Exhibits

Current Exhibit

High Hopes: The Journey of John F. Kennedy

March 25 – November 12, 2017

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

On November 22, 1963, the 35th President of the United States, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, was assassinated while riding in a motorcade through the streets of Dallas, Texas. Kennedy’s short presidency was marked by great hope and promise but also tension and conflict. How he arrived in his position, the youngest elected president in history and the only Catholic to hold the office, is a story of both determination and privilege. The secondborn son of a political dynasty, Kennedy’s rise to power may be seen as inevitable but his ascension was hard fought as he battled against severe health problems and overcame his ailments to become a war hero then a U.S. Congressman and Senator and ultimately the leader of the free world.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Researchers
• Teachers

Current Exhibit,Traveling Exhibit

Oregon's Landmark Legislation

February 10 – July 17, 2017

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

Oregon has repeatedly led the nation in creating, revising, and implementing laws shaping the quality of life of its citizens. While Oregon’s innovations have evoked controversy, they have charted the course for other states and nations. The 16 exhibit panels highlight groundbreaking legislation that Oregon has passed since Statehood either by Politician, Legislative Action, or Public Initiative. Arranged chronologically, the window panels present legislation that focuses on environmental, social, and land use issues.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Current Exhibit

The Portland Police Historical Society: Preserving the History and Honoring the Service of Portland Law-Enforcement Officers, 1851 – Present

September 12, 2016 – July 4, 2017

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

On loan from the Portland Police Museum (located on SW 2nd Avenue in downtown Portland), this local exhibition celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Portland Police Historical Society through artifacts, photographs, and documents relating to the early years of law enforcement in Portland, with a particular focus on the histories of the Portland Police Memorial and the Highland Guard.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Researchers
• Teachers

Current Exhibit

Master Penworks of Tom Stefopoulos, Hellenic Artist of the Lovejoy Columns

April 27 – July 30, 2017

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

The Hellenic-American Cultural Center & Museum (HACCM) presents Master Penworks of Tom Stefopoulos, Hellenic Artist of the Lovejoy Columns. Mr. Stefopoulos was the artist who painted the artwork on the pillars supporting the Lovejoy ramp of the Broadway Bridge. The exhibit features photographs showing the drawings on the columns prior to the demolition. In addition the exhibit includes unique prints and originals of Mr. Stefopoulos' early penworks from the 1930s through the 1960s. Ancient Greek motifs, ancient Greek philosophers, and United States political and military leaders are among the subjects depicted by the artist.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Researchers
• Teachers

Current Exhibit

Mirror on the Modern Woman: Selected Images from the Oregon Journal, 1927–1932

May 12 – October 15, 2017

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

The 1920s heralded the era of the Modern Woman, a more adventurous and independent type open to new possibilities. The new exhibit Mirror on the Modern Woman depicts some of these Modern Women, young and old, at work and at play. The exhibit features fifteen photographs from the 1920s and ’30s selected from the Oregon Historical Society Research Library’s collection of negatives from the Oregon Journal newspaper.

• Family-friendly
• Free for Members
• Researchers
• Teachers

Upcoming Exhibit

Use Well Your Time While in Your Prime: Samplers from the Oregon Historical Society Collection

July 28 – November 26, 2017

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

For many centuries, sewing an embroidery sampler was an essential part of a young woman’s education. Samplers typically featured letters, numbers, and illustrations, as well as religious or moral quotations. Samplers often became treasured pieces of family history, passed down through the generations. This exhibit highlights some of the samplers in the OHS collection, with examples from as early as the late 1700s. Some of them were brought across the Oregon Trail, while others were made by some of the earliest pioneer families in Oregon.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Researchers
• Teachers

Upcoming Exhibit

Native Portraits: Contemporary Tintypes by Ed Drew

August 1 – December 3, 2017

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

In 2014, photographer Ed Drew was commissioned by Klamath Tribal Health & Family Services to make portraits during several intensive “talking circle” weekends, in which participants recounted their experiences with racism, abuse, drug addiction, crime, and tragedy. The resulting series, The People of Klamath Falls, pictures individuals descended from the Klamath and Pit River Paiute tribes of southern Oregon and the Modoc Indians of northern California.

• Family-friendly
• Free for Members
• Teachers

Upcoming Exhibit

My Journey with Lewis & Clark: Watercolors by Helen Brown

September 14, 2017 – January 14, 2018

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

Inspired by the discoveries Meriwether Lewis and William Clark made during their travels, “My Journey with Lewis and Clark” features a series of watercolor works that include scenes that the Corps of Discovery may have seen along the way, botanicals that they first reported for science, and animals that had yet to be documented.

• Family-friendly
• Free for Members

Permanent Exhibit

History Hub

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

History Hub is an exhibit where Oregon’s youth, students, and families can explore the topic of diversity through fun, hands-on interactives, objects, and pictures. History Hub is developed in partnership with an advisory committee of students, teachers, cultural organizations, and museums to tell the stories of people who live in Oregon, today and in the past. The content of History Hub spans grades K-12 with a focus on 4th – 8th grade.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Permanent Exhibit

Oregon My Oregon

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

Winner of a 2005 MUSE Award, Oregon My Oregon occupies an entire floor (7,000 square feet) of the Oregon Historical Society museum, and features some of the most important pieces from the Society's collection of artifacts.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Permanent Exhibit

Oregon Voices

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97205

Oregon Voices examines some of the important people, events, and ideas that have shaped the state in the modern era, from the end of World War II to the present. It features the people of Oregon, from Native Americans, who have lived here since time immemorial, to recent arrivals. It looks at Oregonians who have fought for and against social change. And it explores the land—how people have used it and how they have worked to save it.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Teachers