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Press Releases
February is Birthday Month
February is “Birthday Month” at the Heritage Museum in Independence. Oregon was founded on February 14, 1859, and on February 26, 1885, Thorp’s and Hill’s Towns of Independence were incorporated, making February our City’s birthday month! To celebrate we will be featuring a traveling exhibit from the Oregon Historical Society, “Oregon Voices.” Visitors will learn about the evolution and expansion of Oregon industries, social justice movements, migration and immigration, environment and energy, and Indigenous nations in Oregon from WWII to present day. The exhibit will be on display from February 1 to March 3, 2024. Additionally, the museum will feature the local non-profit, the Thoughts & Gifts Project as our monthly mini-exhibit. The Thoughts & Gifts Project began its path many years ago after founder and president, Jean Love, was driving along country roads to visit family during the holiday season and heard a commercial about providing gifts for youth who may not otherwise receive presents. Upon conclusion of the commercial, she wondered to herself why there were not more programs to help celebrate other important days in children’s lives, such as their birthdays. For many years she continued to think about this idea. Then, in 2017, she began the process of turning the idea into a reality. Today, the Thoughts & Gifts Project serves Polk County, to not only celebrate birthdays for underserved youth, but also for qualifying intellectual/developmental disabled individuals and senior citizens. Come celebrate with us at the Heritage Museum!
Ella Curran: Feeding the Community
A new permanent exhibit opening at the Independence Heritage Museum, Ella Curran: Feeding the Community, tells the remarkable story of Ella Curran, Independence’s food bank namesake. Ella was born in 1929, and in her 48 years of life, she impacted the Independence community in many ways. The food bank officially became a non-profit in 1984, but Ella had long been fulfilling the food bank’s mission before it ever became an official organization. The Ella Curran Food Bank has been providing a safety net for this community for over 40 years – and it is 100% volunteer-powered. Through community partners, loyal donors, strong leadership, and dedication the food bank provides more than nutritional sustenance. The food bank welcomes all who need food, resources, or a volunteer opportunity. If you’re looking for a snapshot of Independence, walk into the food bank! Natascha Adams, museum director, along with Amy Christensen, museum curator, created this exhibit intentionally utilizing multidimensional learning opportunities for folks of all ages, learning styles, and abilities. This exhibit digs deeper into the complicated issue of local food insecurity. Often the greatest barrier to asking for assistance is breaking through the stigma of what it means to ask for food and help when there just aren’t enough resources available. Those who utilize the food bank come from all walks of life and this exhibit shines a light on the diversity of need. The exhibit opens to the public on August 31, 2023. The museum will be accepting donations of non-perishable food to benefit the Ella Curran Food Bank until the end of October 2023. And, in union with the new exhibit’s opening, the museum has partnered with Oregon State University and the Food Hero program. The museum will host four free cooking workshops throughout September and October which will help families make healthy food choices, provide advice on stretching a meal-time dollar, and how to maintain a basic food pantry. Visit this exhibit to learn about Ella Curran, the history of the food bank, the impact of food insecurity, and what we can do as a community to help those facing hard times.
Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives/ Enfrentando la violencia, mejorando la vida de las mujeres
The Independence Heritage Museum is pleased to host a traveling exhibit from the National Library of Medicine (NLM): Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives/ Enfrentando la violencia, mejorando la vida de las mujeres.
Activists and reformers in the United States have long recognized the harm of domestic violence and sought to improve the lives of women who were victimized, but there was a time this was not so. Until the late 1970s, medicine as a whole had largely dismissed or failed to acknowledge domestic violence as a significant health issue.
Nurses took up the call for change, standing in the frontline as they pushed the larger medical community to identify victims, adequately respond to their needs, and work towards the prevention of domestic violence. With passion and persistence, they developed best practices for care based on research and their professional experience and took part in activism to put domestic violence on the map as a national public health concern.
Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives/ Enfrentando la violencia, mejorando la vida de las mujeres tells their story.
The six-banner, bilingual, traveling exhibit will be at the Heritage Museum November 21st to December 30th, 2023. It includes images, manuscripts and records that tell the stories of the nurses who witnessed the effects of domestic violence and campaigned for change.
The National Library of Medicine produced this exhibition and companion website. The English only website Confronting Violence includes an education component with curriculum for grades 9-12, a university module, and a digital gallery that features a curated selection of fully digitized items from the historical collections of the NLM, which are also available in their entirety in NLM Digital Collections.
