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

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

July 21 – 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

Current Exhibit

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

May 12 – December 1, 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

Current 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

Current Exhibit

My Journey with Lewis and Clark: Watercolors by Helen Brown

September 15, 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

Upcoming Exhibit

Meier & Frank Santaland

November 30 – December 31, 2017

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

Generations of Oregonians have fond memories of the downtown Portland Meier & Frank department store’s Santaland. A ride on the iconic Monorail and a chance to sit on Santa’s lap became a Christmas tradition for many families. Following the closure of Macy’s downtown store (which purchased Meier & Frank in 2005) this past year, items from Santaland were donated to the Oregon Historical Society and the Portland Business Alliance. This holiday season, come visit the OHS Santaland display, featuring Santa’s chair, Rudolph, animatronic elves, and decorated Christmas trees!

• Family-friendly
• Free for Members

Upcoming Exhibit

Racing to Change: Oregon’s Civil Rights Years

January 15 – June 24, 2018

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

This exhibit illuminates Oregon’s vibrant black community and their courage, struggle and progress amongst a larger context of discrimination and displacement during the civil rights movement in Oregon in the 1960’s and 1970’s.

• Free for Members
• Family-friendly
• Teachers

Upcoming Exhibit

OSU150

February 9 – September 9, 2018

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

For 150 years, Oregon State University has provided access to a high-quality college education for all Oregonians, solving tough challenges through groundbreaking research, serving community needs, and propelling the state and global economy. This exhibit shares — through 150 stories — how Oregon State University has transformed the community, the state, the nation, and the world in surprising ways.

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

Upcoming Exhibit

Madame Caroline Testout: The Rose that Made Portland Famous

March 9 – June 17, 2018

Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Ave
Portland, Oregon 97205

Visitors were astonished by the rose-lined streets of Portland when they arrived for the Lewis & Clark Exposition in 1905. Rose mania was underway and Portland became internationally known as the Rose City. The year 1907 saw the beginning of the Rose Festival with hedges and home gardens providing millions of roses for floats, women’s hats, and anything else that could be covered in roses. This exhibit chronicles the story of Madame Caroline Testout, the pink rose that made Portland famous and turned Stumptown into the City of Roses.

• Family-friendly
• Free for Members
• Researchers

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