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<p class="MsoNormal"><a name="OLE_LINK1"></a><a name="OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Good afternoon!<o:p></o:p></span></span></a></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">I am excited to share that the Oregon Historical Society is one of 12 honorees receiving an Oregon Heritage Excellence
Award this year for our efforts to preserve and share the story of the Yasui family.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Through meticulous collections preservation, digitization efforts, and interpretation through an exhibition and educational
resources, OHS </span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">—</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">
in close partnership with the Yasui family </span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">—</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">
has had the opportunity to offer a window into the lives of Japanese immigrants and their families in the decades before and after mass incarceration during World War II.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The full press release is below, with more information on the project and the Oregon Heritage Conference and Awards
Presentation taking place on April 29 in Mt. Angel.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Please reach out if you have any questions, and thank you in advance for spreading the word!<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Rachel<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">---</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="right" style="text-align:right"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><b><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">PRESS CONTACT:</span></b></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">
Rachel Randles<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Chief Marketing & Communications Officer<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">971.409.3761 (cell/text) •
</span></span></span><a href="mailto:rachel.randles@ohs.org"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">rachel.randles@ohs.org</span></span></span><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"></span></span></a><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><u><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p></o:p></span></u></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></span></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Oregon Historical Society Receives Oregon Heritage Excellence Award for
<i>The Yasui Family: An American Story </i>Exhibition, Programming, and Educational Resources<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></span></p>
<span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK1"></span><span style="mso-bookmark:OLE_LINK2"></span>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Portland, OR — April 27, 2026 —
</span></b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) is among 12 recipients of an Oregon Heritage Excellence Award. Presented to individuals, organizations, and projects that have made outstanding contributions to preserving
Oregon’s heritage, the 2026 honorees will be recognized at an Awards Presentation and Dinner on April 29 in Mt. Angel, Oregon, hosted in conjunction with the
</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.oregon.gov/oprd/OH/Pages/heritageconference.aspx" target="_blank">2026 Oregon Heritage Conference</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">OHS received the award for its work preserving and sharing the story of the Yasui family through digitization efforts, scholarship, curricula, and an original exhibition,
</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="https://www.ohs.org/museum/exhibits/the-yasui-family-an-american-story.cfm" target="_blank"><i>The Yasui Family: An American Story</i></a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">What started with a donation of objects and business records from Homer Yasui in 1991 has led to a decades-long relationship with the family. Thanks to crucial grant funding, OHS has been able
to translate and digitize many of the materials held in its research library collection and make them accessible through
</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="https://digitalcollections.ohs.org/yasui" target="_blank">OHS Digital Collections</a>.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">Additionally, the
</span><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><a href="https://museumcollection.ohs.org/argus/ohs/Portal/portal.aspx?lang=en-US&p_AAAB=tab3&p_AABC=tab2&p_AAGO=tab5&d=d" target="_blank">Museum Collection Portal</a> includes hundreds of records relating
to the Yasui family, including recollections by Homer. It is due to the meticulous preservation efforts and thoughtful stewardship of the Yasui family that OHS has had the opportunity to offer a window into the lives of Japanese immigrants and their families
in the decades before and after mass incarceration during World War II.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">“The history of the Yasui family is both unique and similar to the experiences of other immigrants to the United States, and it truly reflects the complexity of the American story. All of us
at OHS are very grateful that the Yasui family has entrusted us with their compelling collection of family history, thereby allowing us to share an incredibly timely story of the rights and responsibilities of American citizenship,” said OHS Boyle Family Executive
Director Kerry Tymchuk. <b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">“The Award recipients are representative of efforts and activities that are exemplary and go above and beyond for an individual, organization, and project, serving as a model for heritage preservation
work in Oregon,” said Katie Henry, Coordinator for the Oregon Heritage Commission. “This year we had several nominations focused on the work of documenting, preserving, and sharing a more complete story of Oregon’s history.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards are a program of Oregon Heritage. Oregon Heritage is a division of Oregon Parks and Recreation Department that includes the State Historic Preservation
Office and four State Commission/Committees: Oregon Heritage Commission, State Advisory Committee on Historic Preservation, Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries, and Historic Advisory Review Committee.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">The Yasui Family: An American Story</span></i><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> is on view at the Oregon Historical Society’s museum in downtown Portland through September
6, 2026. Museum hours are 10am to 5pm Monday through Saturday and 12pm to 5pm on Sunday. Admission is free every day for youth 17 and under, OHS members, and Multnomah County residents, who provide crucial operational support through the
<a href="https://www.yesfororegonhistory.org/">Oregon Historical Society levy</a>. Learn more and plan your visit at
<a href="https://www.ohs.org/museum/plan-your-visit.cfm">ohs.org/visit</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">---<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">About the Oregon Historical Society<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">For more than 125 years, the Oregon Historical Society has served as the state’s collective memory, preserving a vast collection of objects, photographs, maps, manuscript materials, books,
films, and oral histories. Our research library, museum, digital platforms, educational programming, and historical journal make Oregon’s history open and accessible to all.<i>
</i>We exist because history is powerful, and because a history as deep and complex as Oregon’s cannot be contained within a single story or point of view.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif">---<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#002D46;mso-ligatures:none">Rachel Randles<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#232D33;mso-ligatures:none">Chief Marketing & Communications Officer<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:gray;mso-ligatures:none">she/her/hers pronouns
<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:gray;mso-ligatures:none">Oregon Historical Society<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:gray;mso-ligatures:none">1200 SW Park Ave. Portland, OR 97205<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:gray;mso-ligatures:none">p: 503.306.5221
</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#03B5B5;mso-ligatures:none"> </span><a href="https://ohs.org/"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#03B5B5;mso-ligatures:none">ohs.org</span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#03B5B5;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:gray;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:115%"><a href="http://www.ohs.org/"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#002D46;text-decoration:none"><img border="0" width="148" height="57" style="width:1.5416in;height:.5916in" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image001.png@01DCD65C.8AC62910"></span></a><span style="font-size:11.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Proxima Nova";mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:115%"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none">Explore our
<span style="color:#03B5B5"><a href="https://guides.bloombergconnects.org/en-US/guide/oregonHistoricalSociety"><span style="color:#03B5B5">free digital guide</span></a>
</span>available through Bloomberg Connects.</span></i><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#03B5B5">
<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:10.0pt;line-height:115%"><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:#03B5B5"><a href="https://app.e2ma.net/app2/audience/signup/1780482/32549/"><span style="color:#03B5B5">Sign
up for our e-digest</span></a></span></i><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif"> to get Oregon history in your inbox every week!</span></i><i><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;mso-ligatures:none"><o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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