In his fifty-two years in Oregon, Tom Burns threw himself into nearly every liberal movement of his time. His passions galloped from women’s rights to …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Toni Pimble, one of the first women to lead an American ballet company, is a founder of the Eugene Ballet, the oldest established ballet company …

Oregon Encyclopedia

In July 1866, the Reverend Luther T. Woodward reported to the Willamette University board of trustees that several prominent Oregonians wanted to establish a law …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Winona LaDuke (Mississippi Band of Anishinaabe Indians) is an internationally respected Native American environmental leader, author, politician, and economist. She is best known for her …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Alan L. Hart was an Oregon physician, researcher, and writer and one of the first female-to-male transgender persons to undergo a hysterectomy in the United …

Oregon Encyclopedia

In response to pogroms in the early 1880s, two reform-minded organizations of Russian Jews sought opportunities outside their native Russia. One group, BILU (Beir Ya'ako …

Oregon Encyclopedia

In 1996, Avel Louise Gordly became the first African American woman to be elected to the Oregon State Senate. Gordly was born in Portland on …

Oregon Encyclopedia

The Battle of Hungry Hill—also known as the Battle of Grave Creek—was the largest engagement of the Rogue River Indian War in 1855–1856. The battle …

Oregon Encyclopedia

In 1928, Blanch McBride Virgin became the first woman in the United States to own and operate a professional radio station—KMED in Medford, Oregon. …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Violinist, teacher, composer, and conductor Boris Sirpo was best known as the founder of the Portland Chamber Orchestra, which he directed for twenty years. He …

Oregon Encyclopedia