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SHARED MUSEUM DREAM

A museum dream from MAC’s big window. Regulars at Portland’s Multnomah Athletic Club walk in with the same stride they have walking into a grocery store. Just another door. But if you haven’t been a regular, as in never been inside, only seen the big window and balcony from the stadium stands, it feels like […]

NEIL GOLDSCHMIDT HISTORY CLUB

From Salem To An Unknown Location, Neil Goldschmidt’s Long Strange Trip. The first thing you learn about the History Club is you never talk about it. Replace History Club with museum storage and you still don’t talk about it. Those were rules broken only if you wanted to be an ex-employee of the Oregon Historical […]

OREGON DUCK MAKES HISTORY TEAM

Oregon, Oregon Duck Marcus Mariota, And The Oregon Historical Society. A lesser Portland writer might ask why Nike paid three days of admission at the Oregon Historical Society. Not this one. Everybody who walk in the door? Free. Thank you, Nike. A lesser Portland blogger might ask why Oregon? Why not Portland State? Why not […]

BOOMERPDX ARCHIVE, c. 1983

1-10-83 (Monday) A former Oregon governor died last Saturday. Tom McCall breathed his last in the hospital up the street. Good Samaritan. A student nurse in my building cared for him at the end. She said he’s a great guy. Everyone says it. He seems like someone you’d like to know. Oregon history’s Tom Vaughan […]

OREGON HISTORY SPEAKS OUT

 Kate Brown Knows The Drill. 1. Gravity’s History. Not long ago Governor Kitzhaber spoke during the memorial for Thomas Vaughan. He was a great man who elevated the role of history in Oregon by leading the Oregon Historical Society to great heights. Saturday, on Oregon’s 2015 birthday, the woman replacing Governor Kitzhaber the day after […]

JOHN KITZHABER: OREGON BABY BOOMER GOVERNOR

Boomerpdx is a non-affilliated blog giving a baby boomer perspective to Portland, Oregon, and beyond. If it had a mission statement it would read like the Bible: Treat others as you would like to be treated. No one goes wrong with the Golden Rule. From a political point of view, especially in an election year, […]

OREGON’S HOCKEY HISTORY

When you play the game, play to win. Every business, institution, and individual have one thing in common: If you’ve heard of them, they’re doing something right. They matter. To what degree they matter is the next question, which often depends on branding. Consider sports branding as a current model for success. Not everyone understands, or enjoys, a rabid […]

Boomerpdx Remembers Historian Thomas Vaughan

Most baby boomers who’ve worked for important companies never meet the big guy. You apply, go through human resources, or the personnel office, meet the department head, co-workers, and go at it for the next few decades. Thomas Vaughan met everyone before they got with the Oregon Historical Society program. He made it personal. How […]

Baby Boomer Oregon Histories

If it was good enough for Ken Kesey, it’s good enough for you. The question: Where are the Oregon stories and why don’t we hear more of them? At least Kesey kept it in state with One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and Sometimes A Great Notion. Blame it on confusion. Oregon is not England no matter what the […]

THE Oregon History

A Good Time For A Refresher Course? Museums serve to help us understand. The good ones are a destination onto themselves. The Oregon Historical Society is fast becoming that destination. Again.