Exhibits

Current Exhibit

Oregon’s Constitution

July 17 – September 3, 2018

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

Current Exhibit

Oregon State University: A Legacy of Transformation

February 10 – September 9, 2018

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

Current Exhibit

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

July 5 – October 28, 2018

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

Current Exhibit

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

July 16, 2018 – January 13, 2019

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

Current Exhibit

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

July 10, 2018 – March 17, 2019

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

Upcoming Exhibit

Pioneering Compassion: 150 Years at the Oregon Humane Society

September 14, 2018 – February 28, 2019

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

Compassion runs deep in our community. For 150 years, the Oregon Humane Society has embodied each generation’s determination to save lives, stop suffering, and bring loving best friends to our families. Best known as a great place to find a furry best friend, Oregon Humane has helped our community overcome pet overpopulation, enact and enforce some of the nation’s strictest animal cruelty laws, educate generations of Oregonians about pet care, and fight with unrelenting diligence for the integrity of all animals. Come see how animal welfare has been at the heart of our community’s life and values since 1868.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Researchers
• Teachers

Upcoming Exhibit

Barley, Barrels, Bottles, & Brews: 200 Years of Oregon Beer

October 26, 2018 – June 9, 2019

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

The history of beer in Oregon and the passion Oregonians hold for beer and brewing extends back over two hundred years. This exhibition connects these moments in history, from the Lewis and Clark Expedition to early pioneer hop growers, from the nineteenth century European immigrants who established Oregon’s first breweries to the craft brewery revolution centered here today. The exhibit profiles the people, companies, and legislation that have combined over the years to make Oregon the innovative center of craft brewing that it is today.

• Researchers
• Teachers

Upcoming Exhibit

Experience Oregon

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

From a 360 degree intro theater to an immersive build that will let visitors walk through a covered wagon, Experience Oregon will provide a portal to Oregon for all visitors, whether you are a sixth generation Oregonian, a recent arrival to our state, or a tourist from another part of the world. Central themes like water, land, and home span the exhibition’s timeline, inviting viewers to think about how Oregonians have defined our state. By showcasing new and much-loved artifacts, along with diverse voices representing Oregon’s many cultures and geographies, this re-imagined exhibition will engage visitors in the experience of Oregon and its history.

• Family-friendly
• Free for Members
• Teachers
• Researchers

Permanent Exhibit

History Hub

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

History Hub is an exhibit where Oregon’s youth, students, and families can explore the topic of diversity through fun, hands-on interactives, objects, and pictures. History Hub is developed in partnership with an advisory committee of students, teachers, cultural organizations, and museums to tell the stories of people who live in Oregon, today and in the past. The content of History Hub spans grades K-12 with a focus on 4th – 8th grade.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Permanent Exhibit

Oregon Voices

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97205

Oregon Voices examines some of the important people, events, and ideas that have shaped the state in the modern era, from the end of World War II to the present. It features the people of Oregon, from Native Americans, who have lived here since time immemorial, to recent arrivals. It looks at Oregonians who have fought for and against social change. And it explores the land—how people have used it and how they have worked to save it.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Permanent Exhibit

Vanport Interpretive Panels

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

On Memorial Day in 1948, the Columbia River, swirling fifteen feet above normal, punched a hole in a railroad embankment that served as a dike, starting a flood that would leave 18,000 people homeless and alter race relations in Portland forever. This exhibit of four interpretive panels tells the story of what was once the second-largest city in Oregon.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Online Exhibit

“A Symbol of Home”: The Environmental and Political Legacy of Tom McCall in Oregon

Famous for his forceful language and political skill, Governor Tom McCall has remained the name and face of Oregon’s remarkable legacy of environmental lawmaking. His environmental efforts were not the earliest in the state, nor were his achievements his alone; but he provided people with a compelling and ambitious narrative that emphasized citizen responsibility to protect the land and its resources. This narrative continues to inform many aspects of lawmaking and advocacy in Oregon.

• Family-friendly
• Researchers
• Teachers

Online Exhibit

Black Athletes Disrupting White Supremacy in Oregon

These exhibit panels were displayed on the campuses of the University of Oregon and Oregon State University during February 2014 to accompany public programs about national and state history related to African American football players. The exhibit panels were created by Dr. Darrell Millner of Portland State University in collaboration with OHS staff.

• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Online Exhibit

Mirror on the Modern Woman: Selected Images from the Oregon Journal, 1927–1932

The 1920s heralded the era of the Modern Woman, a more adventurous and independent type open to new possibilities. The new exhibit Mirror on the Modern Woman depicts some of these Modern Women, young and old, at work and at play. The exhibit features fifteen photographs from the 1920s and ’30s selected from the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s collection of negatives from the Oregon Journal newspaper.

