Three heritage projects in Marion County are among 31 statewide to receive funding from the Oregon Heritage Commission.
The commission awarded a total of $378,971 in competitive grants to support preservation, research, exhibits, oral histories, and other efforts that protect and interpret Oregon’s history.
Locally, the City of Salem will conduct archaeological excavation and testing at the former Oregon Methodist Mission Indian Manual Labor Training School site.
The Willamette Heritage Center will complete preservation assessments on several historic buildings.
And the Oregon Fire Service Museum in Brooks will restore four iron bases and columns salvaged from the Capitol Building that burned in 1935, adding them to a memorial courtyard.
Statewide, grants ranged from about $1,600 to $20,000 and are awarded once every two years. The Oregon Heritage Commission includes nine governor-appointed members and nine agency advisors working to secure and enhance Oregon’s heritage.
Funded projects:
- Applegate House Heritage Arts and Education to create a plan for storage and care of collections.
- Centro Cultural, in Cornelius, to provide Ballet Folklorico program.
- Chehalem Culture Center, in Newberg, to develop traveling trunks for grades 3-5.
- City of Salem to complete archaeological excavation and testing to local and document the remains of the structure and artifacts of the Oregon Methodist Mission Indian Manual Labor Training School.
- City of St. Helens to digitize and make available the “St. Helens Chronicle” on the University of Oregon Historic Oregon Newpapers website.
- Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, in Pendleton, to support collections care.
- Coquille Indian Tribe, in Coos Bay, to develop and fabricate a display for the traditional dugout canoe fragment housed at the South Slough Reserve visitor center.
- Crossroads Art Center, in Baker City, to complete an assessment of 10 wagons on display at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.
- Eagle Point Friends of the Library, in Eagle Point, to digitize the “Upper Rogue/Eagle Point Independent” newspaper.
- Egyptian Theatre Preservation Association, in Coos Bay, to conduct a structural analysis of the theatre’s fly loft.
- Hellenic-American Cultural Center and Museum, in Portland, research and document Greek Americans and Greek American communities across Oregon.
- Japanese American Museum of Oregon, in Portland, to create an exhibition on Japanese American contributions to democracy and increasing participatory democracy through action.
- Jefferson County Historical Society and Museum, in Madras, for HVAC in the museum.
- Josephy Center for Arts and Culture, in Joseph, to provide and document a visit to Sis-nim-mux for Nez Perce community members Wallowa exploring campsites, food, burial and vision quest sites.
- Keepers of Heceta Head Lighstation, in Lane County, to update interpretive signs at Heceta Head Lightstation.
- Oregon Fire Service Museum, Memorial & Learning Center, in Brooks, to restore four iron bases and columns salvaged from the Capitol Building that burned in 1935 and install them on a memorial courtyard.
- University of Oregon Museum of Natural and Cultural History, in Eugene, to complete a field school at the Applegate House in Douglas County and complete the processing of information and materials gathered from the field school.
- Oregon Rail Heritage Foundation, in Portland, to install operational systems onto the boiler and tender of the steam locomotive.
- Portland Art Museum to conserve, catalog, and research the objects associated with Oregon Tribes.
- Rainier Oregon Historical Museum, in Rainier, to complete nine oral histories and establish listening kiosk at the museum.
- Sandy Historical Society to complete an assessment of the museum’s collections.
- Siuslaw Pioneer Museum, in Florence, to produce walking tours.
- Southern Oregon Historical Society, in Medford, to make available online over 6,000 glass plate negatives of photographer Peter Britt.
- Springfield Museum to purchase exhibit cases.
- Vanport Mosaic, in Portland, to establish a community-centered framework to transform the collection into a sustainable, publicly accessible archive.
- Tillamook County Pioneer Museum, to assess the Indigenous collection in pursuit of NAGPRA compliance.
- University of Oregon, in Eugene, to complete pedestrian survey for and documentation of culturally modified trees within the Willamette National Forest.
- Upper Rogue Historical Society and Trail Tavern Museum, in Trail, to repair the floor of the museum.
- Nez Perce Wallowa Homeland, in Wallowa, to upgrade the interpretive center storage and displays.
- Wetlands Conservancy, in Portland, to enhance water quality and wildlife habitat at four urban wetlands in the Portland metropolitan area through an Indigenous-led assessment and restoration approach.
- Willamette Heritage Center, in Salem, to complete preservation assessments on historic buildings at the site.
