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NOTICES
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OHS Research Library | |
| recently acquired and processed collections |
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Carleton E. Watkins photographs | |
| The Carleton E. Watkins photographs (Org. Lot 93) comprise one of the Oregon Historical Society's prized photograph collections. Considered to be one of the finest photographers of the nineteenth-century American West, Watkins (1829–1926) photographed Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, Yosemite, Utah, San Francisco, and other locations from 1854 through 1906. The collection of Watkins photographs at the Oregon Historical Society dates from 1867 to 1885 and includes the most comprehensive set of Watkins images from Oregon and the Columbia River known to exist. Over 70 mammoth plates, 250 stereoviews, 2 photograph albums, and other card photographs depict the wilderness of the Columbia River, as well as the development of salmon fishing, lumbering, and railroad shipping through that landscape and in the towns of Oregon City, Portland, and The Dalles, Oregon; Seattle, Washington; and Victoria, British Columbia. Some photographs in the collection are from outside the Pacific Northwest, including the Farallon Islands and Yosemite. |
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Multnomah County Wedding Album Project records, 2004–2005 | |
| Beginning March 3, 2004, Multnomah County, Oregon (which includes the city of Portland), began issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. County Chair Diane Linn made the decision after concluding that state law violated the Oregon Constitution's guarantee of equal treatment. This became a historic and controversial decision both locally and nationally and was seen as part of the larger national debate regarding gay marriage. |
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Immediately following the decision, opponents of same-sex marriage began to draft a lawsuit to halt the issuance of licenses. They started to gather support for what became Measure 36, a constitutional amendment limiting the definition of marriage to the union between a man and a woman. Oregon's governor ordered the state not to recognize the marriages, which prompted a lawsuit. On April 20, 2004, the County was ordered by a judge to discontinue the issuance of licenses to same-sex couples and a year later, in April 2005, the Oregon Supreme Court voided licenses that had already been issued. The Court unanimously ruled that Multnomah County had no authority to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. |
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The Wedding Album Project records consist of a variety of items submitted to Multnomah County in March 2005 for the 2004 Wedding Album project. Items include photographs, letters, marriage certificates, mementos, newspaper clippings, and other written materials documenting the events leading up to and following the contributing couples receiving their marriage certificates from the county. The collection includes mostly items dating from March 2004 until March 2005. Mainly represented in the photographs (including those not a part of the official album) are same-sex couples who were married and their family and friends. Images of the marriage certificates and the events celebrating the marriages are also included. Mementos in the collection include marriage certificates, vows, announcements, and invitations to weddings and celebratory gatherings. Additional mementos include CD-Rs and DVD-Rs depicting ceremonies and celebrations, newspaper clippings from local papers, and collages of writings and photographs. |
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Biographical information is provided in the form of letters and stories that often accompanied submissions to the Project. Correspondence includes thank-you e-mails, cards, and letters to County Commissioners Maria Rojo de Steffey, Serena Cruz, Lisa Naito, and Diane Linn. An index guide to the material (composed by the county), documenting the names and contributions of couples who submitted materials, is included with the correspondence. |
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Content in the History Cooperative database is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the History Cooperative database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.
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