[Heritage] Oregon Heritage News 2025-04-25

Fri Apr 25 15:52:26 PDT 2025

Oregon Heritage News 2025-04-25
In this Issue:

  *   OREGON SHPO SERVICE UPDATE: System maintenance/service interruption April 29-30
  *   Oregon Heritage Commission to meet May 4-5 in Eugene, Coburg and online
  *   Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site opens for the 2025 season on May 2
  *   Heritage organizations among 315 nonprofits to receive OCF ‘Love Letter’ funding
  *   Western Museums Association Self-Care Resources
  *   Attending Conferences this spring? Check out this networking worksheet resource

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OREGON SHPO SERVICE UPDATE: System maintenance/service interruption April 29-30
The Oregon State Historic Preservation office is notifying all users of the Oregon Historic Sites Database and the Oregon Archaeological Services webpage, including the online site form submission system, that these webpages will be down for scheduled maintenance beginning Tuesday April 29th around 8:00PM. This disruption is planned to last several hours while OPRD’s IT team completes necessary updates. Both pages will be available beginning Wednesday April 30th. Please contact our office if you have any questions or concerns.
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Oregon Heritage Commission to meet May 4-5 in Eugene, Coburg and online
The Oregon Heritage Commission will meet May 4 in Eugene for a tour of the Museum of Natural and Cultural History and May 5 in Coburg for the Business Meeting.
The agenda<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Pages/Commissions.aspx#OHC> includes an update on the 2026 Oregon Heritage Plan process, a presentation by the Lane County Parks Advisory Committee on the County covered bridges, a presentation by the Oregon Museums Association on the updated strategic plan, a report on the historic resources survey work in Cottage Grove, a tour of downtown Cottage Grove by Coburg Main Street, and more.
This meeting is open to the public and there is an opportunity at the beginning of the meeting for public comment. Public comment can be made in person, online, or by written submission. For online attendance, registration is required. To view the full agenda, register for the virtual meeting, or learn more about public comment options, visit here<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Pages/Commissions.aspx#OHC>.

Special accommodations for the meeting – including translation services – may be made by calling (503) 986‐0690 or Mary.Newcomb at oprd.oregon.gov<mailto:Mary.Newcomb at oprd.oregon.gov> at least 72 hours prior to the start of the meeting.
The Heritage Commission’s nine Governor appointed members represent a diversity of cultural, geographic, and institutional interests. The Commission’s nine advisory members include representatives from the Oregon State Library, Oregon State Archives, State Historical Records Advisory Board, Higher Education Coordinating Committee, Travel Oregon, Oregon Historical Society, Department of Education, State Historic Preservation Office, and the Department of Land Conservation and Development.
The Commission is the primary agency for coordination of heritage activities in the state. This includes carrying out the Oregon Heritage Plan<https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Documents/2020_Oregon_Heritage_Plan.pdf>, increasing efficiency and avoiding duplication among interest groups, developing plans for coordination among agencies and organizations, encouraging tourism related to heritage resources, and coordinating statewide anniversary commemorations.
More information about the Oregon Heritage Commission is available online at www.oregonheritage.org<http://www.oregonheritage.org/> and from Commission coordinator Katie Henry at 503-877-8834 or katie.henry at oprd.oregon.gov<mailto:katie.henry at oprd.oregon.gov>.
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Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site opens for the 2025 season on May 2
Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site welcomes visitors to its Interpretive Center and historic building for the 2025 season starting Friday, May 2.
The Kam Wah Chung building <https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=5> is a National Historic Landmark that preserves the home and businesses of two Chinese immigrants, Ing "Doc" Hay<https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/ing_doc_hay_1862_1952_/#.WRx5_forIxc> and Lung On<https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/lung_on_1863_1940_/#.WRD6jbsrIxc>. For more than 60 years the building was a social, medical and religious center for Oregon's Chinese community.
The Interpretive Center will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays (closed 11 a.m. to noon for lunch). The historic building and Interpretive Center will be closed Monday through Thursday during May and possibly into June due to staffing levels at the site. Check the website for hours of operation throughout the season: https://stateparks.oregon.gov/index.cfm?do=park.profile&parkId=5
Tours of the historic building will run at the top of every hour, the last one beginning at 3 p.m. The free, 45-minute historic building tour begins at the Interpretive Center at 125 NW Canton Street in John Day. Space is limited to 8 people per tour.
For more information or questions about booking tours and operating hours, please call the park office at 541-575-2800.
For those who won't have the opportunity to visit this heritage site this season, you can learn more about the site and Chinese American history in Oregon through these online resources:

