[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2009-02-20

[Heritage Info]

In this issue:
1.  IMLS awards planning grant to Oregon
2.  State Advisory Committee to meet Feb. 27
3.  OSU project uses Flickr Commons
4.  Wallula Gap subject of book, talk
5.  Cultural tourism workshops set


IMLS AWARDS PLANNING GRANT TO OREGON

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) has awarded 23
statewide planning grants, including one to Oregon, to be used to create
statewide conservation plans for collections held in libraries, museums
and archives.

The $39,000 Oregon grant was awarded to the Oregon Museums Association
which is collaboratively working on the project with the Library
Preservation Round Table of the Oregon Library Association, Northwest
Archivists, the Oregon Heritage Commission, the Oregon Historical
Society, Oregon State Archives, the Oregon State Library, Tamastslikt
Cultural Institute, and others on the project.

The IMLS praised the Oregon collaborators and recipients in other
states.

"I applaud these grantees as they take action to combat the crises in
collections care that threaten to rob our heritage," said Anne-Imelda
Radice, IMLS Director. "They represent a wide array of approaches to
planning."

This grant is part of an IMLS initiative, Connecting to Collections: A
Call to Action. IMLS launched the initiative in response to the 2005
Heritage Health Index report on the dire state of the nation's
collections. According to the report by Heritage Preservation,
approximately 190 million objects could be lost in just a few short
years without immediate attention. The report also found that 65 percent
of collecting institutions report damage to collections due to improper
storage and 80 percent did not have an emergency plan for their
collections or trained staff to carry it out.


STATE ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO MEET FEB. 27

Oregon's State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation will
consider nominations to the National Register of Historic Places during
a one-day meeting on Feb. 27 at the Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St.
NE, in Salem. All sessions will be in room 103, beginning at 10 a.m.

The committee will review proposed nominations for individual
properties in Corvallis, Lake Oswego, and unincorporated Clackamas,
Deschutes, and Lake counties.  The committee will also re-consider the
nomination for the Painter*s Woods Historic District in Forest Grove. A
meeting agenda is available at
http://www.oregonheritage.org/OPRD/HCD/NATREG/nrhp_sachphome.shtml.

Nominations recommended by the SACHP are forwarded to the National Park
Service, which maintains the Register under the authority of the
National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Members of the committee
hold credentials in many historic preservation-related fields.

The meeting site is accessible to people with disabilities. Special
accommodations for the meeting may be made by calling Kimarie Lamb at
(503) 986-0690. 


OSU PROJECT USES FLICKR

The Oregon State University Library Archives has been become the first
university to join part of the Flickr Commons project. 

Flickr launched a project a year ago aimed at increasing access to
publicly held photography collections in civic institutions around the
world. They called it The Commons. The idea was to provide a space for
the public to contribute their historical knowledge to compliment the
information the institutions already had for these images and to
personally interact and connect with them. There are two goals for The
Commons project: to show you hidden treasures in the world's public
photography archives and to show how your input and knowledge can help
make these collections even richer. 

The Commons opened with the release of nearly 3000 images from two
popular photographic collections held by the Library of Congress. Twenty
museums, public libraries, and other cultural heritage institutions from
around the world have joined The Commons, releasing over 12,000 images
to be perused, tagged, and researched by the public. 

The initial OSU contribution is a sampling from the collection of
Gerald W. Williams, the national historian for the U.S. Forest Service,
until his retirement in 2005. This initial offering focuses on the
Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), a New Deal program focused on the
conservation of natural resources that targeted unemployed young men,
veterans and American Indians who were hard hit by the Great Depression.
The Oregon State University Archives*s photostream shows various CCC
projects, which included firefighting, farm land improvements,
infrastructure projects and even the building of ski areas on Mt. Hood.
Additional photos will be added over time.

To learn more about this project, check the "OSU Archives: The Flickr
Commons Experience" page at
http://osulibrary.oregonstate.edu/archives/exhibits/FlickrCommonsOSUArchives.html



WALLULA GAP SUBJECT OF BOOK, TALK

The Wallula Gap, located on Oregon's northern border, is the focus of a
new book and talk.

Bob Carson, a Whitman College geology professor, and Catherine Dickson,
a professional archaeologist, have helped prepare "The Great River
Bends: A Natural and Human History of the Columbia at Wallula." They
will present a program about the area at 1 p.m. Feb. 21 at Tamástslikt
Cultural Institute, 72789 Highway 331 in Pendleton.


CULTURAL TOURISM WORSKSHOPS SET

The Central Cascades Geotourism MapGuide Project will involved in
presentations March 2 at Sandy and March 4 at Estacada. 

The Sandy event will include at 10 a.m. town hall forum, an 11:30
lunch, and a 12:30 p.m. workshop about how you can participate in the
project The Estacada activities include a 10 a.m. tourism public
relations how-to workshop, a 12:15 luncheon, and a 1:15 workshop about
the project.

For more information and registration, contact Laurel MacMillan,
Sustainable Tourism Coordinator, Rural Development Initiatives, at
503-803-8260 or lmacmillan at rdiinc.or 
-----------------------------------------------------
Oregon Heritage News is a service of the Oregon Heritage Commission,
which invites you to attend the Northwest History and Heritage
Extravaganza April 15-18 in Portland.