Past Events and programs

For 2008

Mike Gregoire visits Clark County Historical Museum

Susan Tissot, Clark County Historical Museum executive director, played host to Washington’s First Gentleman, Mike Gregoire Oct. 29 while he was in Vancouver attending a meeting on veteran affairs.

Gregoire toured the museum with Tissot and two of his staff members.

“Now, this I can relate to,” Gregoire said when he walked through the Boomer! exhibit which explores how the baby boom generation transformed Washington State and American culture.

Gregoire was intrigued with the Boomer! exhibit interpretive window devoted to Washington’s Sky River concert, a three-day, open-air rock festival in the late 1960s.

“I was in the Mekong Delta in ’69 when this was happening. I had no idea this was going on in my home state!”

Gregoire, a Viet Nam veteran, graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in history and is a self-described history buff.

Before heading home for Olympia at the end of the day, Tissot gave “First Mike” some museum souvenirs. She presented him with a Boomer! gift bag filled with CCHM-published books, two Vancouver Grid Project T-shirts (one for him, one for the governor), postcards from the Smithsonian Institution’s “Key Ingredients” traveling exhibit which was on display this summer, and a bag of peanut Beaver Brittle from the museum’s gift shop.

For 2007

CCHM Invites You to Dress Up and Meet History

Come enjoy a “Night at the Museum” during a costume event at the Clark County Historical Museum on Saturday, November 3, 7:00 to 10:00 PM. You never know whom you might meet.

Historical figures such as Dr. John McLoughlin, Mother Joseph, Rosie the Riveter and Ben Franklin will be in attendance. These prominent citizens will assist guests with an in-house scavenger hunt.

This 21-and-over event features complementary wines and scrumptious desserts prepared by the Clark College culinary department. Prizes will be awarded for best historical costume and the scavenger hunt.

Costumes and pre-registration required. Tickets are $35 ($25 for college students with valid ID) and must be purchased in advance. Stop by the Museum or call (360) 993-5679 for tickets, event details or costume rental resources.

This event is sponsored by Clark County Historical Society and the history clubs of Washington State University Vancouver and Clark College, and the ASWSUV of WSUV.

Nationally known Basket and Jewelry Maker Donna Carlson will teach three different basket making classes. On September 8th from 10 AM to 4 PM Donna will teach students how to make her custom designed CD cache/storage basket from red and yellow cedar. This class will have a half hour lunch break, so bring your lunch. Class fee is $85. On September 15th from 1 PM to 4 PM Donna will teach students basic basket-making skills with this simple reed basket that is geared toward elementary educators and beginning basket makers. Class fee is $45. On September 29th and October 6th Donna will teach a two-part class on how to make her lovely Columbia River shoulder Bag. This bag is made from red and yellow cedar with a leather strap, hinged lid and deer antler closure. This class will have a half hour lunch break, don’t forget your lunch. Class fee is $190. All class fees include materials.

All of Donna’s classes are limited to 12 students so pre-registration is required and early enrollment is strongly encouraged!

Add a charming and quiet family member that is sure to give you years of trouble- free companionship! Join us October 16, 2007 between 6 PM and 8 PM for our Adopt-A-Scarecrow Auction Adoption. Tickets are $10 per person and include refreshments and beverages. Tickets are available at the Museum or participating businesses.

4th Annual Harvest Fun Day, Saturday, September 22, 2007, 10 AM ~ 4 PM

Pie Eating & Corn Shucking Contests, Scarecrow Making, Pumpkin Decorating, Fort Vancouver Antique Equipment Association, Live Folk Country Music by Wilson T Love, Demonstrations, Craft Activities, Museum Exhibits and more!

Click here for walking tour schedule

Join the Clark County Historical Museum on Saturday June 23, 2006 from 1-3 PM as history once again comes alive with the commemoration of the 250th Birthday of Captain George Vancouver. Join the museum staff for a special lecture by Vancouver historian and author, Jim Mockford who will speak on, How Vancouver Got its Name. The lecture begins at 1 PM and is followed by the cutting of a birthday cake. The lecture and reception are free with paid museum admission. Following the lecture and reception the public is invited to tour the museum including the Vancouver Uncovered exhibit which commemorates the 150th year of incorporation of the City of Vancouver. The lecture is held in conjunction with the city’s anniversary commemoration.

