Oregon Historical Society — Attraction in Portland

I am grateful that custodians are taking great care of these artifacts. Some information that connects one view of an issue with a separate view are too far apart from each other. I felt like the museum curator created a scene of “White peoples are bad people”. There is a display of a Native Indian training, Girl Scouts group. The signage talks on how this was a poor decision of White peoples. What it could have done is also add ‘What are some better options’. The Native Americans in my opinion should have been part of the American education experience in all states, they should have played a large part in forest management and services.

There is mention how Natives were killed, but no mention that Natives killed many non-natives. That Natives circled band wagons and slaughtered entire groups. Talking about how each group contributed to war is important, just as the way you tell the story. Starting at the middle of a dispute isn’t fair.

Slavery is approached but is limited to Whites enslaving Africans. The museum curator doesn’t mention that in New Mexico Mexicans had a popular slave market and sold American Indians, White peoples, Black and anyone else they captured. That market is mentioned several times in the Library of Congress documents.

Mexican history records in Congress show that they kidnapped babies to raise them as obedient house servants and kidnapped women too. This is an important piece of history.

Natives also captured and owned slaves. The 1865 Five Tribes Treaty was timely with the freeing of slaves throughout the US territory. Govt told the Native Indians they had to free their Black slaves or make them citizens. The Natives held under 3,000 in that region and refused to free their slaves. So govt delivered a contract forcing Natives to make their Black slaves citizens and the govt allotted the Black slaves 100 acres of land each to pass to their descendants, same as every Native Indian. Over the lifetime of one person the Black ex-slaves and their family members were ejected from the tribal lands. Then the Black citizens of the Indian nations began to sue. That information isn’t included in the museum’s signage. A sign that offers other available alternative options could be helpful. Such as the Native land could have been partitioned to allot a section that forbid Native Indians from residing or entering because it would be dedicated for Black citizens.

Red Lining is also displayed. A great topic. People wanted to move away from certain districts because the districts have high crime, run down homes, unkempt neighborhoods, and yelling. Do you know who didn’t live in those districts? People problems always exist. Why aren’t the arguments in support of Red Lining mentioned? Should behaviors of an individual cause him or her to be limited because of his or her actions? Does reality and fear a direct relationship, more so than fear versus reality?

Europeans brought engineering to this land we call the USA. Every physical item was engineered by European people. Planes, trains, buses, cars, amusement parks, electricity, televisions, phones, computers, toilets, sewage systems, light bulbs, pesticides, architecture of our buildings and so on. It’s not vanity it’s just fact.

What would the USA look like today if no Europeans ever arrived?

Would the USA be a giant forest? A giant wilderness? Would people still hunt for daily food? Would they use outhouses? How would they get to their destination since horses came by boat, and all forms of mechanical transportation came from Europeans?

People today have a lot of accommodations and have no idea what it would be like without everything that European descent people created.

Also, attitudes of individuals have negatively impacted attainment of progress of all people.

It’s 2024, and millions of people are making up their own history that never happened. It’s the fault of writers who publish untrue information or skewed views from personal experiences or assumptions.

Let a second person have input on the language of...

Hello everyone, thank you ahead of time for reading my review. I am amazed that there are not many more negative reviews on the site. This museum would be better called the “Oregon Victimhood Society”. Almost every single exhibit focuses on the prejudice that non white males faced and they all go hand in hand in order to tie back in together to shame our nations/states historic figures in white men. There is definitely a bias against white men here and it could not be more clear that whoever curated this museum/whoever allowed it to happen have it out for white men. There were almost zero parts in the entire museum that even mentioned white men in a non shameful manner. Not only did it seem as if the museum were created by a social Justice warrior, they did not even have the peace and friendship medal or Captain Lewis’ branding iron on display, in which was the main reason I came. This museum either needs to start celebrating the great achievements and historical accomplishments of white men in this state/country or change their name entirely, because this is not a historical museum in the traditional manner at all. It is important to learn about the hardships that all peoples faced in this country so we can understand our history better and shape our future in a more fitting way, but we must not be ashamed of our white history. Instead we should celebrate our white history and take what we see as negative with a pinch of salt and realize that what happened in our past does not entirely dictate our future and our great accomplishments are certainly nothing to be ashamed of. Do better Oregon Historical Society. Thank you to all who...

We had a wonderful experience here! I want to say that the men and women who work behind the scenes on the exhibits go above and beyond and do an incredible job searching out and sifting through items and records to showcase history in a clear, honest, and interesting way. The new Yasui exhibit involves the family I married into and we were so honored and touched by the care taken in bringing our family history out so clearly and honestly. They were extremely gracious to the family members and we got a sneak peek of the exhibit.

As for the rest of the place, we are going to have to go back to further explore all the treasures. They really showcase Oregon history and I believe they work hard to tell all the stories from many cultures living in our state.

They said there is free admittance for Multnomah county residents!

The only downside is they are located in downtown Portland and you will need to pay for parking and you may need to walk away. I believe there is a parking structure across the street and that might be a good option for some.

It should be easy access for all, they have an elevator that my husband made use of because it is a large multi level place.

If you don't know anything about the Japanese American internment camps during WW2, I highly encourage you to check out the Yasui exhibit telling local Japanese American history and highlighting a piece of often overlooked American history. This exhibit will be open for about a year. It is very personal and they got the stories straight from the horses mouth,...