Oregon Historical Society

Exhibits - ohs collects, preserves, documents, and exhibits the state's material culture with more than 85,000 artifacts. Its major permanent exhibition, the award winning experience Oregon exhibit opened to the general public on february 14, 2019, on Oregon's 160th birthday. A dynamic educational exhibit, experience Oregon allows visitors to learn about the countless people, places and events that have shaped oregon.continued on schedule o.the 2022 ohs exhibit series portrayed connections to the past and to one another through various art forms. The photography, paintings, music, even the art of a carousel, were selected to give a sense of time, place, and who we are. 2022's informative exhibits included: i am an american: stories of exclusion and belonging (the immigrant story presents an exhibition that explores the different facets of asian american experiences) frances stilwell: Oregon's botanical landscape featuring paintings of Oregon's native plants in their natural habitats; and twin exhibits highlighting the natural beauty of Oregon's state parks, a walk in the park with images from ohs's collection and a century of wonder: celebrating 100 years of Oregon state parks, that includes contemporary images of the parks. To complement the museum exhibit, highlights from a century of wonder were used to form a traveling exhibit. The stories communicated by our exhibits are not confined by our museum walls. In addition to becoming the inspiration for traveling exhibits, our museum exhibits also serve as jumping off points for further examination. They often are paired with in-person and virtual programming, used by the ohs education department to create curricula, and to lead guests to dig deeper into a subject using the ohs resources available online, including digitized primary sources and digital history websites like the Oregon encyclopedia. On-site exhibits are shown in its seven galleries. The Society also loans objects to more than 30 Historical institutions on a yearly basis. In 2022, 27,444 in-person visitors came to the Oregon Historical Society to view its exhibits and participate in various programs.

Education - the educational department at ohs provides tours, traveling trunks, curriculum, and interactive exhibits for visitors of all ages, with a focus on grades k-12. Ohs offers 11 traveling trunks on urban, rural, and multicultural topics, each filled with objects and images for hands-on and experiential learning, traveling throughout the state of Oregon to grades k-12 classrooms and a range of organizations, including senior home facilities. Continued on schedule o.the trunks and exhibits are accompanied by curriculum for classroom teachers and students. The Society mounts eight to ten traveling and temporary exhibitions on varied themes each year. In 2022, ohs introduced 2 new traveling exhibits and over 12,503 people saw our traveling exhibits at 17 different locations from the Oregon coast to eastern Oregon. The education department also manages the Oregon history day program, which is a part of the renowned, award-winning national history day program. Approximately two dozen teachers and about 1,000 students from all regions of the state participate in Oregon history day by conducting Historical research and creating an exhibit, website, documentary, performance or paper entry. In 2022, students submit their history day projects virtually for the third year. These projects were virtually reviewed and scored by teams of three judges per category, representing local teachers, archivists, librarians, historians, and museum professionals. Every june, the state of Oregon participates in the national contest, which is typically held near Washington, d.c. In 2022, 90 students participated in the virtual Oregon history day state contest and 46 students advanced to the virtual national history day contest. Four Oregon entries made it to the finals round and ranked among the top 10 in the nation, with two projects placing second and third in their categories.the education program served 593 students in self-guided tours towards the end of 2022. Ohs provides a weekly e-digest to educators informing them of programs and articles that will assist them with virtual teaching.

Research services - the Oregon Historical Society research library is one of the largest Historical libraries in the country and maintains an unparalleled collection relating to the history of Oregon and the pacific northwest. Its holdings include thousands of books, government documents, and serials; maps; manuscript collections; oral history interviews and other sound recordings; as well as millions of photographs; millions of feet of archival film footage; and a growing collection of digitized and born-digital images, documents, sound, and video.continued on schedule o.these collections broaden and enrich the understanding and interpretation of the cultural, political, religious, social, economic, scientific, and technological life in Oregon. Ohs's research library reopened in october of 2021 following nearly two years of renovation. The new library space features a modernized reading room, with enhancements for researchers including a reconfigured reference desk, a new map and architecture viewing station, tech hub, and physical improvements that promote accessibility and inclusion for all users. A highlight of the new space is the pietro belluschi architectural resource center, which will provide a focal point to highlight the library's architectural collections and a well-equipped meeting space for instruction. The research library online catalogue is the primary point of discovery for researchers seeking to use its holdings. Archival collections are also described in more detail in archiveswest, an online consortial resource for academic and research libraries in the pacific northwest and mountain states. The library's digital archive, ohs digital collections, provides direct online access worldwide. A robust suite of digital history websites, including the Oregon history project, the Oregon encyclopedia, and the Oregon history wayfinder, provide primary sources and authoritative content that support education and research, with broad appeal to a general audience. Combined, over 1m users viewed nearly 2m pages on these sites in 2022. The research library provides research support to all Society programs and departments and collaborates widely with community partners from around the state. The Society also publishes the Oregon Historical quarterly, which has been a benefit of membership since 1900. The quarterly is a peer-reviewed, public history journal that brings documented history about Oregon and the pacific northwest to both scholars and the general audience. The quarterly is supported by an advisory committee comprised of scholars, public historians, and educators from throughout the state.