Also at the museum in the Community Display Case for the month of June is a display on Captain Vancouver put together by historian Jim Mockford and his daughter Jenny Mockford. The display includes photos from King’s Lynn, England, a poster from Vancouver B.C., maritime artifacts and a ship model along with photos from sculptor Jim Demetro of the Captain Vancouver statute project.

CLARK COUNTY HISTORICAL MUSEUM INFORMATION: The Clark County Historical Museum is governed by the Clark County Historical Society and housed in Vancouver’s 1909 Carnegie Library which is located at 1511 Main St. Vancouver, WA 98660. Regular museum hours are: Tuesday – Saturday 11-4 PM. Admission rates apply. Adults $4, Seniors and College Students $3, School Age Children $2, Children age 0-5 and CCHS Members enter for free. The museum is also open extended hours on first Thursday evenings from 5-9 PM for the Museum After Hours Lecture Series. A wheelchair accessible entrance to the museum is located on the east side of the museum building accessed from 16th street. Call 360-993-5679 or visit www.cchmuseum.org for more information.

If you would like to be considered for participation in this special interactive event, please fill in the attached application and return to the museum by May 26, 2007. Selected applicants will be notified by email or telephone by June 8.

Visit the museum or click here for the registration form in a pdf format.

Oral History Workshop with Dr. Laurie Mercier, Washington State University Vancouver, May 12, 2007. Call the museum for details or to reserve your place in the workshop.

ESD 112 Clock Hours Available

2007 MUSEUM AFTER HOURS LECTURE SERIES
at the Clark County Historical Museum

The Clark County Historical Museum's 2007 First Thursday Museum After Hours lecture series begins on February 1, 2007 at 7 PM. The series runs throughout 11 months of the year. Museum After Hours provides an evening venue for the public to visit the museum. The program extends the museum hours until 9 PM on the first Thursday of the month (excluding January). The 2007 Museum After Hours lecture series is sponsored by the Clark County Historical Museum, Applied Archaeological Research and Nutrition Now.

DECEMBER MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

Vancouver Economic Development: Making the Pieces Fit- Gerald Baugh, Manager of Business Development, City of Vancouver, Economic Development Services.

About Gerald Baugh: December 6, 2007 Speaker

Gerald Baugh is the Manager of Business Development with Economic Development Services for the City of Vancouver. Prior to joining the City of Vancouver, Mr. Baugh spent four years with the Oregon Economic & Community Development Department as Regional Coordinator. Additionally, Mr. Baugh has held positions with Wausau Insurance, Hannah Motor Co., Massachusetts Mutual Insurance Co., and Rainier National Bank.

Mr. Baugh graduated from the University of Washington in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts in Business (Major-Finance).

Mr. Baugh is a past Board Member of the SWIFT Foundation, Vice President of the Clark County Chapter of the National Football Foundation and College Scholarship Hall of Fame. Member of the Washington State University Vancouver Advisory Committee. National Development Council Economic development finance Professional.

NOVEMBER MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

World War II in the Pacific Theater- Harry Sutherland, Retired Professor, Central Washington University & Retired US Naval Reserve.

OCTOBER MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

Coming to Stay: A Columbia River Journey- Mary Dodds Schlick, Author and Native American Basketry Expert.

About Mary Dodds Schlick: October 4, 2007 Speaker

Mary Dodds Schlick of Mount Hood, Oregon is author of Columbia River Basketry, Gift of the Ancestors, Gift of the Earth, (University of Washington Press, 1994/2002) which is based on a study of the distinctive baskets of the region. One of the authors of Woven History, the Clark County Historical Museum's award-winning publication (Washington Museum Associations 2005 Excellence in Publications Award). Mary's latest books is Coming to Stay: A Columbia River Journey, a memoir of life on the Columbia River Plateau and the area's Indian Reservations.

SEPTEMBER MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

From Braceros to Wetbacks to Terrorists: Mexican Immigration, Media & National Security- Luz Maria Gordillo, Washington State University Vancouver, Assistant Professor, Women's Studies.

Mexican Immigration, Media, Legislation and National Security- comparisons of changes in legislature with general attitudes toward particular immigrants.

