Will a bad economy wipe out Oregon history? Maybe.
As the state celebrates its 150th birthday, an institution full of its historic documents goes on life-support.
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The OHS research collection is, literally, priceless and irreplaceable, and despite public funding at various levels over the years, it does remain the property of a private, nonprofit institution. Acquisition by the state, for amalgamation into a university or the state archives or library, would require a large up-front purchase and an annual commitment for maintenance, staffing and acquisitions.
It would be far cheaper to inject a reasonable amount of state funding into the OHS research facility on a guaranteed annual basis. But legislators and governors come and go, as do OHS trustees, and this year's experience shows that the state's collected heritage can be very vulnerable.
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Comments:
Posted Thu, Mar 19, 3:04 p.m. Inappropriate
When Oregon mandates the mileage tax and forcibly installs GPS tracking devices on all privately owned vehicles who will chronicle this, the dawning of totalitarianism in the United States?
Posted Thu, Mar 19, 11:06 p.m. Inappropriate
Floyd, thank you very much for this articulate version of the events of March 13. Your perspective is an interesting contrast to other representations.
Lynne Terry of the _Oregonian_, for example, essentially parroted the OHS press release when writing this article: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/1237002928196910.xml&coll;=7. What ever happened to investigative journalism??
Polina Olsen on the My Oregon blog posted a great short entry about how broad-based are the users of the OHS Research Library (http://blog.oregonlive.com/myoregon/2009/03/keep_ohs_open.html). One comment to this blog entry states is succinctly: the Research Library's "quiet mission is not to wow with novelty but to educate and enthrall, remind us, reveal to us our state's 'past.'"
The text of the _Tribune_ article is relatively representative, but the fact that journalist Kevin Hardin used a photo of OHS Board Member John Herman, I think, deflects attention away from the real focus of the event, which was to showcase those of us who actively use the resources in the OHS library (see http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=123698452820229500).
James V. Hillegas
Historian
Posted Fri, Mar 20, 10:22 a.m. Inappropriate
Thaks for this excellent overview of the situation at the OHS library. The materials at the library are used by people in a wide range of professions to do their work, and it is bordering on criminal that people do not have access to either the materials or the skilled staff that understands the collections. I hope OHS does not decide to sell or break up the collections and that the state will provide to maintain access to this amazing asset, whose documents help solve many problems and illuminate many issues Oregonians are facing today.
Posted Tue, Mar 24, 11:34 a.m. Inappropriate
Oregon has no one to blame but itself.
Until they change the state's idiotic budget law that requires revenue surpluses to be refunded, Oregon's institutions and services will always exist in a precarious state. States have to have rainy day funds.
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