The Oregon Encyclopedia

Historians, scholars, and experts have been sharing their research in entries for The Oregon Encyclopedia for over a decade. They have created a compendium of Oregon History free and open to all, and it grows each week, entry by entry. Check here to read the latest pages on The OE.

Recently published

Assisted Plant Migration

Assisted migration is the human-assisted movement of species and popula…
Climate Change and the History of Energy in Oregon

Unlike in other parts of the country, hydropower is the largest source …
Climate Change in Oregon

Within a few hundred miles in Oregon, you can see snowy volcanoes, parc…
Edward Boyce (1862–1941)

Before moving to Portland in the early years of the twentieth century, …
Edwin R. Bingham (1920–2009)

American cultural historian Edwin R. “Bing” Bingham, a longtime and pop…
Endangered Klamath suckers

Since Lost River suckers (Deltistes luxatus) and shortnose suckers (Cha…
John Floyd (1783–1837)

During his service in the U.S. House of Representatives, John Floyd of …
John Whiteaker (1820–1902)

John Whiteaker, a self-educated farmer from Lane County, was elected in…
Masuzo Maruyama (1903–1941)

Masuzo Maruyama boarded the Iyo Maru in Kobe, Japan, on March 15, 1903,…
Ota Tofu

Ota Tofu, a small storefront in Portland’s east side, is a cultural and…
Pacific Northwest–Southwest Intertie

No area of the West is isolated from the western electric power supply,…
Sahomi Tachibana (1924–)

Sahomi Tachibana is a Japanese American master teacher and performer of…
The 2021 Pacific Northwest Heatwave (Heat Dome)

A historic heatwave affected Oregon and the greater Pacific Northwest d…
William Appleman Williams (1921–1990)

William Appleman Williams was a prominent radical historian and a leadi…
William McChord Hurt (1950–2022)

An award-winning film, television, and theater actor, William Hurt had …
Wilma Froman Sheridan (1926–)

Wilma Froman Sheridan was the first woman dean of a school within Portl…