By Jazmine Kelley :: On February 29, 1940 the doors of segregated Hollywood were kicked open for a night as Hattie McDaniel accepted an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. This was an historical landmark because it preceded the Civil Rights movement and sparked heated debate over what roles an African American should play in Hollywood.Continue Reading And the Academy Award Goes To . . . Hattie McDaniel
By Tanya Monthey :: An Oregon businessman made it to the United States Supreme Court in 1908 challenging the state’s maximum hour law for women. This case came before the Court at a time when progressive legislation was repeatedly struck down, in alignment with their economic ideology of laissez-faire capitalism. The Lochner Era, is named forContinue Reading “An object of public interest” | Women, Labor, and Muller v. Oregon
By Lyndsay Smith :: Did you ever wonder what historians can do outside of academia? Well, here is one fine example. In this episode, PSU alumna Eliza Canty-Jones discusses community engagement and how she works to give a voice to the diverse histories of Oregonians as the Director of Community Engagement at the Oregon HistoricalContinue Reading Eliza Canty-Jones | Community Engagement
By Mike Mata :: February 15th marks the anniversary of the death of an early mental health pioneer and namesake of the perennially weird Portland street, Dr. James C. Hawthorne. Hawthorne, a native of Pennsylvania, was purported to have completed his medical schooling at the Medical University in Louisville, Kentucky, although archives from theContinue Reading James C. Hawthorne | An Asylum and a Boulevard
By Taylor Bailey :: On April 14, 1962, ‘Packy’ the elephant was born at the Portland Zoological Gardens. He was the first elephant born in the United States in 44 years, and that was a big deal. American animal dealers and zoos had struggled to get Asian elephants to breed in captivity, and even ifContinue Reading The Birth of Packy the Elephant
By Will Schneider :: The city of Portland, Oregon was incorporated on February 8th, 1851. While the date is significant and signaled a new point in the history of settlements along the Willamette River, hard dates can also be misleading. Beginning a history of Portland at its incorporation obscures all that came before, covering overContinue Reading Portland Incorporated as a City