Special Collections and University Archives is pleased to announce a newly updated finding aid for the Dan Powell photograph collection (PH297) now published on Archives West. This collection consists of constructed imagery and large format photographic prints taken by Powell between 1978 and 2012. Many of his works are also available to view online in the Dan Powell digital collection in Oregon Digital.
Vanport, Oregon was a wartime public housing project built to shelter Kaiser Shipyard employees working in Portland and Vancouver, Washington. The city was destroyed in May 1948 when a 200-foot section of the dike holding back the Columbia River collapsed during a flood, killing 15 and leaving its population of largely African-American inhabitants homeless.
Two photo albums regarding the history of Vanport have recently been made available in Special Collections and University Archives. The Vanport, Oregon construction photograph album (PH203_064) and the Vanport, Oregon flood photograph album (PH203_025) document the city before and after the disaster.
Special Collections & University Archives is pleased to announce the recent acquisition of “Standoff,” a portfolio of photographs by Portland-based photographer Shawn Records. The photographs document the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in January of 2016. Included are portraits of the militant Ammon Bundy and his family, as well as images of the media circus and protests that surrounded the occupation. This was a pivotal moment in Oregon and US history, when a group of armed men were able to occupy a government building without significant legal repercussion. The photographs are quiet and subtle, exploring the complex and fraught history of land use and cowboy culture in the American West. The portfolio is now available for viewing within the Special Collections & University Archives reading room.
By Danielle Mericle, Curator of Photography Collections
Special Collections & University Archives is pleased to announce the acquisition of three new photography collections. These collections document Oregon’s landscape and culture in a wide range of formats and span over a century.
The first is the Eric P. Gustafson photography archive, a rich and varied collection documenting the history of the Pacific Northwest. With an emphasis on rare and unique photographs from Lane County at the turn of the century, the collection greatly broadens our holdings on the history of Eugene and the surrounding area. The Gustafson archive also includes a large number of Oregon postcards, organized chronologically and by county, as well as the photo morgue of two Register-Guard photographers working in the mid-20th century. Eric Gustafson, a photo enthusiast and former paleontology professor at University of Oregon, graciously donated his collection to be preserved and made accessible by Special Collections & University Archives.
–The Columbia River Inter-Tribal Commission
In honor of Native American Heritage Month the University of Oregon Libraries is pleased to announce an exhibit titled, Wy-Kan-Ush-Pum: We Are All Salmon People. This exhibit honors Oregon’s tribal communities and their traditional cultures, knowledges and lifeways that have sustained them since time immemorial. We first recognize and honor the Kalapuya people, who were the original indigenous inhabitants of the Willamette Valley, including the land that the University of Oregon resides. We are honored to now have the new residence hall, Kalapuya Ilihi Hall, named in honor of those who were here first and in recognition of their traditional homelands.
All of Oregon’s tribal communities share a common connection to their traditional homelands and natural resources provided by the creator that sustains life for their people. This exhibit highlights the tribal cultures along the Columbia River Basin that have a distinct sacred connection to salmon that has shaped their culture, diet, societies and religions for thousands of years. Salmon, or “wy-kan-ush” in the traditional language of Sahaptin, are revered as sacred and one of the most important aspects of tribal culture.
