrant groups were being targeted, and women were being subjugated. Oregon’s constitutional delegates intended to protect their economic and cultural interests with a document based on representative democracy; but they also guaranteed their control of the land, the resources, and the government by denying entire groups of people a voice in that democracy. It is a contradiction embedded in the Constitution.

  • Free for Members
  • Family-friendly
  • Researchers
  • Teachers
Aerial view painting of OSC campus, 1912

Current Exhibit

Oregon State University: A Legacy of Transformation

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

For 150 years, Oregon State University has provided access to a high-quality college education for all Oregonians, solving tough challenges through groundbreaking research, serving community needs, and propelling the state and global economy. This exhibit shares — through 150 stories — how Oregon State University has transformed the community, the state, the nation, and the world in surprising ways.

  • Free for Members
  • Family-friendly
  • Researchers
  • Teachers
KBOO photographs 015

Current Exhibit

50 Years of KBOO

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

50 Years of KBOO is the story of Oregon’s first community radio station. Learn how KBOO started as a relief to Portland’s bleak FM desert and became a community effort to build a more accessible media. This exhibition reveals how KBOO connects to counter-culture and activism locally as well as nationally. See how radio is made, and how listener-supported radio first came to be, as part of a chronicle of our region’s shared history.

  • Family-friendly
  • Free for Members
  • Researchers
  • Teachers
Master Calligrapher: Yoshiyasu Fujii. The blue mountain looks like an old friend while the river flows like delicious sake. As usual we face each other on the boat together, savoring our sake and reminisce about our old hometown.

Current Exhibit

The Playful Brush: Works by the Meito Shodo-Kai Calligraphy Association

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

In Shodo (Japanese calligraphy), the brush creates living art by exploring the balance between lines and space. The Meito Shodo-Kai Calligraphy Association pursues the graphic beauty of Kanji (Chinese characters imported to Japan that are still used today) through various aspects of style and expression.

  • Family-friendly
  • Free for Members
  • Researchers
  • Teachers
Scans from the KOIN and the KPTV 16mm News Film Collections

Current Exhibit

Frames Per Second: Selections from the OHS 16mm News Film Collection, 1969-1981

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

The prints in this exhibit are scans from the KOIN and KPTV 16mm news film collections held at the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) Research Library. Every three frames of 16mm film represents 1/8 of a second — or just faster than the blink of an eye. These stories represent, in part, the day-to-day events that helped shape Portland from 1969 to 1981.

  • Free for Members
  • Family-friendly
  • Researchers
  • Teachers
The Psychedelic Shop, a store that catered to the counterculture youth of Portland, was located downtown at SW Thirteenth and Washington in the late 1960s. The shop sold jewelry, concert tickets, herbs, posters, and clothing. 022772, bb002266

Current Exhibit

Portland Psychedelic: Music and Culture in the Rose City and Beyond, 1966 – 1972

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

Portland served as a common West Coast stop for touring bands in the 1960s and 1970s, with a number of nationally known musicians playing shows in the Rose City. Local music thrived at the same time, centered on psychedelic coffeehouses across Portland. Featuring posters, handbills, autographs, and other memorabilia representing bands including The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, and Buffalo Springfield, Portland Psychedelic includes over 100 objects recently donated to the Oregon Historical Society Research Library by donor Peter Glazer. Showcasing one of the largest collections of local poster and handbill art, the exhibit gives visitors a glimpse into the music and visual design that dominated the countercultural scene in Portland in the 1960s.

  • Free for Members
  • Researchers