• Family-friendly
• Researchers
• Teachers

Online Exhibit

Portland: A Lot of People Have Lived Here

Call it the Clearing, Stumptown, City of Roses, P-Town, PDX, Ripcity, Bridgetown, or Little Beirut—Portland answers to them all. The city sits on the Willamette River, both sleepy and overwrought, dominating Oregon in population and voting trends. Obama loved it, George H.W. did not, Teddy Roosevelt slept here, and the Queen of Romania stopped by for dinner.

• Family-friendly
• Researchers
• Teachers

Online Exhibit

The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde

The people of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde represent almost thirty different tribes and bands that the U.S. government removed to the Grand Ronde Reservation in the nineteenth century. The history of the reservation—and how so many western Oregon Native people came to reside there—is long and complex. With support from the Spirit Mountain Community Fund, the Oregon Historical Society is working with scholars in an ongoing effort to create Oregon Encyclopedia entries on the people, places, and events connected to the history of the Grand Ronde people. Included in this new online exhibit are recently published entries by E.A. Schwartz, Kenneth Ames, David Lewis, Robert T. Boyd, Henry Zenk, William Lang, Dan Boxberger, Yvonne Hadja, and Chuck Williams. OHS archival material connected to the history of the Grand Ronde have been digitized and published on the OHS digital history websites.

• Family-friendly
• Researchers
• Teachers

Online Exhibit

The Fred Meyer Story

In many ways, the story of Fred G. Meyer and Fred Meyer, Inc. mirrors the story of the expansion and development of the city of Portland from a small, rugged, Western town to a booming metropolis. Follow the story of Fred Meyer from its humble beginnings to its expansion across the West.

• Family-friendly
• Teachers
• Researchers

Online Exhibit

Lost Portland

At the turn of the 19th century, Portland was still the metropolis of the Pacific Northwest, and its buildings reflected a sense of urban grandeur rivaling the great cities of North America. As the twentieth century progressed, many of these buildings fell victim to changing needs, economic imperatives, and a growing decentralization of urban life. While the Oregon Historical Society’s Davies Family Research Library holds thousands of images of lost Portland, few are so evocative of the city’s past grandeur as these postcards, created from re-touched and hand-colored photographs.

• Family-friendly
• Teachers
• Researchers

Online Exhibit

Windows on America

From June 2013 through February 2014, the Oregon Historical Society was proud to showcase Windows on America, the first ever public display of the world-class Mark Family Collection. Now, thanks to a new partnership with Visiting Media, students and history enthusiasts across Oregon and beyond can experience the exhibit online! Visitors to the virtual exhibit can experience the same content offered in the physical exhibit, as well as new digital enhancements. Get up close to artifacts, read text panels, hear recordings of historic documents, and go behind the scenes of some of the exhibit’s treasures in videos with OHS Executive Director Kerry Tymchuk.

• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Traveling Exhibit

Clink! A Taste of Oregon Wine

Adapted from the Summer 2014 exhibition, "Clink! A Taste of Oregon Wine," the Oregon Historical Society has developed a traveling version of the exhibition which includes twelve colorful banners with photographs and text illustrating the history of the flourishing Oregon wine industry. This traveling exhibit is currently available for rental to historical societies and other groups.

Traveling Exhibit

Oregon Is Indian Country

First exhibited in 2009 at the Oregon Historical Society in Portland, Oregon Is Indian Country represents a groundbreaking project that brought together all nine federally recognized Oregon Tribes to present information, never-before-assembled in one exhibit, on contemporary indigenous cultures. This rich content is now available for museums and cultural institutions across the state as a traveling exhibit of vibrant banners.

• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Traveling Exhibit

Oregon: 150 Years of Statehood; 150 Million Years in the Making

In 2009, Oregon celebrated 150 years as a state. Oregon’s landscape has a much longer history — geological processes have been building the state's landscape for more than 150 million years! The windows in this exhibit illustrate how geology crafted Oregon’s landscape and natural resources and continues to shape the land and lives of its citizens. The most iconic of Oregon’s landscapes — Crater Lake, Multnomah Falls, Newberry Crater, Steens Mountain, the Painted Hills, and so much more — display Oregon’s geologic splendor.

• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Traveling Exhibit

Oregon's Landmark Legislation

Oregon has repeatedly led the nation in creating, revising, and implementing laws shaping the quality of life of its citizens. While Oregon’s innovations have evoked controversy, they have charted the course for other states and nations. The 16 exhibit panels highlight groundbreaking legislation that Oregon has passed since Statehood either by Politician, Legislative Action, or Public Initiative. Arranged chronologically, the window panels present legislation that focuses on environmental, social, and land use issues.

• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Traveling Exhibit

What If Heroes Were Not Welcome Home?

This poignant exhibit examines the prejudice that Japanese American veterans from Hood River, Oregon experienced upon their return home from serving our country in World War II. These American citizens served heroically with the United States Armed Forces in the South Pacific and in Europe, yet many of their families were unjustly incarcerated in concentration camps on American soil.

• Family-friendly
• Teachers