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Stories of the Cascade-Siskiyou Bioregion

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geology map of Cascade-Siskiyou region

logo for Federal Depository Library Program

Join Us!

Hannon Library celebrates its 65th anniversary as a Federal Depository Library with an event featuring faculty, student and guest speakers, an art exhibit of works created during the 2017 Bureau of Land Management-sponsored Artist-in-Residence program, and an open wine and cheese reception with all of the participating presenters and artists. This event will highlight the Cascade-Siskiyou bioregion, including the history of the area, related studies, and the education activities available about these lands.

Thursday, April 26, 2018
Presentations – 2 pm to 5:20 pm
Q&A Panel – 5:25 pm to 5:45 pm
Reception – 5:50 pm to 7:30 pm

For the complete event schedule, see this event overview. Presentations and reception will take place in Meese Room (LIB 305). Exhibit and demonstrations will be located in the third floor Taylor Mezzanine.

Special thanks goes to the Friends of Hannon Library for supporting this event, as well as to EdenVale, Schultz and Weisinger Family wineries for their generous donations.

More Information

This event is free and open to the public. Attendees can get free campus parking by using the following code with SOU’s parking meters or PayByPhone app: LIB547. (How To Use Parking Codes)

For more information, contact Library Administration at libraryevents@sou.edu or 541-552-6816. If you need disability accommodations to participate in this event, please contact Disability Resources at 541-552-6213 or dss@sou.edu.

Meet the Presenters

Christine Beekman has served as Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument’s Interpretive Specialist since 2015. Before that she spent 12 years as the Chief of Interpretation at Pecos National Historical Park near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Prior, she was the Education Specialist for the Southeast Utah Group of National Parks (i.e. Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, Hovenweep and Natural Bridges National Monuments).

Hope Braithwaite came to SOU because she wanted to further her education in natural history and teaching in a place that had excellent outdoor opportunities. She enjoyed education and biology courses, designing and implementing an environmental education program with her colleagues, and conducting research on dragonflies and damselflies of the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.

Jad D’Allura earned his Ph.D. in geology from UC Davis.  He worked for Texaco, spent a summer working at the JPL on earth imagery, and taught geology at SOU for 33 years before retiring. He currently teaches part time and supports the SOU Chemistry Department. He has been working in the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument for most of his career and has finished a general map of the original Monument.

Linda Hilligoss currently holds a joint appointment in the School of  Education and the Environmental Education department. She also worked with Crater Lake National Park as the Education Coordinator for the Science & Learning Center and serves on state and national committees to promote science and environmental education.  Her research areas are in place-based education and teacher professional development with a focus on helping educators use the outdoors as an engaging learning laboratory.

Stewart Janes is professor of Environmental Education at SOU. His research interests include ornithology and the function of bird songs, raptor ecology, and the impact of forest management practices on bird populations.

Jeff LaLande graduated from Georgetown University in 1969 and later earned a PhD in American history at the University of Oregon. He had a 30-year career with the US Forest Service as an archaeologist and historian, and he is the author of several books and a number of published articles on the history of the region.

Suphasiri Muttamara (a.k.a. Jam) is from Bangkok, Thailand. After receiving a bachelor’s degree in Conservation Biology from Mahidol University, Thailand, she worked with the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) as a project junior consultant in the mountains of the Northern region in Thailand. There, she worked with local schools, and students to develop ecotourism, and a curriculum that included the forest ecosystem that influences the community. Realizing education is the best way to conserve nature, she is now a graduate student in the M.S. in Environmental Education program at SOU.

Mabrie Ormes has always felt a passionate response to the visual world, and once she became a visual artist she never looked back. That was 45 years ago, and she still believes in Art’s power to influence the direction of history. She calls herself an all-American artist since she has lived in every region of the country. She is also proud to be a woman artist, whose point of view is “slant”: different, new, and needed if we are gracefully to negotiate the turns and tensions in our 21st century relations to each other and our planet.

Michael Parker is an aquatic ecologist, professor and former chair of the Biology Program at SOU where he teaches courses in Aquatic Ecology, Fish & Fisheries, Vertebrate Natural History and Herpetology. His research focuses on the conservation of aquatic organisms and the environments that sustain them.  He has been actively involved in research within the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, including a long-term study of a rare and federally-listed population of Oregon spotted frogs. 

Chelsea Rose is an historical archaeologist with the Southern Oregon University Laboratory of Anthropology (SOULA). She focuses her research on the settlement and development of the west.

Darlene Southworth retired from SOU as Professor Emerita of Biology and, along with scientific research, eventually discovered art through watercolor. Her painting has evolved from journal sketching to larger, more composed images. She experiments with color and technique of paint application to create innovative patterns and mosaics.

