Photo: Oregon Historical Society
Photo: Oregon Historical Society
On Monday, July 12 — what would have been Senator Mark O. Hatfield’s 99th birthday — the Oregon Historical Society (OHS) is proud to kick-off a yearlong series of programs and activities honoring the life and legacy of Senator Hatfield. All are invited to the first event in this series: a free public exhibit opening celebrating OHS’s original traveling exhibit,The Call of Public Service: The Life and Legacy of Mark O. Hatfield. In honor of the Senator’s birthday, admission to the museum will be free all day on July 12.
A brief program will begin at 11am in the Oregon Historical Society’s pavilion (1200 SW Park Avenue, Portland) and will include remarks from State Senator Betsy Johnson, Congressman Earl Blumenauer, and OHS Executive Director Kerry Tymchuk. Antoinette Hatfield, wife of the late Senator, will officially open the exhibit with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. The exhibit will remain on view in the OHS pavilion through August 2 before traveling to museums, libraries, and civic centers around the state, returning to OHS for the 100th anniversary of the Senator’s birth on July 12, 2022.
In a remarkable 46-year career in elected office, Mark O. Hatfield earned a reputation as the most respected and influential politician in Oregon’s history. First elected as an Oregon State Representative in 1950 at the age of 28, Hatfield never lost an election and would go on to serve Oregon as a state senator, secretary of state, governor, and a United States senator. The exhibit consists of three, three-sided pop-up kiosks that highlight the issues Hatfield championed: healthcare, education, equal rights, the environment, and world peace.
“I am one of hundreds of Oregonians who served as a college intern in Senator Hatfield’s office and am incredibly fortunate to have called him a mentor and a friend,” said OHS Executive Director Kerry Tymchuk. “In these often polarizing times, let us all remember these words of Senator Hatfield: ‘All of us need each other, all of us must lift and pull others as we rise, all of us must rise together — powerful, free, one self-determined people.’”
Source: Oregon Historical Society