[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2009-02-13

[Heritage Info]

Sesquicentennial Edition:
1.  State Library produces Oregon 150 booklist
2.  Universities combine for online map cabinet
3.  Free workshops scheduled March 6-7 in Newport
4.  Bretz biographer to talk in Oregon City


STATE LIBRARY PRODUCES OREGON 150 BOOKLIST

To help commemorate Oregon*s sesquicentennial, the State Library has
announced the Oregon 150 Booklist. The list consists of 150 books for
children, teens and adults that describe the Oregon experience,
including fiction, non-fiction, history, and poetry. The books are
available in libraries and bookstores and are highly recommended for all
Oregonians to read during the sesquicentennial.
 
The books present a comprehensive view of the Oregon experience,
including the stories and voices of the tribes that inhabited Oregon for
millennia to those of the many cultures that live here today. The oldest
book on the list is "Astoria: or, Anecdotes of an Enterprize Beyond the
Rocky Mountains" by Washington Irving, originally published in 1836. The
newest book is "Oregon at Work: 1859-2009" by Art Ayre and Tom Fuller,
that will be published this spring by Ooligan Press.
 
*For 150 years, Oregon has been a state of readers and writers,*
said State Librarian Jim Scheppke. *It*s no accident that we have
some of the best libraries and bookstores anywhere in the country.
It*s our hope that many Oregonians will use this reading list to
spend time in 2009 reading and reflecting on the Oregon experience.*
 
The Oregon 150 Booklist is one of many ways the State Library and other
state agencies are observing the sesquicentennial.  The State Library is
hosting a monthly lecture series on Oregon topics and is a co-sponsor,
with the Oregon Library Association, of Oregon Reads 2009, a statewide
community reading project. To find the booklist, go to
http://www.oregon.gov/OSL/OR150.shtml 


UNIVERSITIES COMBINE FOR ONLINE MAP CABINET

The University of Oregon Libraries and the Oregon State University
Libraries have created a joint Oregon Maps online collection for
Oregon's sesquicentennial.

Whether traveling city streets and country roads, or observing forests
and farms from an airplane window, the patterns of the landscape have
come to resemble the maps we draw.  As European settlers populated
Oregon, Western traditions of cartography came as well.  Now, 150 years
later, the Jeffersonian survey grid is imprinted in everyone's mind as
most of Oregon's roads and property boundaries have been drawn on top of
our Public Land Survey System.

The first maps of what is now Oregon were made by ocean-bound
explorers, and thus very focused on the coastline and, in particular,
rivers that could be passages further inland. Spanish and English maps
from the 16th and the 17th century show coastal details that may
indicate that these explorers identified, for example, the mouth of the
Columbia River. The earliest map in the current collection is a federal
land survey map from 1876. As a survey map from the General Land Office,
the focus is clearly on the division of land into developed political
units. 

The many road maps of Oregon from the twentieth century, from a 1916
plan created by the State Highway Commission and proceeding nearly
year-by-year up through 2005, provide further visual evidence of the
history of Oregon's development. A 1922 map produced by the Oregon
Tourism and Information Bureau shows the extent of Oregon's roadways in
the early part of the century. By the 1950's (but prior to the
Interstate Highway Act of 1956), an official highway map shows a far
more extensive network of paved roads and there are more east-west
routes over the Cascades. The first sign of interstate highways I-5 from
Eugene/Springfield up to Albany is on the 1961 Oregon highway map, and
on the 1963 map we can see that I-5 appears in stretches starting in
Medford and is a continuous route connecting Eugene and Portland.

You can view the collection at
http://boundless.uoregon.edu/digcol/ormaps/index.php 


WORKSHOPS SCHEDULED MARCH 6-7 IN NEWPORT

Three free workshops on training volunteers, designing projects and the
basics of interpretation will be offered March 6-7 in Newport.
Volunteer Action Training with SOLV and Oregon 150
9 a.m.-noon, March 6
Volunteer Action Training is a hands-on leadership development 
workshop teaching Oregonians how to envision, organize, and implement 
successful community projects. The workshop covers a wide range of
topics,  including how to: Define an outreach strategy; Recruit, train,
and coordinate volunteers; Add new energy to volunteer  projects;
Prevent volunteer burnout and other common problems; Approach  and work
with sponsors and the media. 

Designing Projects for Successful Grants Workshop
9 a.m.-11 a.m., March 7
Join us to learn tips on designing your project and writing for
successful grants. The emphasis will be on grants the Oregon Heritage
Grants, the Oregon Museums Grants and the Historic Cemeteries Grant
offer by Heritage Programs of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department,
but the information can be applied to any grant. 

Interpretation Basics: New Perspectives to Broaden Interest Workshop
1 p.m.-4 p.m., March 7
Are interested in bringing more visitors to your historic location?
Join us to explore ways to expand your interpretive approach to draw a
broader audience. During the workshop, we will address interpretation
theory and ways of presenting interpretation, with an emphasis on
incorporating multiple perspectives. 

All workshops hosted by Oregon Coast History Center, 545 SW Ninth St.
For information and registration, contact Kuri Gill, Historic Cemeteries
Program and CLG Coordinator at Kuri.Gill at state.or.us or (503) 986-0685


BRETZ BIOGRAPHER TO TALK IN OREGON CITY

Author John Soennichsen will speak at 7 p.m. Feb. 18 in the Tumwater
Room of the Museum of the Oregon Territory in Oregon City on geologist
J. Harlen Bretz.. 

Bretz, a professor at the University of Washington and the University
of Chicago, formed the theory that the scablands of eastern Washinton
was scoured in a virtual instant by a massive flood that also inundated
the lower Columbia River, a theory that was ridiculed before gaining
acceptance by scientists. For more information, contact Mark Buser at
503-313-4442
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Oregon Heritage News is a service of the Oregon Heritage Commission,
which can be contacted at heritage.info at state.or.us