The Intersection of Historic Preservation and Collective Memory: 3 Portland Case Studies

The National Historic Preservation Act was passed amidst a wave of progressive environmental and Civil Rights legislation. Yet the power of historic preservation to mold the future, and even to act as a tool for social justice, is not widely acknowledged today.

Historic preservation of the built environment transforms the ways in which contemporary people think of the past, and physical manifestations of the past have the power to affect collective memory and guide the future. This presentation will examine three local case studies in preservation: 1) a contrast of the original Multnomah County poor farm and its second incarnation in Troutdale 2) the Old Town, Chinatown and Japantown historic districts and 3) the former Oriental theater in Portland. Each of these cases took a different path with regard to preservation, and each has different implications for the city's collective memory.

Please join us for this FREE talk at at the Architectural Heritage Center - 701 SE Grand Avenue. Portland State University public history graduate student Kira Lesley will explore how we think about the past and historic preservation. Come to the talk and you can also check out our new exhibit Parting Shots: Minor White’s Images of Portland, 1938 – 1942..

Seating is limited, so please pre-register.

$5 Suggested donation.

Parking is on-street (free on Saturdays) or in the parking lot on the west side of Grand Avenue between SE Yamhill and Belmont Streets - just to the north of the Grand Marketplace. Do not use the lot where Dutch Bros. Coffee is located. Thank you to Bolliger and Sons Insurance for sharing their lot with us for our evening and Saturday education programs.