Matt Witt is a photographer and writer in Talent and has been Artist in Residence at Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument, Crater Lake National Park, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument, and PLAYA at Summer Lake, Oregon. His work may be seen at MattWittPhotography.com.

closeup of smiling woman

Dotty Ormes

This event is hosted by Dotty Ormes, Government Information/Instruction Librarian at SOU’s Hannon Library. She also covers the subject specialties of Art, English, Political Science, Theater and Shakespeare Studies. She is a strong believer in free public access to government information, and she created the 65th anniversary event at Hannon Library to promote unique government resources that are available for SOU faculty and student research and for the public at large.

Government Publications Department

Hannon Library received the Depository Library of the Year Award in 2004 for its digital collection of significant government publications about the unique Southern Oregon bioregion. These collections will be featured as part of the anniversary celebration. Library displays will also address the importance of free access to government information, especially congressional information for student research and for community members, emphasizing the library’s role as the Federal Depository Library for the 2nd Congressional District of Oregon.

award recipient standing with award and local officials

From left to right: Judy Russell, Superintendent of Documents; Greg Walden. U.S. Congressman from the 2nd District of Oregon; former Oregon State Senator, Lenn Hannon, Southern Oregon University Documents Librarian, Deb Hollens; and Bruce James, Public Printer

 

When Timber Was King

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loggers from early 1900s

Jeff LaLande presents “When Timber Was King: The Rise and Decline of Southern Oregon’s Timber Industry” on Thursday, March 8, 2018 at 4 pm at Southern Oregon University’s Hannon Library (Meese Room). This event is free and open to the public.

In the early days, men felled the big trees with just an axe and dragged timber out of the forest with mules and oxen. Steam donkeys, two-handled saws, railroad lines and trucks changed the landscape and Rogue Valley mills ran 24×7. Today, most of Southern Oregon’s mills are silent, and a truck with a three-log load is rare indeed.

In this unusual presentation, LaLande describes the legislation, corporate powers and political changes that have altered the Oregon landscape forever.

About Jeff LaLande

Forest historian and archaeologist Dr. Jeffrey LaLande, now retired, worked with the U.S. Forest Service for nearly 50 years. He has traipsed the land, seeking out the equipment and traces of the timber industry’s history from long ago to more contemporary times. He photographed his findings for the Forest Service, cataloging places that few know of and fewer even have seen. LaLande also wrote narrative and scientific histories of the region’s great timber industry that drove Southern Oregon’s economy for a hundred years.

LaLande’s wide-ranging research interests include Southern Oregon’s Good Government movement, early Oregon political history, the Oregon Trail migration and the Rogue Valley’s donation land claims among other topics.

Thanks to a 2017 Library Services and Technology Act grant to Hannon Library, LaLande’s collection of historic timber industry photos are being digitized and will made available through the Southern Oregon Digital Archives (SODA) in the Stories of Southern Oregon Collection. LaLande’s earlier SODA contribution, a set of 647 images in the Rogue River National Forest Historic Images Collection, is available now.

Southern Oregon Digital Archives

Hannon Library’s Southern Oregon Digital Archives display eighteen collections that present a rich set of images, text and video on topics that range from locally discovered Chinese material culture, butterflies, First Nations, musical instruments, wine, agriculture and more. The Southern Oregon Digital Archives can be accessed at https://soda.sou.edu.

More Info

For more information on the March 7, 2018 program or the Southern Oregon Digital Archives, call 541-552-6442. If you need disability accommodations to participate in this event, please contact Disability Resources at 541-552-6213 or dss@sou.edu.

The Value—and Cost—of Humanitarian Work

In case you missed it, the Friends of Hannon Library hosted Taylor Olson-Hill at the library yesterday for a presentation on volunteering for humanitarian work abroad. Taylor is a native Southern Oregon that has spent the last four years working on international humanitarian projects. She has spent time in Cambodia, Haiti, and most recently the Greek island of Lesvos, where she worked in a refugee camp and saw first-hand the reality of the current refugee crisis. She spoke about the value in volunteering, but she was also honest about the personal cost.

By her admission, the work Taylor did wasn’t glamorous or easy. A day in her life on Lesvos could vary from sorting clothes to running a school, from playing soccer with children to serving as a barrier between refugees and protesting locals. “People can say all they want, that it’s not sexy, it’s not fun,” Taylor remarks as she displays photos of supply warehouses and makeshift classrooms, “but the work is what you make it.” Something as simple as handing out clean clothes or learning someone’s name, she says, can make an important difference in a person’s life.