About Luz María Gordillo: September 6, 2007 Speaker

Luz María Gordillo is Assistant Professor in the Department of Women’s Studies at Washington Sate University Vancouver and is currently working on her book manuscript entitled Engendering Transnational Ties: Mexicanas and the Other Side of Immigration, 1942-2000. Gordillo focuses on gendered immigration processes that analyze the immigrant experience within intersections of race, class, sexuality, nationality, and legality. Her most current work focuses on how immigration law shapes and is shaped by the immigrant experience.

She is also working on a manuscript of short stories entitled, Memoirs de una Wetback: Part I, that underlines the everyday volatile circumstances that surround Mexicanas moving in and out of Mexico and the United States.

AUGUST MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

Decidedly "On the Fly": 1867 and the Advent of Organized Base Ball in Vancouver- Greg Shine, Chief Ranger, Fort Vancouver National Park Service

In addition to being the 150th anniversary of Vancouver's establishment as a city, 2007 marks another community milestone: the 140th anniversary of the start of organized base ball in Vancouver. Join Greg Shine in an examination of the game as it began in Vancouver in 1867; where gentlemanly decorum was the rule and not the exception; where astronomical salaries were unheard of and members actually paid to play; and where match games were elaborate day-long community events rather than three-hour activities. In exploring base ball's inaugural season in Vancouver, Greg will explain club organization and share early newspaper articles, box scores, colorful accounts of challenge matches with rival squads, and the names of Vancouver's first teams and many of their players.

About Greg Shine: August 2, 2007 Speaker

Greg Shine, a sixteen-year veteran of the National Park Service, is the chief ranger and historian at Fort Vancouver NHS and the Vancouver National Historic Reserve. He is also an adjunct faculty member in the History Department at Portland State University, where he instructs graduate students in the public history field school. An Indiana native, Shine holds a BA from Wabash College and an MA in U.S. history from San Francisco State University. Shine has published numerous studies and articles; his most recent, entitled "On the Fly: The Rise of Organized Base Ball in the Portland/Vancouver Area", is featured in the spring 2007 issue of the Washington State Historical Society's quarterly journal, Columbia: The Magazine of Northwest History.

JULY MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

National Colors: How to Fold, Care & Store Your Flag Properly- Marine Corps League, Columbia River Detachment #826.

Columbia River Det.#826 Marine Corps League prepares our National Colors for Flag Folding ceremony citing the meanings of each fold at the Clark County Museum on 5 July 2007.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank John Stofiel, Roger Rueckert, Karen Washabaugh and the Marine Corps League for all they do to support of the Clark County Historical Museum.

JUNE MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

Basketry of the Columbia River People: Traditional and Contemporary- Part Courtney Gold, Wasco-Wishram Native, Fiber Artist

About Pat Courtney Gold: June 7, 2007 Speaker

Pat Courtney Gold is a fiber artist known for her twined Wasco basketry. She uses cattail leaves, tule, dogbane fiber, cedar bark and tree roots for her traditional baskets and cotton, chenille, dyed wool, and other textured materials on her contemporary baskets.

Pat is known for being one of four people who helped revive the Wasco art of full-turn twine with the geometric images and motifs. Today she is the only tribal member who carries on the legacy. She has conducted extensive research (at museums and through visiting with elders) on the use of traditional plants in basketry and design. Today very few elders carry the knowledge of plant fibers used by their ancestors, thus making it important for Pat to share her knowledge with other Plateau weavers and Native basket weaver associations.

Pat teaches classes throughout the Northwest, nationally and on the Warm Springs Reservation where she is from. She teaches her students the importance of becoming stewards of the land by taking them on field trips to identify and protect wetland plant and their habitats and teaches them how to properly harvest and process the plants.

MAY MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

Architectural Ornamentation in Vancouver- Derek Chisholm, Senior Planner, Parametrix.

Vancouver builders once prided themselves on the lush details in their projects. Sculptured terra cotta, intricate brick patterns, and curvatious wooden gingerbread adorn many of our most cherished buildings. Decades later, sleek glass building fronts and prefabricated units became the predominant style. This lecture and slideshow will explore the details of many Vancouver landmarks and investigate the historical and philosophical reasons for the decline in ornament and the rise of plainness.