Activists and reformers in the United States have long recognized the harm of domestic violence and sought to improve the lives of women who were victimized, but there was a time this was not so. Until the late 1970s, medicine as a whole had largely dismissed or failed to acknowledge domestic violence as a significant health issue.
Nurses took up the call for change, standing in the frontline as they pushed the larger medical community to identify victims, adequately respond to their needs, and work towards the prevention of domestic violence. With passion and persistence, they developed best practices for care based on research and their professional experience and took part in activism to put domestic violence on the map as a national public health concern.
Confronting Violence: Improving Women’s Lives/ Enfrentando la violencia, mejorando la vida de las mujeres tells their story.
The six-banner, bilingual, traveling exhibit will be at the Heritage Museum November 21st to December 30th, 2023. It includes images, manuscripts and records that tell the stories of the nurses who witnessed the effects of domestic violence and campaigned for change.
The National Library of Medicine produced this exhibition and companion website. The English only website Confronting Violence includes an education component with curriculum for grades 9-12, a university module, and a digital gallery that features a curated selection of fully digitized items from the historical collections of the NLM, which are also available in their entirety in NLM Digital Collections.
Oregon: 150 Years of Statehood; 150 Million Years in the Making
Like its people, Oregon’s landscape is diverse. It was built from many parts, each adding its own character to the state. Oregon grows and matures as islands and pieces of continents come crashing in, the Cascades erupt, lava covers the landscape, desert mountains grow, and huge floods sculpt the scenery. Oregon is indeed a masterpiece of geologic artistry! In 2009, Oregon celebrated 150 years as a state, but Oregon’s landscape has a much longer history. Geological processes have been building the state's landscape for more than 150 million years! The windows in the traveling exhibit from the Oregon Historical Society illustrate how geology crafted Oregon’s landscape and natural resources and continues to shape the land and lives of its citizens. The most iconic of Oregon’s landscapes; Crater Lake, Multnomah Falls, Newberry Crater, Steens Mountain, the Painted Hills, and so much more, display Oregon’s geologic splendor. Developed by and on loan to the Heritage Museum from the Oregon Historical Society, this exhibit was created in collaboration with the Oregon State University Department of Geosciences, Oregon Department of Geology and Mineral Industries, Oregon Paleo Lands Institute, OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center, Portland State University, and the Oregon Department of Energy. The Heritage Museum invites you to explore these 16 windows into how Oregon's landscape was assembled during the past 150 million years — and to celebrate those who learned to read the landscape before and during Oregon’s 150 years of statehood. The exhibit opens July 18th and is on display until September 23, 2023.
Fire and Freedom
The National Library of Medicine produced Fire and Freedom: Food and Enslavement in Early America, along with the companion website, with guest curator, historian, author, and educator Psyche Williams-Forson, PhD (University of Maryland, College Park). It is on view at the Heritage Museum from June 5, 2023 to July 15, 2023. The traveling exhibition and companion website explore ways in which meals can tell us how power is exchanged between and among different peoples, races, genders, and classes. In the Chesapeake region during the colonial era, European settlers relied upon indentured servants, Native Americans, and enslaved Africans for labor, life-saving knowledge of farming and food acquisition, and to gain economic prosperity. Fire and Freedom looks into life at George Washington’s Mount Vernon plantation and the labor of enslaved workers to learn about the ways that meals transcend taste and sustenance. Fire and Freedom includes an education component with two K-12 lesson plans and a university module. A digital gallery features a curated selection of fully digitized items from the historical collections of the NLM, which are also available in their entirety in NLM Digital Collections. Please include this courtesy line with all public announcements about the project: The National Library of Medicine produced this exhibition and companion website.
Nesting with Osprey
“Nesting with Osprey” is an exhibit that was created by the Heritage Museum. It explores the osprey, a unique raptor, whose name literally means, 'bird of prey.' The osprey are piscivores: a carnivorous animal that eats primarily fish. They are a single living species that thrive nearly worldwide, living on every continent except Antarctica.
In conjunction with the exhibit, the Heritage Museum is partnering with Western Oregon University Professor, Jim Dawson. Dawson is an ornithologist, an expert who studies birds, and specializes in avian behavior and ecology.
The Heritage Museum also worked with local artist, Forrest Johnson, who created a life-size comic strip running along the exhibit walls to share all the amazing facts about osprey. It is unlike any exhibit you have experienced.
