Dave Knows Portland

OE History Night: The Martha Washington Hotel & The Women Who Built Her (10-September-2012)

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History NightThe Oregon Encyclopedia, in conjunction with McMenamins and the Northwest Examiner, presents The Martha Washington Hotel & The Women Who Built Her: A History of the Portland Women’s Union, a screening of a documentary film and discussion by filmmakers Dana Plautz and Miles Sprietsma, on Monday, May 7, 2012 at the Mission Theater (1624 NW Glisan).

In 1887, 100 women, all volunteers, started the first women’s boarding house in Portland, with the intent of providing safe housing and cultural benefits for young women coming to the Rose City to work. Through a series of video interviews of historians, residents of “The Martha Washington,” housing experts, and past presidents of the organization, the film traces the Portland Women’s Union and how it raised the monies, managed and actually built the hotel.

Admission is free to this, and all the OE History Night events. Children are welcome if accompanied by a parent or guardian. Doors open at 6 p.m., show starts at 7 p.m.

Kick Ass Oregon History Vol 5 #4: The Oregon State Hospital

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KAOH5.4: The Oregon State HospitalKick Ass Oregon History is the latest series of podcasts from the enthusiastic historians behind ORHistory.com.

And volume 5 #4 just dropped: The Oregon State Hospital.

In which we learn that Oregon has a history of treating the mentally ill as less than human, even in death. Featuring excerpts from “One Flew Over The Cukoo’s Nest,” by Ken Kesey.

The brains behind this Kick Ass project are the crack hustlers of Oregon History Doug Kenck-Crispin and Andy Lindberg. Doug is a graduate student studying Public History and Pacific Northwest History at PSU, and Andy, though a Portland native, is currently working as an actor in New York City. Doug does most of the research and writing for the podcasts with input from Andy, who voices the broadcasts with a thespian’s flair.

The Kick Ass Oregon History podcast covers just the good stuff: Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll and Earth Shattering, Devastating Destruction.

Ultimately, our goal is to take Oregon History out of the hallowed halls of the academy, get folks excited and enthused about this shared history, and get them out into the state, digging it and experiencing it. Get them to embrace it, and get their boots muddy in the process. It’s all OUR History; nobody owns it.

Visit ORHistory.com and stay tuned to @Oregon_History on Twitter for further details on specific episodes and the series. Catch up on missed episodes at the Kick Ass Oregon History archives.

Exhibit Opening: Streetcars Build a City (7-September-2012)

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Streetcars Build a CityStreetcars Build a City, the new exhibit at the Architectural Heritage Center (701 SE Grand), opens Friday, September 7, 2012 with a free showing from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.

In Portland, our urban neighborhoods are a product of the pre-automobile era. Although far-slung suburbs may be a result of America’s love affair with the private automobile, inner city residential districts owe their location, street alignment, and pattern of growth almost entirely to the advent of the street railway. Current Portland roadmaps still reflect those early “streetcar suburbs.”

Portland and its street railway system grew together and expansion into the open spaces beyond downtown was rapid. Until the coming of the automobile streetcars were also the only easy means of getting around town and had become an integral part of most inner city neighborhoods.

But the heyday of streetcars only lasted a few decades. Already by the 1910s the automobile had begun to change the way people moved about the city. By the 1920s traffic around the city was frequently snarled by the volume of automobiles and the existing (and abundant) streetcar lines. The 1930s marked the “beginning of the end” as streetcars began to be replaced by electric “trolley buses” while the old rails were buried under layers of asphalt.

The guest curators are Dan Haneckow (blogger at Cafe Unknown) and Richard Thompson, author of Portland’s Streetcars (Images of Rail) (2006) and Portland’s Streetcar Lines (2010). Regular AHC hours are Wednesday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Match Day: Portland Timbers vs. Colorado Rapids (31-August-2012)

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Portland TimbersThe Portland Timbers (6-13-6) host the Colorado Rapids (8-16-2) tonight at Jeld-Wen Field. Kick off is at 7:51 p.m.

The match will be broadcast live on NBC Sports Network, 750 AM The Game, and La Pantera 940 AM.

