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… As of Friday, March 13, the collection of Oregon’s films, photos, trail diaries, propaganda posters, and transit maps that for decades anyone could use to research Oregon’s history is no longer open to the public.
The timing of the closure is ironic. In mid-February, state legislators celebrated Oregon’s 150th birthday at the capitol building in Salem by consuming a reported 423 pounds of cake and 3,100 hot dogs. In between mouthfuls, Senate President Peter Courtney, dressed in period costume, gave a speech emphasizing the importance of Oregon’s history.
Rachel Schoening, OHS spokeswoman, says the society has run up “a huge deficit” since the state cut its funding in 2001. “We basically ran ourselves into the ground,” says Schoening. …
“This affects everyone from novelists to state legislators to documentary filmmakers,” says Richard Engeman, the public historian at OHS before he was laid off in 2006. “You slam the door shut on the ability to tell those stories.”
Thirty years ago, the library was free and open to the public seven days a week. In 2008, the library cost $10 to enter and was only public five days a week.
“If the archives remain inaccessible, it will make it so many graduate students won’t finish their theses, books won’t be written, and historical research will be shut down,” says Kathy Tucker, director of the historian-run nonprofit Northwest History Network.
Historians are also upset about what will happen to the many photos, diaries, and other one-of-a-kind items people have donated to the library over the past century. “These materials were given in perpetuity, to be used by the public of Oregon. To say the public cannot access them is terrible,” says Engeman. …
… The Oregon Historical Society took steps Friday to reopen its shuttered research library, but the lack of a long-term solution to its budget crunch still worries regional historians.
Society officials announced that the library, which is popular with historians and researchers, will reopen by the end of this month with a skeleton staff. …
… The additional staff is welcome news to historians, who stood on a makeshift soapbox across the street from the library at a Friday afternoon rally to draw attention to the library’s plight.
Michael Munk, author of the “Portland Red Guide,” is one of many authors, historians and others who use the archives in their research. Munk noted that the Portland City Council agreed this week to subsidize the wealthy sports team owner in hopes of getting a Major League Soccer team here, even as many of the library’s staff worked their last day.
“Where is the priority for our city and our taxpayers’ money?” Munk asked the crowd from atop the soapbox.
Historian Harry Stein, author of a biography of federal Judge Gus Solomon and other works, said he has seen many people use the archives during the years, including amateur genealogists, architects, lawyers, journalists, filmmakers and Native Americans trying to protect their rights.
“A century of effort, thought and money has gone into this place so that everybody can use it,” Stein told the crowd.
Northwest History Network members are concerned that the library could reopen with volunteers or others who won’t be able to allow access to its most valuable material: the cataloged first-hand histories and writings donated by pioneers and early settlers in the state. …
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