In conjunction with the exhibit, the Heritage Museum is partnering with Western Oregon University Professor, Jim Dawson. Dawson is an ornithologist, an expert who studies birds, and specializes in avian behavior and ecology.
The Heritage Museum also worked with local artist, Forrest Johnson, who created a life-size comic strip running along the exhibit walls to share all the amazing facts about osprey. It is unlike any exhibit you have experienced.
Dream. Believe. Do.
The Inaugural Youth Art Show: Dream. Believe. Do. is a collaboration between the Heritage Museum and the Community Services Consortium (CSC). CSC's mission is to help people access tools and resources to overcome poverty and build brighter and more stable futures. The museum is specifically partnering with the POLK CSC GED/Work Experience program, which helps young adults who have experienced barriers in their educational and employment path, work toward their GED or high school diplomas.
The art is on show for the month of January and has taken inspiration from the federal holiday observed in the month, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The holiday marks the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The students were asked to explore their dreams for their community, how they believe their dreams can be achieved, and what they can do to encourage a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community that fosters a sense of belonging.
The art is on show for the month of January and has taken inspiration from the federal holiday observed in the month, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The holiday marks the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the chief spokesperson for nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, which protested racial discrimination in federal and state law. The students were asked to explore their dreams for their community, how they believe their dreams can be achieved, and what they can do to encourage a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community that fosters a sense of belonging.
Pedal Power
Pedal Power explores the innovative thinking behind Oregon’s Scenic Bikeway, highlights a local bicycle collector, and provides take-home information about bicycle safety. Additionally, every child that enters the museum during the month of December will be provided with a free bike helmet coupon from Salem Health, which will be redeemable for a free helmet. The museum will also have a bike helmet give-away day December 3rd. *while supplies last.
Oregon Is Indian Country
The Heritage Museum is proud to host Oregon Is Indian Country, a special traveling exhibition of Oregon’s Native American heritage, December 1, to January 31, 2023.
First exhibited in 2009 at the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) in Portland, Oregon Is Indian Country represents a groundbreaking project that brought together all nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon to present information, never-before-assembled in one exhibit, on contemporary Indigenous cultures. These rich stories are now available for museums and cultural institutions across the state as a traveling exhibit.
First exhibited in 2009 at the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) in Portland, Oregon Is Indian Country represents a groundbreaking project that brought together all nine federally recognized tribes in Oregon to present information, never-before-assembled in one exhibit, on contemporary Indigenous cultures. These rich stories are now available for museums and cultural institutions across the state as a traveling exhibit.
Oregon's Landmark Legislation
Oregon has repeatedly led the nation in creating, revising, and implementing laws shaping the quality of life of its residents. While Oregon’s innovations have evoked controversy, they have charted the course for other states and nations.
The 16 panels in this traveling exhibit highlight groundbreaking legislation that Oregon has passed since Statehood either by Politician, Legislative Action, or Public Initiative.
Arranged chronologically, the window panels present legislation that focuses on environmental, social, and land use issues.
The 16 panels in this traveling exhibit highlight groundbreaking legislation that Oregon has passed since Statehood either by Politician, Legislative Action, or Public Initiative.
Arranged chronologically, the window panels present legislation that focuses on environmental, social, and land use issues.
Anywhere But Here
The exhibit is curated by the Fair Housing Council of Oregon (FHCO), and shares Oregon’s largely unknown history of discrimination, segregation, and displacement regarding housing practices in the state. It demonstrates the progress we’ve made in overcoming this history and the challenges that remain.
Places by the Sea
For the next two months, the Independence Heritage Museum will host the Oregon Historical Society’s traveling exhibit Places by the Sea. In 1910, going to Oregon’s places by the sea wasn’t an easy trip. Trunks were pulled down from the attic, bathing suits aired and repaired. Bed linens, clothing, and toys were packed. The adventure was at least a week long and it could last all summer.
What if Heroes Were Not Welcome Home?
Come visit the museum to see this poignant exhibit examines the prejudice that Japanese American veterans from Hood River, Oregon experienced upon their return home from serving our country in World War II. These American citizens served heroically with the United States Armed Forces in the South Pacific and in Europe, yet many of their families were unjustly incarcerated in concentration camps on American soil.
Grand Re-Opening
The museum is ready to open the doors to their new location April 30, 2022.
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