Telling Our Collective Story: Local History Museums
Time: Noon to 1:15 pm
Venue: WOW Hall
291 W 8th
Eugene, Oregon
97401
We will meet at the WOW Hall, 291 W 8th. Learn more: https://wowhall.org/about-us/. Walk, ride a bike or take the bus. You may park on the street or in the parking lot of FOOD for Lane County's Dining Room, across 8th from the WOW Hall. A freewill donation acknowledging the Dining Room's generosity may be made at the meeting.
Lunch will be available for $15.
Topic:
How do you tell the story of a place? Why is such history important? What can we do to ensure that everyone’s story gets told?
For generations, local museums have played an essential role in navigating the complexities, contradictions, and collective triumphs and tragedies of our past. Their job is multifaceted: to educate people of all ages, to ask critical, probing questions, to unlock mysteries buried in stacks of ancient artifacts and diaries, to try to make sense of hundreds of years of human civilization in the place we now call Oregon.
We’ll be joined by leaders from two of our local museums to talk about their work and its importance in a moment where the past is contested and the future, uncertain.
Speakers
Title: Executive Director
Organization: Lane County History Museum
Website: https://www.lchm.org/
Biography:
Biographies are provided by the panelists, then proofread and edited for length.
Keith Lohse has been the Executive Director of the Lane County History Museum since February 2025. He is new to Lane County and Eugene but brings over a decade of museum experience to the role. Keith served as Director of the Albany Regional Museum for 7 years helping it to navigate the pandemic and bring significant growth to the organization. He worked for the Clark County Historical Museum in Vancouver, WA before that, and has served as a volunteer at numerous institutions across Washington, Oregon, and Indiana.
Title: Curator
Organization: Springfield Museum
Website: https://wheremindsgrow.org/history_museum
Biography:
Biographies are provided by the panelists, then proofread and edited for length.
Madeline (Maddi) McGraw has been the Curator of the Springfield Museum since 2018. She grew up in Bend before attending college in Ohio, and has worked in small history museums in Ohio, Alaska, and Oregon. She loves the possibilities for community growth that local history museums can generate, and is a self-proclaimed “artifact nerd”. Maddi is also on the board of the Laurel Grove Historic Cemetery, has two cats and a dog, and loves to adventure around Oregon looking for rocks in her spare time.
