The art of speculation and history
Roberta McKern If we want to exercise our speculating and surmising abilities, the East Linn Museum’s the perfect…
Historic postcards worth more than a thousand words
Roberta McKern Not long ago, a number of colorful picture postcards at the East Linn Museum drew attention…
What chittem bark brought to the valley
Roberta McKern While reading through Lois Rice’s notes at the East Linn Museum, a couple of newspaper clippings…
Rich histories embroidered into special quilt
Roberta McKern A call came to the East Linn Museum a while back. Would we be interested in…
Scraps reveal plenty about local history
Roberta McKern If we want to be impressed by the transitory nature of history at the East Linn…
Cattle tracks through history at the East Linn Museum
Roberta McKern As we meander through the East Linn Museum, we likely don’t have cattle in mind until…
‘Shooting anvils,’ medicine shows and a cold murder case
Roberta McKern At the East Linn Museum, it gladdens the researcher to come across an anecdote-filled history about…
Roberta McKern: Exploring the era of plastics at East Linn Museum
Roberta McKern In the mid-1940s, following World War II, an optimistic announcement declared that the era of plastics…
Queen Victoria’s influence lives on at museum
Roberta McKern When we enter the East Linn Museum, thoughts of England’s Queen Victoria don’t come readily to…
‘Niceties’ from the past abound at East Linn Museum
Roberta McKern The East Linn Museum contains many niceties. The first, of course, is its research room’s historical…
Minor mysteries add spice to life at East Linn Museum
Roberta McKern “Which way?” “I think that’s upside down.” “Wait, something’s stuck in there.” “Looks like a piece…
Oregon pioneers took the trail to where grass was greener
Roberta McKern A book entitled “The Willamette Valley: Migration and Settlement on the Oregon Frontier” can be located…
Museum harbors truths about lye and washerwoman blues
Roberta McKern We hear the phrase “The more things change, the more they stay the same,” and often…
Old bottles tell all manner of tales from days of yore
Roberta McKern This is a tale of old bottles. Once, a pair of 5-year-old twins lived in a…
Former forest ranger’s local history a go-to for stories of old
Roberta McKern Roy Elliott’s 1971 book, “Profiles of Progress,” ranks high on the favorite book list at the…
Calapooia River has wound its way through lot of local history
Roberta McKern In the East Linn Museum a large, hand-drawn map of Linn County backs a partition of…
Museum parlor walls contain memories, mysteries
Roberta McKern Let us suppose, for a moment, that you are back in the early parts of the…
Museum collection includes echoes of Christmases past
Roberta McKern If fantasies about museums came true, in the quiet and darkness around midnight or early morning…
Museum’s collection has strong representation from local logging heritage
Roberta McKern For The New Era “This is a logging town, so why don’t you have more about…
Despite family tragedy, mill owners played large role in community
Roberta McKern In last month’s column I wrote about time’s alteration of a one-mile stretch of Highway 228…
Saw display offers flashbacks to days of old in the woods
Roberta McKern If you were to ask, “Where can I find an intriguing collection of crosscut and chain…
Museum’s quilt collection tells stories from history
Roberta McKern On a chilled night, when rain mutters across the roof and grumbles down the gutters and…
Finally: The true story of why firemen wear red suspenders
Roberta McKern This month we continue with some excerpts from the very interesting book “The Golden Arrow and…
Digging Treasure at East Linn Museum: Portrait collection a good way to remember key figures of the past
Roberta McKern For The New Era Most people want to be remembered and to remember others, especially when…
Museum’s collection of telephones brings back memories
Roberta McKern Right up there with household electricity and the automobile, surely one of the big transformers of…