Editor's Note

Abstract

OHQ vol. 122, no. 2 102 Editor’s Note© 2021 Oregon Historical Society ONE YEAR AGO, the Oregon Historical Quarterly (OHQ) published our first issue of the COVID-19 era. As we bring this issue to publication, we reflect on the transformations wrought by the virus and the ways human beings, our governments, our scientists, our social institutions, and our cultural organizations have responded. Loss of life in the United States and around the globe has been devastating and is ongoing. Here in Oregon, today, the number of cases of infection is rising, but so is the number of people receiving vaccinations. It truly has been a year unlike any other. This issue is almost entirely focused on White women’s history, including three pieces specifically addressing the work of uncovering that history from the shadows. We offer this compilation for its own value, as we do all issues of OHQ, but also in honor of the missed opportunity to spend 2020’s centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment exploring in person the ways women have shaped Oregon and U.S. history. The first day of COVID-19 closure for the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) was March 14, 2020 — the day we planned to open to the public our new exhibition, Nevertheless, They Persisted: Women’s Voting Rights and the 19th Amendment. That exhibition explores state and national history, showcases the work of women from many eras and backgrounds, and highlights how racism plagued the movement. As racism, voting rights, and women’s rights continue to be major issues of concern and debate in Oregon and the United States today, we are pleased to have extended the exhibition’s run through December 5, 2021. And, as the articles and public history roundtable in this issue demonstrate, there is still much tenacious work to be done in the ongoing effort to bring women — and particularly women of color — from the margins to the center of our historical narratives. For an editor’s note in the Summer 2020 issue, I wrote about the changes to our workflow here at OHQ. Since then, we have settled into the habits of working at home and meeting through our computer screens. Portland State University’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Rose Tucker Charitable Foundation renewed their support for our partnership; Helen Ryan completed her graduate studies, and Sarah Harris joined our editorial team as the Rose Tucker Fellow in September 2020. OHS’s research library remains closed to the public — as its permanent home undergoes renovation and staff adhere to the social-distancing rules that have helped keep Canty-Jones, Editor’s Note 103 countless people safe — but our coworkers there have continued to assist with research requests for primary documents and images. We are grateful for all the people who have persisted in the myriad work necessary to produce OHQ — authors, peer-reviewers, archivists, oral historians, librarians, curators, photographers, and everyone whose memberships, contributions, and daily work on staff keep OHS running. One part of our work that has been difficult to keep on a regular schedule is our book-review section, the production of which has long relied on regular office work from our stalwart volunteers. Full length book review sections will return; we promise We have so many exciting manuscripts in the pipeline for future issues, as scholars carry on the work of seeking out and making meaning from the remnants of the past. Whatever the future holds, we remain confident that OHQ will be here, every three months, to continue making sense of the people, places, and events that have shaped Oregon. — Eliza E. Canty-Jones THE OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY’S exhibition Nevertheless, They Persisted: Women’s Voting Rights and the 19th Amendment was scheduled to open on March 14, 2020 — the day it closed to the public to slow the spread of COVID-19. The exhibit, curated by Lori Erickson, will be on display through December 5, 2021. Oregon Historical Society ...