About Derek Chisholm: May 3, 2007 Speaker

Derek is a Senior Planner with Parametrix. He completed his graduate work at Western Carolina University and worked in urban design and historic preservation in the Carolinas before moving to the Portland area. Derek managed the Clark County/ Historic Preservation Program for many years, is on the Washington Trust for Historic Preservation Board of Directors, and is a Vancouver Planning Commissioner. He is a listed preservation planner and architectural historian in many states. Derek lives up the street from the museum in the Carter Park neighborhood.

APRIL MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

Heritage and Historical Trees of Vancouver, WA ~ Learn about Vancouver's most celebrated and iconic trees, some of which have been officially designated as Heritage Trees by the City of Vancouver. From the earliest days of settlement with the Witness Tree and the Old Apple Tree, to more recent additions such as the Mayor's Grove, Vancouver is a city that can truly trace its history through trees. Mr. Durocher will discuss the individual history of many notable trees and contemplate the role trees play in forming a community's identity.

About Ryan Durocher: April 5, 2007 Speaker

Ryan Durocher left his native Michigan seven years ago, drawn to the forests, ocean, and mountains of the Pacific Northwest. A forest ecologist by training, Mr. Durocher is currently the Outreach Coordinator for Vancouver Urban Forestry, a job that allows him to share his love of trees with community volunteers of all ages.

For more information visit www.cityofvancouver.us/urbanforestry.

MARCH MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

March is Women's History Month, and on March 1, 2007 at 7 PM Archaeologist Amanda Joy Bush will speak on, "The Victorian Individual as Displayed Through Fashion." Bush was part of a team of archaeologists from Applied Archaeological Research, Portland, Oregon, that worked on the salvage archaeology projects at the Convention Center and Columbian Campus sites. A full lecture schedule will be posted on the museum's website soon. For more information contact the museum at 993-5679 or visit www.cchmuseum.org.

About Amanda Joy Bush, B.S.: March 1, 2007 Speaker

Amanda is an archaeologist working for, Applied Archaeological Research, Inc., a local firm out of Portland, OR. She is a published author on cultural resource management on Easter Island and has given several lectures on archaeology and Victorian Era fashion. She has studied how Victorianism was expressed in the Vancouver area and regionally by looking at clothing and fashion-related artifacts found from historic-era sites in downtown Vancouver.

FEBRUARY MUSEUM AFTER HOURS

In conjunction with February's Black History Month, on February 1 Dr. Darrell Millner, Professor of Afro-American Literature and History at the Black Studies Department at Portland State University, will speak at the museum on, "Testing the Need for Black History."

About Dr. Darrell Millner: February 1 Speaker

Dr. Darrell Millner was born in Columbus, Ohio in 1946, raised in the Los Angeles area of Southern California where he graduated from California State Polytechnic University with a degree in English in 1969. Taught English and Literature classes there until the summer of 1970 when he moved to Eugene, Oregon. Graduated from the University of Oregon with a doctorate in Education in 1975. Hired to teach Afro-American Literature and History at the Black Studies Department at Portland State University in 1975. Assumed the Department Chairmanship from 1984 to 1995. Currently, a Full Professor. Serves on numerous local, regional and national boards and organizations including the Editorial Board of the Oregon Historical Society.

An expert on the history of African-Americans in the western movement with a special focus on the Oregon and California trail experiences; early Oregon and California Black history; and the history of the Black Buffalo Soldiers in the Indians Wars. He is also an expert on Black cinema history and the development and perpetuation of negative racial stereotypes.

He has served on the “frontlines” of the multi-cultural and diversity controversies as the Director of Multi-cultural education for the Portland Public Schools and has an extensive background in teacher training and curriculum development for inner city schools and disadvantaged youth.

We've Made History!

For 2006

~2006 EXTREME SCARECROW MAKEOVER CONTEST RESULTS~

Mayor's Choice Award: Tie Between Fort Vancouver Regional Library and Spanky's and People's Choice Award: Iduhair & Company

(Left to Right) Susan Tissot, Executive Director, Clark County Historical Society/Museum; Sue Vanlaanen, Communications Director, Fort Vancouver Regional Library District, Lee Rafferty, co-owner of Spanky's Family Consignment; Royce Pollard, Mayor, Vancouver Washington, Sandy Kramer, co-owner of Spanky's Family Consignment; and Celinda Rupert, owner of Iduhair & Company.