[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2010-05-11

Tue May 11 13:51:02 PDT 2010

In this issue:
1.  Camp Withycombe to host military heritage event
2.  SOHS re-opens research library
3.  Petersen appointed state's poet laureate
4.  Mission Mill to host 26th Sheep-to-Shawl event
5.  Talks slated in Astoria, Newport, Portland
6.  National Trust seeks field representative

CAMP WITHYCOMBE TO HOST MILITARY HERITAGE EVENT

American military veterans will be honored May 15 at the 14th Annual
Living History Day at Camp Withycombe.  Sponsored by the Military
Vehicle Collectors Club of Oregon and the Oregon Military Museum, the
free event includes displays of restored vintage and modern military
vehicles, campsites and displays of uniforms, arms and equipment from
the American Revolution to present day.  Living history enthusiasts,
reenactors, and military vehicle collectors will share their knowledge
of military history. 

The event will take place from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. at Camp Withycombe, 10101
SE Clackamas Road, Clackamas.  For more information call 503-774-4103,
or email Steve
Greenberg, Chairman, at sgreenb810 at aol.com.

SOHS RE-OPENS RESEARCH LIBRARY

The Southern Oregon Historical Society has re-opened its research
library.  The library will be open to the public Tuesdays through
Fridays from noon to 4 pm.  

The research library closed in September because of a financial crisis
that threatened the existence of the historical society.  Reopening the
library has been a strategic priority.  “We are very excited about
getting the library back open,” says executive director Allison Weiss.
 “One of the biggest complaints we have received since temporarily
suspending public operations is lack of access to the archives.”  In
addition to reopening the Research Library, plans also include
digitizing the 10,000 most used documents and photos in the collection
to make them available on-line.

The SOHS archives contains approximately 100,000 photographs and
approximately 100,000 documents, maps, manuscripts, diaries, oral
histories, architectural plans, and other works on paper.  The
collection illustrates historical, economic, environmental, scientific,
social, and cultural perspectives in Southern Oregon.

The Research Library and History Center are located at 106 N. Central
Ave. in Medford.  For more information, call (541) 899-8123 or visit
www.sohs.org.

PETERSEN APPOINTED STATE'S POET LAUREATE

Governor Ted Kulongoski has named Paulann Petersen of Portland to a
two-year appointment as poet laureate of Oregon.  Petersen will be
Oregon's sixth poet laureate since 1921 when Edwin Markham first took
the post. She succeeds Lawson Fusao Inada of Medford, who held the post
since 2006.

"Paulann Petersen is the perfect choice to serve as Oregon's poet
laureate," said Governor Kulongoski. "Her wonderful poetry and her
commitment to sharing her craft with the people of Oregon through her
teaching and service exemplify the kind person that is ideal to serve in
this position."

Petersen was born and raised in Oregon and spent half of her adult life
in Klamath Falls. She is a widely published poet, with four collections
- The Wild Awake (2002), Blood-Silk (2004), A Bride of Narrow Escape
(2006) and Kindle (2008) - and several chapbooks to her credit. Petersen
has received several awards, including Stanford University's Wallace
Stegner Fellowship in Poetry, two Carolyn Kizer Poetry Awards, and
Literary Art's Stewart Holbrook Award for Outstanding Contributions to
Oregon's Literary Life.

Petersen is a committed teacher who has taught high school English and
led dozens of workshops schools libraries, colleges, and writer's
conferences across Oregon. Petersen is an active board member of the
Friends of William Stafford, Oregon's fourth poet laureate, and
organized the William Stafford Birthday Celebration each January. That
celebration has now expanded to 58 events, 40 of them in Oregon.

In February, the Oregon Cultural Trust and partners solicited
nominations in a public process. A committee of writers, poets and
cultural leaders considered 17 nominations submitted from around the
state for the post.  The poet laureate position is a collaborative
project of the state's five statewide cultural partners, Oregon Arts
Commission, Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Historical Society,
Oregon Humanities and State Historic Preservation Office, with funding
from the Oregon Cultural Trust.  The position is funded with a stipend
of $10,000 per year for the poet laureate's work, with an additional
$10,000 available to support the laureate's travel and other expenses.  

MISSION MILL TO HOST 26th SHEEP-TO-SHAWL EVENT

Mission Mill Museum will host its 26th Annual Sheep to Shawl Festival
from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 15.. 

The free event includes sheep and sheep-shearing, goats, alpacas,
rabbits, and other animals. Local cultural institutions including the
Heritage Programs Division of the Oregon Parks and Recreation
Department, Jensen Arctic Museum, and the Oregon Electric Railway will
host exhibits and activities. Spinning, blacksmithing, and tours of the
historic woolen mill are also planned.

For more information, visit  http://www.missionmill.org.  

TALKS SLATED IN ASTORIA, NEWPORT, PORTLAND

Astoria: Irene Martin will talk at 7 p.m. May 18 at the Columbia River
Maritime Museum about how immigrant women left behind their countries of
origin and how they adapted to life in the isolated fishing towns and
villages of the Columbia River.  Her talk is based upon diaries,
stories, artifacts and photographs A free-lance writer since 1974
specializing in fisheries, Martin has also been a librarian, commercial
fisher, and is an Episcopal priest. Her latest work, a history of Bumble
Bee Seafoods, is soon to be published.This free event is co-sponsored by
AAUW, the Astoria Bicentennial Committee and the museum. For more
information, contact 503-325-2323 or www.crmm.org 

Newport: “To Guide, Guard, and Rescue: Building the Yaquina
Lighthouses, Jetties, and Life-Saving Station” is the title of a talk
by George M. Collins scheduled for 2 p.m. May 15 at the Carriage House
of the Lincoln County Historical Society, 545 SW Ninth St. The talk will
detail why and how, in the 1870s and 1880s, Yaquina Bay Lighthouse and
Yaquina Head Lighthouse, the stone jetties, and the early U.S.
Life-Saving Station were built near the then-small town of Newport on
the formidable Oregon coast. The event is free and open to the public.
For more information, call 541-265-7509.

Portland: At the turn of the 20th century, architects William Whidden
and Ion Lewis stood at the forefront of design in the Pacific Northwest,
bringing new styles and innovations to Portland’s commercial,
residential, and public buildings. From the six-story Concord Building
to Portland’s City Hall, many of the firm’s buildings are today
listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Additionally, their
residential designs were so prolific that a 1989 book, Matters of
Proportion, focused entirely on the firm’s Portland houses. University
of Oregon graduate student Brandon Spencer-Hartle will highlight many of
the partnership’s best-known buildings at 10 a.m. May 15, while
examining the myriad influences that shaped their designs. The
presentation will trace the roots of the firm from the 1870s to its
generous support of the University of Oregon’s School of Architecture
and Allied Arts in the 1930s. Pre-registration is strongly recommended
at 503 231-7264 or at www.VisitAHC.org. 

NATIONAL TRUST SEEKS FIELD REPRESENTATIVE

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is seeking a part-time
field representative position for one year. For more information, visit
http://www.preservationnation.org/career-center/nthp/oregon-field-representative-1.html

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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 