Dave Knows Portland

Oregon History 101: Immigration and Ethnicity (1 December 2014)

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History 101: Immigration and EthnicityOregon History 101: “Looks Like a Good Beginning”: Immigration, Ethnicity, and Exclusion in Oregon, 1850-1910. will be presented by Dr. Jacqueline Peterson-Loomis at the Kennedy School (5736 NE 33rd Ave) on 1 December 2014 at 7 PM.

Oregon History 101 is a nine-month public history program series designed to give Oregonians a basic understanding of the state’s significant people, places, and events. Each month, historians will present a chapter of Oregon History, beginning with the earliest peoples and ending with the turn of the twenty-first century. The series will emphasize Oregon’s connection to historical themes in American History, including Native history, early exploration, western expansion, race, gender, and social justice, and the post-industrial economy.

The 101 series was designed by Dr. Carl Abbott and Dr. William Lang. Each presentation features images from the Oregon Historical Society archives and will be filmed and made available online (watch September’s presentation on Native Life and Pre-Contact here). The Oregon Encyclopedia and Oregon History Project are also preparing research guides and other digitized material for the project.

Presenter Dr. Jacqueline Peterson-Loomis is Emeritus Professor of History, Washington State University. This all ages event is free and open to the public.

Science Pub Portland: Shaping Light with Folded Surfaces (18 November 2014)

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Omsi Science PubScience Pub Portland presents Shaping Light with Folded Surfaces tonight at the Empirical Theater at OMSI (1945 SE Water Ave.).

Light reveals our visual universe. Light shapes how we perceive form and the boundaries of space. Light gives vitality to immutable form, revealing the familiar in new ways. Small adjustments in light intensity, composition and viewpoint can yield big changes in highlights and shadow patterns.

Nancy Cheng experiments with how sheet materials can be cut, creased, or crimped to generate lighting effects that change with the sun’s movement, while blocking unwanted heat and glare. Her Shaping Light project explores how physical prototyping and digital methods can be combined to foreground material properties in design. She seeks the creative possibilities that stem from a material’s stiffness, shininess, translucence or color. She has used digital modeling for geometric variations, kinetic studies and lighting simulation in both open-ended studies and interior installations.

Presenter Nancy Cheng is Portland Program Director and an Associate Professor at the University of Oregon. The program begins at 7 PM, and there’s a $5.00 suggested cover charge.

Revolution: DB Cooper (22 November 2014)

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Revolution DB Cooper (2014)For the fourth year in a row, the geeked out history folks at Kick Ass Oregon History give us the straight shit on the NW’s most famous hijacker. Revolution: DB Cooper takes place Saturday, 22 November 2014 at Turn! Turn! Turn! (8 NE Killingsworth).

Revolution: DB Cooper is the exploration of the themes of counter-culture actions found in the DB Cooper caper, explorations conducted beyond a speaking of historical words. Ransom notes cobbled from Playboy magazines, clues in film and grooves from vinyl might be used to help shed light to this 43 year old case. Or might not in the least, either.

The evening includes a presentation by Resident Historian Doug Kenck-Crispin examining the D.B. Cooper case evidence in light of the themes of revolution, beating the system, and even Cascadia.

Film scholar Jeff Jaeckle will lead a hypothetical (and completely unsubstantiated) tour through the movies D.B. Cooper may have watched in 1971 to psych himself up for the heist of the century.

You won’t want to miss the raffle, and some Historical Interpretation. Through Vinyl.

DJs Hern Pong and Tommy Gunn have been digging through crates of crates to reconstruct possible radio sets from 1971. Cascadia Soul Alliance will be putting on their best drinking caps to sonically place you back in a time when AM was king, and 8-tracks were not a website but rather tangible objects. In doing so they are doing their part in attempting to help get inside the head of a person many fellow Cascadians desire to identify with.

Admission is only $6. Turn! Turn! Turn! is a small venue though, so buy tickets in advance if you can. Visit OrHistory.com for all the details.

“The Wake of Vanport” Premier Screening (15 November 2014)

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Photos from The Sunday Oregonian, 13 December 1942

The Wake of Vanport, multimedia works produced by the 2014 Vanport Multimedia Project, will be publicly screened for the first time at 2 PM Saturday, November 15, 2014 at the Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church (3138 N Vancouver Ave).

“The Wake of Vanport” honors the death of a city and the viewing of its history through the collection of Vanport stories told by the voices of those who lived there. It is also a celebration of life after loss. Vanport is a lost city of Oregon with a rich history for all Oregonians.

Discussions with the survivors and producers will follow the presentation, which is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

The Vanport Multimedia Project is a production of the North Portland Multimedia Training Center (NPMTC), which aims to to collect and archive oral history from individuals in the Portland African American community.

Ghastly Northwest Tales: A Historic Halloween (31 October 2013)

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Ghastly Northwest Tales: A Historic HalloweenKick Ass Oregon History presents Ghastly Northwest Tales: A Historic Halloween on Thursday, October 31, 2013 at the Jack London bar (basement of the Rialto, SW 4th and Alder).

Master of ceremonies and resident historian Dough Kenck-Crispin will reveal Rotten, Vile Yarns of the Pacific Northwest, including tales of Satanic ritual cult murders of the dark and perpetually rainy Pacific Northwest.

Guest historians Joe Streckert and Finn John will discuss creepiness inherent in seemingly uncreepy spaces… the tragic tales of a water spanning structure, and more . . .

And what would a KAORHST event be without a little Burlesque Dancing? The evening will also feature delightfully dark dancing by local ecdysiasts Sophie Maltease, Fleur de Sel, and Hyacinth Lee. The trio will be presenting burlesque full of both tricks and treats fitting for All Hallows’ Eve.

The evening also features a costume contest with fabulous prizes and dancing thanks to DJ NoN of Decadent 80s fame.

And holy shit, there’s going to be a mime, Bennett the Artist.

Doors open at 8 pm. Admission (i.e. the suggested donation) is a mere $6. The Jack London is 21 and over only.