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featured exhibits

ALL MY LOVE TO YOU, CHARLIE BOY:
The Charles Benjamin Hill Love Letters, 1919-1921
(ONLINE)


In early April 2020, the Executive Director of the Oswego Heritage Council received a phone call from a resident in First Addition, Lake Oswego, wanting to know if we would like a cache of "vintage letters" she found in her attic. The collection would end up consisting of 306 love letters to Charles Benjamin Hill, a lifelong Oswego resident, from multiple young women he met during his travels.

The letters were organized, scanned, and transcribed as written with misspellings, grammatical errors, and non sequiturs. The Oswego Heritage Council's research team added explanatory footnotes, family histories, and genealogies to provide an understanding of the lives of these women.

This is a condensed version, available online in a storymap format and with highlights from the people who wrote to him. If you would like to read the full copy, please visit the Heritage House or the Lake Oswego Public Library.

THE GOOD DEATH:
Dying through the Eyes of Oswego's Early Families
(MAIN EXHIBIT HALL)


Families in early Oswego dealt with the cycle of life on an intimate level, as had every generation prior to them. Birth was at home, as was the gruesome process of dying and death, but the difficulty was ameliorated by community involvement.  Following a few key families in Oswego, this exhibit traces the changing customs around death and explores complex questions about grieving, dying, and how we treat our dead. 

What does it mean to have "A Good Death"?

INDUSTRY OF EARLY OSWEGO
(MEETING SPACE)


This exhibit features a collection of historic photographs from our archives. Meet the men and women who worked in 19th and 20th century Oswego. From the early iron industry to agriculture to logging to railroad, Oswego aimed to be the "Pittsburgh of the West." 

Oswego Heritage House and Museum
398 10th St.
Lake Oswego, OR 97034
(503) 635-6373

Hours of Operation:
Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM

The Oswego Heritage Council is a  501 (c)(3)
EIN # 93-0983947

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