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School in the Camp – Lesvos, Greece

Taylor’s presentation was engaging, informative—at times, even tearful. With frank words and personal photographs, she shared the tragic stories and stressful environment she experienced. Among the many photographs display, one of the most vivid images was of what the volunteers on Lesvos called the “life jacket graveyard.”

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Life Jacket Graveyard – Lesvos, Greece

“Each of these represents a life,” said Taylor in a shaky voice. “Lives of those who made it. And those who didn’t.” With tears in her eyes, Taylor made no effort to hide her emotions while recounting her experiences. As a mother, she sympathizes with the fates of those halfway across the world. “I think, what if it was my boys?”

Much of Taylor’s role in the camp was working with children, unaccompanied minors that made their own way to Greece from Syria, Afghanistan, India, and other conflict-stricken regions. “Fifty percent of all refugees are children,” she states. “They’re not something to be feared. They’re just people. They’re children.”

“Fear comes from a lack of understanding.”

Taylor was open about the toll this kind of work had on her and other volunteers, especially when volunteering in an environment where local objection to the presence of refugees led to ostracism, public protests, abuse, and even mass deaths. Long-term volunteers have been diagnosed with secondary stress disorders—suffering from anxiety, exhaustion, and even guilt. “We felt guilty for being able to leave when they couldn’t,” she said. Taylor spoke about the separation anxiety volunteers felt from not being able to ensure the safety and health of the people they worked with, and of how difficult it was to ultimately leave the island when it was time for her to go home.

“That was probably the hardest day of my life, leaving the camp, because I didn’t know what would happen to them.”

She finished her presentation, however, with a smile. “It’s worth it, I promise you.”

Taylor does urge people interested in humanitarian work to prepare themselves before volunteering, citing the differences between her time in Greece and her time in Haiti. “Do your research, know where you’re going and what the situation is.” She stressed how each place, each circumstance, can be its own reality, and that volunteers must be mentally prepared for the experiences they will encounters. She shares a list of further reading for those that want to learn more:

The Syrian Jihad by Charles R. Lister
A Month With Starfish by Bev Jackson
Third Wave Volunteers (Facebook)
ReliefWeb (Facebook)
International Refugee Assistance Project (Facebook)

This presentation was sponsored by the Friends of Hannon Library as part of their 2016-17 Speaker Series. For more information about Taylor Olson-Hill and her presentation, contact the Friends of Hannon Library at libraryevents@sou.edu.

A Night of Political Comedy

burke

Free speech advocate, long time street performer, and all around rabble rouser Stoney Burke will take his loveable wisecracks to the Hannon Library tomorrow for a night of political comedy.

Thursday, January 28
5:00 PM, Meese Room
Free Admission

Stoney Burke first gained notoriety as one of the top street performers in Berkley. Since the ‘70s, Burke has made a name for himself through his crowd engaging act. Some people do not respond favorably to Burke’s work. According to Burke, he has been “arrested so many times practicing my free speech, I would bore you with the truth of it all.”

For Burke, the art of street preforming is more important than simple entertainment. Burke explains, “…I suppose it’s an ongoing experiment to see if the first amendment actually works in person.” He later explains, “I’m a political satirist, so I try to take chances talking about politics that maybe other people wouldn’t. I’m kind of old fashion in the way that I believe in the first amendment like some people believe in the second amendment. I think it’s important to take chances and speak your mind.”

In an age where South Park plays on televisions across America, and now more than ever the FCC allows obscene content on the airwaves, one has to ask if free speech advocates are still needed. For Burke, the answer is yes.

“There are a lot of free speech battles going on all across the world. I mean, there are bloggers in Pakistan that can’t dare mention that they don’t agree with religion. There’s school books in Tennessee that are being banned because they mentioned gay people.” he elaborates, “I’m not a big advocate of just saying the f word or b word. I mean, you can go to [my] book, I think there’s like one swear word. So I don’t think it’s a matter of doing the most gross [things]. Obviously my point is to enlighten people, not shock people.”

Stoney Burke Book CoverIn addition to performing, Burke will also promote his latest book, Weapon:Mouth, My Adventures in the Free Speech Zone. In the book, Burke recounts his long career as an activist, street performer, and actor.

Burke will give away copies to guests that answer trivia questions correctly, and he will likely to sell and sign books at Omar’s afterwards.

Burke will present in the Hannon Library Meese Room at 5 PM. You can find Burke’s book Weapon:Mouth, My Adventures in the Free Speech Zone on Amazon.com.

 

By Alex Mesadieu