Portland aims to maintain form in this battle of the Western Conference cellar dwellers. After an inspiring Cascadia Cup victory over Vancouver last weekend, do the Timbers have enough in them to beat the second worst team this Friday?

Portland was embarrassed by Colorado 3-0 back in June, but neither team has been very successful this year. The Timbers, with 24 points, find themselves at the very bottom of the standings. Colorado has 26 points, and are only one spot higher. The Timbers are, however, coming off an entertaining and crucial Cascadia Cup win over Vancouver, and could string together a couple bright spots this season if they get a win tonight.

Match previews and intrigue

Portland Labor Day Weekend Amusements (2012)

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Summer sure was fine, but now it’s Fall – happy Labor Day weekend!

Ongoing

Movies in ParksPortland Movies in the Park

Portland Parks and Recreation has released the 2012 summer schedule of Movies in the Park. From June 29 through September 18 sprawl out at one of Portland’s fine municipal parks several times a week for an evening of free entertainment.

Friday 8/31: Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (71) @ Dawson Park
Friday 8/31: The Adventures of Tintin @ Mt Scott Park
Saturday 9/1: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 @ Wellington Park
[more]

Swift WatchChapman Vaux’s Swift Watch 2012

Every September thousands of Vaux’s Swifts come to Portland. After spending their day eating bugs, the Swifts coalesce in Northwest Portland, flying in a giant undulating swirl in the sky above the school. Around sunset the swirl gets more compact, like a ground pepper tornado, and begins disappearing, measure by measure, down the chimney. On the lawn below hundreds of Portlanders stare mesmerized at the sky, from the comfort of lawn chairs and blankets. Boos erupt when opportunistic Peregrine falcons get lucky. [more]

All Weekend

Art In The Pearl

Art In The Pearl®, Portland Oregon’s annual Fine Arts & Crafts Festival, occurs every year on Labor Day weekend. The 16th annual festival will occur on Sept. 1-3, 2012 in the Pearl District’s North Park Blocks. Art In The Pearl has been named one of the top 10 Arts and Crafts Festivals in the country (source: Art Fair Source Book). Our festival fills the Northwest Portland Park blocks with art, theater, music, and hands-on activities for people of all ages. [more]

Friday

Portland TimbersPortland Timbers vs. Colorado Rapids

The Portland Timbers (6-13-6) host Colorado Rapids (8-16-2) Friday at Jeld-Wen Field. Kick off is at 7:30 p.m.

Portland aims to maintain form in this battle of the Western Conference cellar dwellers. After an inspiring Cascadia Cup victory over Vancouver last weekend, do the Timbers have enough in them to beat the second worst team this Friday? [more]

Saturday-Sunday

Portland Pirate FestivalPortland Pirate Festival 2012

The seventh annual Portland Pirate Festival invades Historic St. Helens, Oregon again year, on Saturday and Sunday, September 1 and 2, 2012. . . .

The fest features pirate-themed and non-pirate-themed music, dance and performance, tall ships, stuff for kids, the marauders market, and of course there is grub and grog! [more]

Monday

Union YesLabor Day Picnic at Oaks Park

Oregon was the first state to officially recognize the Labor Day holiday in 1887, so it’s only fitting that to this day we throw huge Labor Day picnics throughout the state.

The largest local union picnic, which an estimated 20,000 people attended last year, is the Northwest Oregon Labor Council‘s Labor Day Picnic held Monday, September 5 at Oaks Amusement Park from 10am until 5pm. [more]

Authors in PubsAuthors in Pubs

Authors in Pubs takes place tonight, Monday, June 4, 2012, at the Jack London Bar (529 SW 4th – in the basement of the Rialto Pool Room).

Created by local writer Don Van Kirk last September, Authors in Pubs is a First Monday event that aims to give local writers a chance to share their work, and receive feedback. The shows run about two hours, but visitors are encouraged to arrive early and stay late to talk with authors and peruse their books. [more]

And for even more weekend events and activities, check out the Dave Knows Calendar, and visit Around the Sun, Blogging Portland on the Cheap, and Oregon Events at OregonLive.com.