TALKS AND EVENTS
Join us at our West's Block location for various talks and events! All of our talks will be hosted on site, at 701 SE Grand Ave.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Oregon's Historic Homes and the People Who Lived in Them
Historic homes tell stories. Some of them are rather plain and some very extravagant. Some were the homes of Oregon business and community leaders and served as meeting places for people who helped create our state. They have been preserved, and many are now museums.
Darrell Jabin: Oregon’s Traveling Historian has been researching and sharing Oregon history since 2009. He has taken dozens of trips throughout Oregon and taken advantage of those trips by discovering and researching interesting people, places, and events. He used that information to produce award winning videos, create a growing following on social media, host a twice monthly radio show and provide frequent informative and entertaining presentations.
March 14, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Oregon Gold William F. Willingham Ph.D. Talk & Book Signing Free Event
Willingham shows how mining was an important aspect of the state’s history, far greater than has been traditionally understood. He provides special attention and analysis to the role Chinese miners played in the story of eastern Oregon mining and to the demographic makeups of two major mining communities, Susanville and Granite, that thrived during the period.
March 21, 2026
12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
The Portland Zoo Railroad:
The Biggest Little Railway in the Country
The Portland Zoo Railway (PZRy) was founded in 1958 in the West Hills of Portland, one year before the opening of the new Portland zoo. Its flagship, the streamlined, Space Age-styled Zooliner made its debut on June 5, 1958, and carried over 2,500 riders that day. This was a year before the opening of the zoo, and the fares collected over the season, as planned, were used to fund and build the zoo. By the end of the summer, the Zooliner had carried 200,000 passengers.
The magnificence of the Zooliner rolling down the track with flags flying, symbolized the optimism and growth of the post-war era. A year later, the steam-powered Oregon Locomotive No. 1 was added to the rolling stock. This presentation by Melissa Darby will trace the history of the railroad and explore the route, examine the rolling stock, and discuss some famous passengers.
March 28, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
"The Others" Kimberly Jensen Ph.D Talk & Book Signing
Free Event
Join us for a free book talk from Professor Kimberly Jensen Ph.D. In the era of the First World War and its aftermath, the quest to identify, restrict and punish internal enemy “others,” combined with eugenic thinking, severely curtailed civil liberties for many people in Oregon and the nation. But some Oregonians, including women and gender nonconforming people, resisted. Their determination to maintain their rights and freedoms fueled movements for human rights, social justice and dissent that hold meaning for today.
Books will be available to purchase and have signed.
April 11, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
Overton and Beyond: The Revolutionary Origin of Portland
Join independent scholar Randall Trowbridge for the follow-up to his 2016 presentation revealing the identity of enigmatic Portland founder William P. Overton to explore 10 years of subsequent research, including new information about Overton's fate. Starting with the story of the construction of Portland's first two buildings in 1845, the presentation will reveal how uncovering Overton's identity led to the discovery of a much bigger story about the origins of the West Coast's earliest urban centers and the surprising connection of Portland's founding to the long-misunderstood Bear Flag Revolt.
April 18, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
"Atiyeh" Author Dr James Moore Talk & Book Signing Free Event
Governor Vic Atiyeh, who led Oregon government from 1979-87, has sometimes been overshadowed by other major figures of the era in Oregon, such as Tom McCall and Mark Hatfield. But Atiyeh played a large and decisive role in transforming Oregon from its historical roots into the future-facing state it has become. This thoroughly researched biography fills in a critical part of the Oregon story - and shows in detail how a strong public executive did his work.
May 9, 2026
11:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.
Portland's Chinatowns Talk and Book Signing
Free Event
This book presents a vivid visual history of Portland’s Chinatowns, tracing their cultural legacy through photographs spanning from the 1850s to the present. What began in the 1850s grew into the nation’s second‑largest Chinatown by the early 1900s, surpassed only by San Francisco’s.
Portland’s early Chinese residents faced exclusion, discrimination, and forced relocation—conditions that shaped what became the New Chinatown/Japantown Historic District. These photographs reveal their challenges, achievements, and lasting contributions, deepening our understanding of the American immigrant experience and honoring the resilience of a community that helped shape a vibrant, multicultural city.
Book will be available for purchase and signing.
May 16, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
"Building Portland's Memorial Coliseum" Michael A. Orr Talk & Book Signing Free Event
Portland, Oregon, in the 1950s was a city at a crossroads. Would it retain the status quo of the first half of the twentieth century or rush headlong into the future? Pitting east side upstarts against downtown traditionalists, the battle over where to build the Memorial Coliseum was at times exciting, controversial, and long-winded. Three very different locations set off a storm of subterfuge and political posturing that included the indictment of a commissioner originally tasked with choosing the site and the rise of an east side used car dealer determined to prevent the city from building the arena downtown. With the future of sports and recreation in the Rose City at stake, city leaders and private citizens sparred in public hearings and Portland’s first ever televised debates. Author Michael A. Orr provides a behind-the-scenes look at the drama and machinations in the battle to build Portland a space for future generations.
Book will be available for purchase and signing.
June 20, 2026
10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.
WALKING TOURS
From March to November, we offer tours of historic neighborhoods throughout the city. Click here to learn more!
