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THE HISTORY WRITER YOU NEED, THE STORY YOU GET

Every history writer has a To Be Read stack of books. I like to think most people have the same stack. The difference for a writer is most of their books To Be Read explain how to write. I’m finally able to say they helped me. How? Thank you for asking.

Historical Debris: A Record Of Time

    Most museums have a bar they set for accepting historical debris, artifacts, one of a kind deals, and whatever an important person touched or signed.   Paul Revere silver, the last breath of Thomas Edison, the Magna Carta? No one is making any more of that stuff, so that’s a bar too high. […]

HISTORY, OREGON HISTORY

You could walk by this building on NW Everett and just keep walking. Nothing to see here, just a worn out facade in a beat down part of Portland with chips and stains. A couple of radiator shops across the street complete the view. If there was anything special about it, there wasn’t a sign, […]

MUSEUM ARTIFACTS DON’T BELONG IN TOILETS

If you have something worthy of a museum artifacts collection, keep it safe. A museum joke that bears repeating: This is George Washington’s hatchet he used to chop down the cherry tree. The handle’s been replaced six time, the head four, but it represents the same space. Funny stuff. I think it came from Saturday […]

MUSEUM DAY LIVE. WORTH IT?

This Saturday Opens The Door To A Free Museum Day Live. Will You Go? Of all the free things in the world, Museum Day Live looks like a steal. Two free tickets await you upon registering with Smithsonian Magazine. Name, email, the usual. Aside from balking at joining yet another list that may or may […]

NPR AMERICAN HISTORY FAILS

Is There A Future For American History? NPR Says Maybe. A history joke: “This is George Washington’s Ax, the one he used to chop down the cherry tree. The head’s been replaced five time, the handle eight, but it represents the same space.” After you stop laughing you’ll see the history problem: the ax isn’t […]

THE Oregon History

A Good Time For A Refresher Course? Museums serve to help us understand. The good ones are a destination onto themselves. The Oregon Historical Society is fast becoming that destination. Again.

Museum Boomers, pt 1

What To Do When You Say Enough To Stuff? Stuff comes to us in different ways. Sometimes we find it, sometimes we buy it. When we get too much stuff we have to make choices. If we have good stuff, we should make good choices. Baby boomers like making good choices. Giving stuff to museums […]