Sepia-toned photograph of a group of school students ranging in age from elementary to teenagers. Notice that most of the boys wear overalls, and the girls mostly have short hair, and wear short dresses. At this time, 1933, the area was still largely rural, with farms and a sawmill. West Union was the first school district in Washington County, formed in 1851. The building behind the students in this image was the second building to house the school, and was in use from 1892 until 1949. Today, the school is part of the nearby Hillsboro School District.
Black and white image of a motorcyclist just about to jump over two cars. The motorcyclist, identified as Mike Kelly, has just come through a 'ring of fire.' In the background is a Ferris Wheel lit up; at this time the County Fair was still held at Shute Park in Hillsboro. Unfortunately, Mr. Kelly lost control of his bike after he complete the jump and died of the injuries he received in the subsequent crash. Mr. Kelly's legal name was Dean Henry Leroy Pletcher, and he was from Goshen, Indiana. (See WCMpic_012658 and WCMpic_012661 for other images of this event.)
Black and white image of a young woman, Gloria Bates, in a formal gown seated in the midst of floral decorations and holding a dozen roses and a puppy in her lap. She wears a crown on her head and appears to be holding a large key as well.
Black and white photograph of a young woman in a formal dress. Ms. Mori wears a crown and carries a dozen roses in her arms. The sign in the background merely reads 'Goddess', but museum records list the photograph as 'Goddess of Liberty, Anita Mori.' The selection of a Goddess of Liberty was often part of the Hillsboro Happy Days events, held over the Fourth of July, dating back to the early 1900s. However, the competition-based selection of local young women as 'Goddess of Liberty' to reign over various local July 4th celebrations dates back to the late 1800s in this area. The dress worn by Ms. Mori indicates that this particular pageant was likely in the late 1940s or 1950s.
Black and white photo of Harold Stassens shaking hands with a woman on the edges of a crowd. In the background can be seen the Washington County Courthouse. Harold Stassens had a long political career, serving as governor of Minnesota and Pennsylvania and mayor of Philadelphia. Stassens was also a perennial candidate for the Republican Party Presidential nomination, unsuccessfully running in every presidential election cycle from 1944 to 2000, except for the 1956 and 1960 elections.
Black and white image of a man waving to a crowd as he rides in a carriage. The bus behind Mr. Stassens bears the label Special, and is very likely his campaign bus. Harold Stassens had a long political career, serving as governor of Minnesota and Pennsylvania and mayor of Philadelphia. Stassens was also a perennial candidate for the Republican Party Presidential nomination, unsuccessfully running in every presidential election cycle from 1944 to 2000, except for the 1956 and 1960 elections.
Black and white image of a man giving a speech on the front porch of the Washington County Courthouse in Hillsboro, Oregon. The speechmaker, Harold Stassens, stands in front of a large United States flag. Mr. Stassens had a long political career, serving as governor of Minnesota and Pennsylvania and mayor of Philadelphia. Stassens was also a perennial candidate for the Republican Party Presidential nomination, unsuccessfully running in every presidential election cycle from 1944 to 2000, except for the 1956 and 1960 elections.
Black and white photograph of a toddler, wearing overalls and a white shirt. His hair is cut short and combed to the side. Richard McKinney was the son of Verne McKinney, who was editor of the Hillsboro Argus for fifty years. Museum records date this photo as being taken on November 10, 1939.
Black and white image of a man in a suit, Verne McKinney. McKinney enlisted in the army in World War I. Because of his experience working on the Hillsboro Argus, the newspaper owned by his mother, he served mostly at the Central Printing Plant as a printer. When he graduated from college in 1923, Verne's mother, Emma, sold him a half-interest in the Argus, and made him an editor, a position which he held for another fifty years.
Sepia-toned portrait of a young girl sitting on a bench with a parasol. She wears a broad-brimmed hat and a light-colored dress with lace trim. Eleanor Fitch was about five years old in this picture. Carrie Fitch is Eleanor's older sister; she was approximately 21 years of age and still living on the family farm in Dilley when she sent this postcard. Sister Mary Clare grew up in Cornelius, Oregon and entered the convent in 1904, at the age of sixteen. Her name prior to taking her vows was Agnes Morressey.
