About the Oregon History Project
The Oregon History Project is a digital resource of the Oregon Historical Society Museum and Research Library. So far, hundreds of historical records and artifacts from the unique and extensive OHS collections have been digitized, annotated, and organized. The OHP provides historical Narratives written by Pacific Northwest historians and an online Learning Center for teachers and students. The OHP is part of the OHS Digital History Projects, which include The Oregon Encyclopedia and Oregon Wayfinder. Using expert scholarship and OHS's extensive collections of photographs, artifacts, and archival materials, the OHP, The OE, and the Wayfinder make Oregon history free and accessible to everyone.
Featured Historical Records

First Dwelling House in Salem, 1841
This engraving, published in a state history in 1912, depicts the house built by the …

Lake County Courthouse, Lakeview
The imposing Lake County courthouse is depicted a few years after its completion in 1909. …

Pioneer Courthouse, 1875
When the courthouse at SW Fifth and Yamhill streets was built in 1875, it was …
The Oregon Encyclopedia
The Oregon Encyclopedia (The OE) is an online resource for information on the state’s significant people, places, events, institutions, and biota. Acknowledged nationally for its innovative design and the quality of its content, The OE is the only encyclopedia of its kind in the region.
Oregon History Wayfinder
The Oregon History Wayfinder is an interactive map that identifies significant places, people, and events in Oregon history. Each point on the map connects to the historical records and scholarship on the Oregon History Project and The Oregon Encyclopedia. The Oregon History Wayfinder is supported in part by the Oregon Heritage Commission.
OREGON HISTORICAL QUARTERLY FREE ARTICLE
"Expectation and Exclusion: An Introduction to Whiteness, White Supremacy, and Resistance in Oregon History," by Carmen P. Thompson.
Initially created by White people of privilege and advantage, Whiteness is an expectation (sometimes an unconscious expectation) that the govern- ment will maintain laws and policies generally benefiting White people.1 That system, which has been effectuated through all institutions that govern American society, is White supremacy — the hierarchical ordering of human beings based on phenotypic, or physical, attributes that we call “race.”