Events
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Foreigners in Native Homelands: Lewis and Clark and the Pioneers
Indigenous peoples have lived in the Columbia River Plateau region for thousands of years, negotiating and fostering relationships among themselves and with the ecosystems of their homelands. Beginning in the nineteenth century, they formed relationships with foreigners who arrived overland — first, the Lewis and Clark Expedition and, later, thousands of immigrants on the Oregon Trail. Scholars Bobbie Conner and Bill Lang will discuss with each other and with the audience the experience of newcomers entering and crossing those homelands, including how those events impacted life for Native people and how those foreigners’ experiences in the plateau contrasted with the goals they had set when leaving their homes.
Women’s Resistance in Early Twentieth Century Oregon
From direct action to court action, women in Oregon used a variety of tactics to protest the state, and the status quo, in the early twentieth century. Women from diverse backgrounds protested as individuals and as members of political and labor organizations, seeking both personal freedom and justice for collective groups. They faced incarceration, harassment, and even physical violence as they worked to demand change. As historian Kimberly Jensen will demonstrate, their stories are important pieces of larger histories of citizenship, civil liberties, and dissent.
Oregon’s Enigmatic Black History
Black and white Oregonians have sometimes been in conflict and, at other times, have cooperated as they threaded their way through the state’s history. Blacks in Oregon sometimes pioneered laws and societal practices that reflected national events. Although minuscule in numbers, blacks, along with white allies, led the way in enacting racial justice legislation during the mid-twentieth century. Oregon’s Constitution, however, banned both slavery and free blacks — while the state’s political leadership supported the Union during the Civil War, which led to the end of slavery. Join us for an evening exploring Oregon’s enigmatic history in relation to blacks.
Oregon, Indigenous Nations, Manifest Destiny, and the Doctrine of Discovery
The “Doctrine of Discovery” is the international law principle that European nations used to claim most of the non-European world. This talk will explain the elements that make up this law and argue that the Doctrine of Discovery morphed into “American Manifest Destiny” and was used, and is still being used today, to justify the acquisition of lands and assets of Indian Nations and peoples.
Beyond Chinatown: Uncovering Oregon’s Rural Chinese History
McMenamins Kennedy School
5736 NE 33rd Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97211
Rethinking Oregon Settlement
Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97205
You’re So Vain: Indian-White Relations in the 21st Century
Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97205
Grounded in This Place: A Deep History of Latino Activism in Oregon
Oregon Historical Society
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97205