Black and white image of two young women wearing fancy tone-on-tone striped dresses with pleated skirts and satin yokes and sleeves. One girl is seated, and one is standing,. Both wear their hair up with a bow, though the standing girl's bow is much larger than her companion's. Girls' clothing in the 1910s especially became more child-friendly. One of the girls in this image is identified as Theresa Hendricks, the other is most likely her sister Edna, two years older than Theresa. Both the girls lived in Cornelius with their family. In the 1910 census, Theresa's father, Alphonse, is listed as the proprietor of a general merchandise store.
Group photograph of the students at Hillsboro High School in the 1890s, along with their teacher and principal, J. B. Stanley. The back of the photo names most of the students.
Sepia-toned image of a group of young people grouped beneath a tree. The four women wear high-necked white blouses tucked into skirts, while all but one of the men wear variations on a suit and tie. One man wears a baseball uniform. Carrie Fitch sent the postcard to Mary Morressey, the older sibling of Sister Mary Clare at St. Mary's Institute. (Sister Mary Clare's name prior to taking her vows was Agnes Morressey.)
Colorized image of a large institutional building in the American Stick style architecture. Dormer windows indicate a fourth floor underneath the gabled roof, and an octagonal bell tower sits prominently in the middle front of the building. The middle portion of the building was the original motherhouse constructed for the Sisters, completed in 1894. The wings were constructed in the early 1900s, adding a chapel and room for a boarding school. St. Mary's was begun as an orphanage for wayward children in the Beaverton area in 1889, the Sisters arriving in 1891 to take over care of the children and provide religious instruction. In 1902 English was mandated as the convent's primary language, though many of the Sisters' first language was German. Agnes Morressey grew up in Cornelius, Oregon and entered the convent in 1904, at the age of sixteen, eventually taking the name Sister Mary Clare. As a postulant, she was infamous in the community for her inability to keep her postulant's sailor hat in place over her long, thick hair, mostly because she frequently misplaced her hatpin. An accomplished musician, Sister Mary Clare taught music and other subjects in area parochial schools. She died in 1922 of leukemia.
Black and white photo of the congregation in the newly built Trinity Lutheran Church. The church was built largely by the congregation with donated labor, including dynamiting and then hauling the rocks used for the exterior from the quarry in Camas, Washington. The church was in use by the congregation from 1949 until 1996, when they relocated to a bigger facility elsewhere in Hillsboro. The city of Hillsboro purchased the building in 2000, and in 2004, opened the Glen and Viola Cultural Arts center in the building, named for the donors who provided the funds for the purchase and renovation. (See also WCMpic_012431, WCMpic_012430, and WCMpic_012424 for other pictures of this building in the same time period.)
Black and white image of an early street paving project. Asphalt is a form of bitumen, and this is an example of an early mechanized hot-mix asphalt paving machine. Rather than being the material which covers the road, the bitumen or asphalt is the cement which holds the road materials together. In this case, it was probably gravel and small stones, the 'lythic' (lithic) in the 'bitulythic' mixture.
Black and white image of a World War I United States Navy transport ship, the U. S. S. Susquehanna. Originally a German ocean liner, the S. S. Rhein, the ship was seized along with all other German ships then in United States' ports when the U. S. declared war on Germany in April 1917. She made eight trips through the dangerous North Atlantic waters, evading both German U-boats and mines, ultimately transporting just over 18,000 U. S. troops to France.
Sepia-toned image of a young man cutting wood with a cross cut saw. He wears leggings and boots and has a pipe. In the background, a trestle is just visible. Verne McKinney served in France during World War I, then returned to Hillsboro where he became the editor of the Hillsboro Argus.
Black and white image of two men standing in a room with two printing presses. Notice the power lines running along the wall and over onto the ceiling, and the hand tools hanging on the wall. Despite the fact that the caption on the photo gives the date as 1911, a close examination of the photo reveals that the calendar hanging between the two windows in the rear of the photo gives a date of November, 1914. It is possible the date refers to the founding of the newspaper rather than the date of the photo itself.
Black and white image of a dirt main street with houses on the image right and a barn and a water tower on the left. The road is dirt, and a boardwalk runs down alongside part of the right side of the image.
Sepia-toned image of a half a dozen men standing just beneath the roof of an open work area. Two brick making machines are there, with carts stacked with bricks ready to go into the kilns for drying in front of each. The man visible in the rafters on the image left is probably loading the clay into the brick press from the upper floor.
