Oregon My Oregon Wins Silver 2005 MUSE Award

Oregon My Oregon— a permanent exhibit at the Oregon Historical Society — tells the Oregon story from the time when people first came to the place to the present day. The exhibit encourages people to think about history and invites them to come to their own conclusions. One part of the exhibit — the lunch counter — introduces controversial issues to visitors, as they select a topic from vintage jukeboxes to see Oregonians commenting on many contemporary issues. "As far as we know," OHS Artifact Collections and Exhibits Director Marsha Matthews said, "this interactive method has not been used before in a museum exhibit." Developing the lunch counter offered many challenges and allowed exhibit designers to more fully develop the powerful issues that are threaded throughout the exhibit.	1
The lunch counter has received a singular honor — a silver MUSE Award for 2005, awarded by the Media and Technology Standing Professional Committee of the American Association of Museums. Winners of the award, which recognizes excellence in media programs produced by or for museums, were selected by thirty museum and media professionals from across the country. "The designers did a nice job in recreating a small town cafe where folks would discuss events of the day, with video-interview selections chosen through a simulated jukebox," the judges commented. "The most exciting part of this program was the fact that it tackled contemporary issues. All too often these issues are ignored in museums as they may be too politically sensitive or too recent for historians or museum administrators to see their relevance. Judges were pleased to see the museum willing to make this a priority in order to better inform their citizens and to present opposing viewpoints on issues."	2
Oregon, My Oregon is open Monday through Saturday from 10 A.M. until 5 P.M. and on Sundays from noon until 5 P.M. Other MUSE award winners can be viewed at www.mediaandtechnology.org/muse/2005muse_history.html.	3
Newberry Lunch Counter installation, "Modern Oregon Issues," in Oregon My Oregon Scott Rook, photographer

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