by Brandon Dieckmann :: History as it is remembered and history as it is experienced are seldom one in the same. My summer and autumn spent at the Washington County Museum gave insight into the contrasts and overlap between these worlds. Currently at the museum stand two displays in the main gallery that exemplify them.Continue Reading The Humanity of History: Autumn at the Washington County Museum
by Brandon Dieckmann :: I opened a dusty old cardboard box and pulled out an exquisitely Swiss-crafted Bolex analog movie camera, manufactured about 7 or 8 decades ago. I loaded the reel spring tight and let the mechanical motor hum. I wondered about how the different ways engineering, design, and cultural values synthesized into differentContinue Reading Old Negatives, New Dark Room: Fresh Perspectives at the Washington County Museum
by Ryan Wisnor :: September 2018 marks the twentieth anniversary of the beginning of the Powell’s Books union campaign and the subsequent formation of International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 5. The unrelenting creativity of the booksellers’ work stoppages and street theater captured the imagination of activists and generated a social movement of supportContinue Reading Workers of the Word Unite!: A Timeline of the Powell’s Books Union Campaign, 1998-2000
By Kirsten Straus :: Tucked away on the northern edge of the Salem Pioneer Cemetery used to lie a small, cement shrine dedicated to “unknown friend[s].”[1] Unbeknownst to most Salemites, this shrine is some of the last remaining evidence of the Chinese who called Salem home around the turn of the nineteenth century. Recently, theContinue Reading Salem’s Hidden Past: The Chinese Shrine at Salem Pioneer Cemetery
By Blake Brooks :: Internship work had never really crossed my mind until my senior year, and now, I am kicking myself for not taking advantage of the opportunity sooner. As a history major, finding internships can seem difficult at times, but by chance, I was introduced to the curator of the Washington County MuseumContinue Reading Re-envisioning My Future by Preserving the Past: A Summer Internship at the Washington County Museum
By Taylor Bailey :: In the epilogue of his spectacular history of American wildlife film Reel Nature, environmental historian Gregg Mitman observes: “We no longer work with animals, we predominately watch them.” Whether the act of watching animals be on film or television, at zoos or aquariums, or on the internet, Mitman’s astute conclusion makesContinue Reading Animal History Meets Natural History | Curatorial Internship with Portland State’s Museum of Natural History
By Madelyn Miller :: The “neverbuilt” is a term describing building and design projects that were never realized, or were realized but in a compromised state. My first exposure to the study of the unrealized came when I started working at the Portland State Architecture, Engineering, and Construction Archive (AECA) in June 2016, whileContinue Reading Neverbuilt Portland State | Imagining the past futures of Oregon’s largest university
By Greta Smith :: This fall I worked on a project for the Clackamas County Historical Society Museum of the Oregon Territory (MOOT) where I wrote interpretive text for 13 items that belong to the Kaegi Pharmacy collection. The Kaegi Pharmacy operated in Wilsonville from 1927 until it closed in 1989, after which brothers JohnContinue Reading Kaegi Pharmacy Exhibit | Interpreting objects in virtual space
By Maddie Mott :: Sand on its own is a pretty unremarkable substance. But when combined with technology, sand can be transformed into an educational user interface. In January 2016, I began an internship at the Clackamas County Historical Society (CCHS), where I was involved in creating interactive exhibit components designed for kids that wouldContinue Reading Interactive History | Changing the Way We Teach History in Museums
By Kira Lesley :: I interned with the Architectural Heritage Center, located in the Southeast Portland Historic District. Although my research interests involve Portland’s development and land use, I have only recently approached land use history’s intersection with historic preservation. My work with PSU Public History graduate and current Education Manager for the Architectural HeritageContinue Reading Historic Preservation and Collective Memory | Preservation as an Agent of Social Justice