Welcome to the Oregon Encyclopedia.
Explore Oregon's history and culture — from Athapaskan Indians to Zigzag Ranger Station
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April 6-12: National Library Week
Learn about some of your favorite libraries in Oregon and the librarians who made them possible.
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![Carnegie Libraries in Oregon]()
Carnegie Libraries in Oregon
Of the 1,679 public library buildings funded in the United States by Andrew Carnegie between 1883 a…
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![Central Library (Multnomah County Library)]()
Central Library (Multnomah County Library)
Central Library, the largest building in the Multnomah County Library system (originally the Librar…
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![Cornelia Marvin Pierce (1873-1957)]()
Cornelia Marvin Pierce (1873-1957)
From her first arrival in Oregon in 1905 until her death in 1957, Cornelia Marvin Pierce helped sha…
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![Evelyn Crowell (1936–2017)]()
Evelyn Crowell (1936–2017)
Evelyn Crowell was one of the first professional Black librarians in the City of Portland. A commun…
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![Gresham Carnegie Library]()
Gresham Carnegie Library
The Gresham Carnegie Library building is one of the finest examples of the Tudor Revival style of a…
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![Historic Umatilla County Library Building]()
Historic Umatilla County Library Building
The historic Umatilla County Library building in Pendleton was built in 1916 and was designed by Po…
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![Library Association of Portland]()
Library Association of Portland
The first public library in Oregon, supported by taxes and freely available to everyone, opened in …
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![Mary Frances Isom (1865-1920)]()
Mary Frances Isom (1865-1920)
Mary Frances Isom, perhaps Oregon's most remarkable librarian, transformed the Library Association …
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![Mount Angel Abbey Library]()
Mount Angel Abbey Library
Housed in a building designed by Finnish architect Alvar Aalto, the Mount Angel Abbey Library is an…
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![Oregon Territorial Library]()
Oregon Territorial Library
The Oregon Territorial Library was the first publicly funded library in Oregon. It was created by t…
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![State Library of Oregon]()
State Library of Oregon
Since 1905, the State Library of Oregon in Salem has worked to develop library services for all Ore…
Feeling adventurous? How Oregonian of you.
Or may we suggest…
Explore OHS Digital History Projects
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Wayfinder
An interactive map of notable places, people, and events in Oregon history.
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Oregon History Project
The Research Library at the Oregon Historical Society provides direct access to digitized and digital materials as well as narratives from Pacific Northwest historians.
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Oregon TimeWeb
An interactive timeline of archival materials and historical scholarship on the history of Oregon.
This Just In
New Entries
"We could see the top of one hill and think that was the last. But when we gained that, others kept rising before us. To look back, in retreat, seemed utterly out of the question. To look forward was to look directly upwards, as the ascent seemed almost perpendicular." Harriet Hitchcock, 13, 1865, Oregon Trail
No. 7
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![Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)]()
Adams-Onís Treaty (1819)
The oldest political terrestrial state boundary of Oregon—the southern …
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![Ardyth Kennelly (1912–2005)]()
Ardyth Kennelly (1912–2005)
Novelist and artist Ardyth Kennelly was “one of the last of a celebrate…
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![Commercial Salmon Fishing in the Columbia River]()
Commercial Salmon Fishing in the Columbia River
Salmon fisheries have a long history in Oregon, going back to as many a…
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![Herman the Sturgeon]()
Herman the Sturgeon
Herman the Sturgeon is a 10-foot-long, 500-pound white sturgeon who has…
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![Joaquin "Chino" Berdugo (1850-1931)]()
Joaquin "Chino" Berdugo (1850-1931)
Joaquin “Chino” Berdugo was a prominent vaquero leader and stockman in …
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![Lafayette]()
Lafayette
The town of Lafayette, situated in the Willamette Valley between McMinn…
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![Larry Mahan (1943–2023)]()
Larry Mahan (1943–2023)
Larry Mahan was a six-time all-around world champion cowboy and a two-t…
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![Linnton Plywood Mill]()
Linnton Plywood Mill
The Linnton Plywood Association (LPA) was a cooperative worker-owned mi…
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![Lisa Malinowski Steinman (1950–)]()
Lisa Malinowski Steinman (1950–)
Lisa M. Steinman writes “to make sense of myself and the world,” she to…
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![Margaret Comstock Snell (1843–1923)]()
Margaret Comstock Snell (1843–1923)
Margaret Comstock Snell was a pioneering domestic scientist who in 1889…
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![Marion Sayle Taylor (1889–1942)]()
Marion Sayle Taylor (1889–1942)
Marion Sayle Taylor was the Voice of Experience, a radio personality wh…
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![Modoc Tribe]()
Modoc Tribe
The Modoc are a thriving Indigenous people who live predominantly in no…
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![Obukan Judo Dojo]()
Obukan Judo Dojo
Obukan Judo, the oldest dōjō in Oregon, has had a presence in Portland …
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![Richard Steiner (1901–1975)]()
Richard Steiner (1901–1975)
Richard Steiner was the senior minister of the First Unitarian Church i…
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![Rocky Butte]()
Rocky Butte
Rocky Butte is a 612-foot-high extinct cinder cone volcano in Portland,…
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![Santiago Ventura Morales Exoneration Case]()
Santiago Ventura Morales Exoneration Case
In 1986, Mixtec farmworker Santiago Ventura Morales was wrongfully conv…
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![Seneca]()
Seneca
Seneca is a small town in Bear Valley near the Blue Mountains and the M…
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![Sylvia Williams Thompson (1873–1950)]()
Sylvia Williams Thompson (1873–1950)
In January 1920, during a special session called by Governor Ben W. Olc…
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![Vale]()
Vale
The City of Vale is about twelve miles west of the Oregon-Idaho state l…
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![Walter Alan Curtis (1941–2023)]()
Walter Alan Curtis (1941–2023)
Walt Curtis was an Oregon writer, painter, and literary activist and—in…
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![William Schonely (1929–2023)]()
William Schonely (1929–2023)
Bill Schonely wasn’t just the longest tenured broadcaster in the histor…
The OE is Green!
Our editorial process is completely paperless — authors and editors use a one-of-a-kind online workshop developed by Portland State University. We've published hundreds of authoritative entries on Oregon history and culture without hurting a single Douglas Fir. Donate your green to The OE and keep us — and the trees — growing.
Additional Funding
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This project has been funded in part by the Oregon Heritage Commission and the Oregon Cultural Trust
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This project has been funded in part by an American Rescue Plan Act Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services through the Library Services and Technology Act, administered by the State Library of Oregon.
Project Partners
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![https://www.pdx.edu/]()
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![https://oregoncouncilofteachersofenglish.wildapricot.org/]()
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![https://willamette.edu/]()
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![https://wou.edu/]()
