Looking down Liberty Street, on the left side of the photo, the Electric Building is visible as it appeared in 1939. Located at 241-249 Liberty St NE, the building was constructed in 1917 and also known as the Yeater or PGE Building (Ben Maxwell Photo Collection, Salem Public Library, 1419)[Read More…]
Tag: SALEM HISTORY
COLUMN: Former Salem restaurant used to feed inmates at the courthouse
Interior of the White House Restaurant c. 1905. WHC Collections 2013.013.0058 (Courtesy/ Willamette Heritage Center) Editor’s note: This column is part of a new effort from Salem Reporter to highlight local history in collaboration with area historians and historical organizations. If you have any feedback or would like to participate,[Read More…]
COLUMN: Search for Salem’s Chinatown unearths cemetery shrine
Salem residents celebrate Qing Ming on April 3, 2021 at Pioneer Cemetery (Courtesy photo) Editor’s note: This column is the first in a regular feature from Salem Reporter to highlight local history in collaboration with area historians and historical organizations. If you have any feedback or would like to participate,[Read More…]
Uncategorized To honor Oregon’s birthday, Salem history groups create video on the state’s early Black settlers
The Oregon Black Pioneers memorial at Pioneer Cemetery in Salem (Courtesy/Friends of Pioneer Cemetery) Nobody living knows the exact spot where Hiram Gorman’s body is buried. But the early Salem settler, who died in 1888, is at the center of a new video telling the story of the region’s first[Read More…]
The history of mental health care in Salem on display, chronicling advances over the years
The Museum of Mental Health at the Oregon State Hospital includes a display of restraints once used to manage patients at the Salem institution. (Ron Cooper/Salem Reporter) In centuries past, the stigma and ignorance surrounding mental illness contributed to the often barbaric treatment of those who were suffering. Patients were[Read More…]
Uncategorized Oregon Black Pioneers show the deep roots of African-Americans in Salem
Willie Richardson, president of the Oregon Black Pioneers, speaks about the group’s research at their Salem office. (Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter) When Gwen Carr moved to Oregon from southern California in the 1980s, she got some skepticism from her black friends. “They said, ‘You’ll be back because there aren’t any black[Read More…]