  *   Oregon Chinese Diaspora Project<https://oregon-chinese-diaspora-project-sou.hub.arcgis.com/>
  *   National Historic Landmark Nomination: Kam Wah Chung Company Building<https://catalog.archives.gov/id/77848608>
  *   Oregon Encyclopedia: Chinese Americans in Oregon<https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/chinese_americans_in_oregon/#.WRD6UbsrIxc> and Kam Wah Chung and Co.<https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/kam_wah_chung/#.WRx6PvorIxc>
  *   Oregon Historical Society: Beyond Chinatown: Uncovering Oregon’s Rural Chinese History<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lh8cm4RgGEo&t=8s> and Centering Chinese History in Oregon<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwvMTARJTiY> and Herbs & Roots: A History of Chinese Doctors in the American Medical Marketplace<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo-wG0o8gSA>

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Heritage organizations among 315 nonprofits to receive OCF ‘Love Letter’ funding
Arts & culture organizations are benefiting from $21 million in grants from OCF’s Arts and Culture Rebuilding Program, which is supporting 315 organizations over three years. This is OCF’s contribution to what has become a $53 million partnership with Oregon state lawmakers and the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, dubbed a “love letter” to an arts and culture sector battered by the pandemic and struggling to emerge from.
See the full announcement here<https://oregoncf.org/news/landmark-funding-infuses-21-million-in-oregon-arts-and-culture?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter>.
Some of the heritage related projects include:

  *   Museum At Warm Springs, $100,000, to bring staffing back to pre-Covid levels, add a key staff position, and re-build core operations and programming
  *   Gilliam County Historical Society $16,000, for general operating support
  *   Harney County Historical Society, $24,000, for porch and roof repair
  *   Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center, $10,000, for general operating support
  *   Tamástslikt Cultural Institute, $100,000, for general operating support
  *   Wallowa History Center, $2,500, for general operating support
  *   Oregon Black Pioneers, $14,000, to develop a new traveling exhibit
  *   Oregon Jewish Museum & Center for Holocaust Education, $10,000, for general operating support
  *   Portland Chinatown History & Museum Foundation, $5000, for general operating support
  *   Columbia River Maritime Museum, $10,000, for general operating support
  *   Oregon State Hospital Museum of Mental Health, $5000, for general operating support
  *   Willamette Heritage Center, $10000, for general operating support
  *   Bandon Historical Society, $2500, for general operating support
  *   Coos County Historical Society, $2500, for general operating support
  *   Benton County Historical Society & Museum, $10000, to enhance operations and programs
  *   Douglas County Museum Foundation, $25000, for a railcar restoration/ADA deck creation project
To see all of the funded organizations visit here<https://oregoncf.org/assets/PDFs-and-Docs/PDFs/Grants/2025/Arts-and-Culture-Rebuilding-fund-Grantees.pdf>.
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Western Museums Association Self-Care Resources
Check out some self care resources here<https://westmuse.org/self-care-resources>.
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Attending Conferences this spring? Check out this networking worksheet resource
The American Alliance of Museum blog featured a Networking & Engagement Action Plan Worksheet to help attendees confidently start conversations at in-person conferences. Check it out here<https://www.aam-us.org/2025/04/16/networking-engagement-action-plan-worksheet/?utm_source=American+Alliance+of+Museums&utm_campaign=d56e60f350-FieldNotes_2025_Apr22&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-d56e60f350-37243273>.
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Follow us on Facebook at @oregonheritage, on LinkedIn<https://www.linkedin.com/company/oregon-parks-and-recreation-department/>, on the Oregon Heritage Exchange blog<https://oregonheritage.wordpress.com/>.

Oregon Heritage News is a service of Oregon Heritage, a division of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department that includes the State Historic Preservation Office. Learn more about our programs at www.oregonheritage.org<http://www.oregonheritage.org/>. The news editor can be contacted at heritage.info at oprd.oregon.gov<mailto:heritage.info at oprd.oregon.gov>.

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