The Oregon Historical Society (OHS) has been in the news a fair amount recently, a little over a year since the organization announced its most recent deep cuts to staffing and programs. The OHS has been faced with a budget crisis* after significant state funding disappeared in the wake of the current economic downturn. The OHS is not alone in this: As reported recently, the Southern Oregon Historical Society is in the process of selling some of their properties in downtown Jacksonville to generate funds, and about a year ago Clackamas Heritage Partners (CHP) faced funding shortages that forced them to suspend operations for an unknown period and close the End of the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center and two additional Oregon City sites.

The NHN Board provided an email update to Associates in December, and has sent periodic email updates since this time. Reflecting on the upcoming NHN meeting with OHS Executive Director George Vogt, I wanted to provide a centralized, annotated compendium of the most recent (~2 weeks) news reports on issues related to OHS funding, administration, and access:

Steve Law, “Cash-strapped society explores history tax,” Portland Tribune March 25, 2010.

Announcement of OHS Board’s plans to introduce to the voters a “heritage taxing district” plan to collect “a modest amount of property taxes in Multnomah County.” According to Executive Director George Vogt, “if the taxing district or alternative fundraising ideas don’t pan out, the 112-year-old nonprofit . . . expects to exhaust its cash reserves by late next year or early 2012.”

Thom Jensen, “Historical Society’s spending questioned as it asks for taxpayers’ money,” KATU TV March 26, 2010.

“The Oregon Historical Society is floating a few plans that could cost you more tax dollars to keep its downtown museum afloat, but we dug into its tax records to see how the non-profit is spending its money and you might be surprised to hear what we learned.”[FYI, it seems that the 10 comments posted in response to this story have been deleted as of April 2, 2010]

D. K. Row, “Financial troubles continue to plague Oregon Historical Society,” Oregonian March 31, 2010.

Brief online announcement that the paper will have “more on the goings on at OHS” upcoming.

David Gillaspie, “Find a better way to share state’s history,” Portland Tribune April 1, 2010.

Guest opinion from a former OHS staff member, who asserts that the OHS’ problem “isn’t just money – it’s trust”. To support this contention, Gillaspie finds confusion in the organization’s goals, questions the organizations management structure, and suggests that the organization has not done an adequate job of outreach and community building. Gillaspie uses these examples and the memories of his personal experience at the OHS to question the efficacy of rewarding this institution with increased funding.

If anyone knows of any additional media coverage between Dec. 10, 2009, and April 2, 2010, please post in the comments. Also, NHN Associates, feel free to send such links to the listserv. Periodically, the NHN Board will collate these materials into blog posts.

James V. Hillegas

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* Not a hyperbolic statement in this instance.