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Monthly Memo: April 2024

03/29/2024 2:41 PM | Anonymous

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Then & Now

Can you guess what bridge this is?
Hint:
 This railroad bridge crosses the Willamette River near the north end of Lake Oswego. 

Stay tuned to the end of the newsletter to find out!

Circa 1910 photograph of ten men on a half-built railroad bridge in Oswego

From the desk of your executive director

I hope you enjoyed the glimpse of spring we were lucky enough to receive! It's settling over the Heritage House in jumps and starts, with daffodils showing their brilliant color and a few pink blossoms poking their heads out. 

With Spring comes an exciting time of planning for us here at the Heritage House. We have a really exciting 1920s-themed event we'll be promoting soon, along with an upcoming new exhibit and our continued strategic visioning. In short, it's shaping up to a wonderful year! 

But with all these fun programs to look forward to, I want to take a moment to look back at a few of our Board Members who have paved the way for our success. Mary Puskas, who is retiring from her position but was the Board President when I joined OHC and provided me with invaluable insight as I started my role, and Jeannie McGuire, who will be specially recognized later this year.

Our team is truly incredible, I can't say it enough. And as we onboard new Board Members who carry a deep passion for historical work and for this community, it's always important to take a moment to give thanks to those who came before us and built the strong foundation that makes growth at the Heritage House now possible. 

Kathryn Sinor
Executive Director

THE OREGONIAN: Discover the hard work it took for one of our Board Members to remove racist language from their home deed

Did you miss last month's Chautauqua? Preserving your family's history

DID YOU MISS THE FAMILY ARCHIVISTS' TALK ON PRESERVING YOUR FAMILY'S HISTORY?

Our presenter, Rachel, recorded her presentation and has shared it with us. A link is available here on our website under the "Earlier This Season" section, along with a list of upcoming Chautauqua presentations so you don't have to miss the next ones! If you have any issues viewing the presentation, please let me know.

WANT ADDITIONAL RESOURCES? 

If you're looking for additional resources on how to get started, how to organize family photographs, or other tips and tools to get your family's archives together, feel free to respond to this newsletter. The Family Archivists provided several items to share! 

Indexing project update. Photo includes a screenshot of part of an excel sheet that lists several items in the OHC archives

Remember when we talked about creating an index for the public library's history collection? Well, volunteers have been hard at work for the past few months working on an index for OUR collection! Here's a quick behind-the-scenes look:

Indexing allows us to build a navigable list of what's in a group of items. Instead of researchers digging through thousands of items, the index will allow them to understand at a glance what they'll find.

The first phase of this process involves volunteers going through our family collections. They include important dates, names, and a general idea of what the item contains. This is an example of a first draft; from these details, we'll build a searchable list for researchers.

Interested on staying up to date on our projects? Follow us on social media! 

Upcoming events include the April Chautauqua on Wednesday, April 3rd, Museum closure from April 2nd - 6th, and the Sustainability Fair on Saturday, April 20th.

April 3 First Wednesday Chautauqua: The Transformation of Modern India by Dr. David Campion. Free to attend from 5:30 PM - 6:30 PM at the Oswego Heritage House

Oswego Heritage Museum hours: The museum will be closed to the public from 4/2-4/6

Then & Now

Top photo is 1910 photograph of ten men on top of a half-built bridge. Bottom photograph is current photo of the railroad bridge.

Were you able to guess which bridge this photograph featured, c. 1910 to now?

The 1910 census lists 14 men boarding in Oswego who were working on a bridge. The Southern Pacific Railroad Bridge, now called the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge, features in several historic photographs now on display in our Industry of Early Oswego photo exhibit. As the majestic backdrop of a sternwheeler pushing sawdust barge to the cement plant or visible in the background of a shot of the pipe foundry, this bridge connects us to the past in many ways! 

Come Visit Our Featured Exhibits!

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
Free entrance

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

Copyright © 2024, Oswego Heritage Council. All rights reserved.

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