2013 HISTORICAL PRESERVATION OPEN HOUSE
The Wayne Morse Historical Park Corporation held its annual open house celebrating Historic Preservation Month on Sunday, May 19th at the park. Visitors enjoyed free house tours, history of the Morse family, its farm, and the Crest Drive neighborhood. The day's events also included a "Vote for Morse" Exhibit featuring photographs and materials from Wayne Morse's 1972 campaign, a showing of OPB's documentary "Oregon Experience: Wayne Morse, music by the Kutsinhira Cultural Arts Center Marimba Band, and an ice cream social.
CANDIDATES’ FORUM
The Wayne Morse Historical Park Corporation and the League of Women Voters co-hosted a Candidates’ Forum, featuring the Ward 2 race for Eugene City Council candidates, Betty Taylor and Juan Carlos Valle along with a Meet & Greet, and tours of the Morse family home on a beautiful afternoon on Sunday, September 9th. The well-attended event was held undercover (from the sun!) at the picnic shelter, and taped by Community Television of Lane County (www.CTV29.org). WMHPC board members assisted in the hosting, setup, collection of questions by the public, house tours and serving of refreshments. Thank you to all who helped on this wonderful community event.
EUGENE’S 150TH CELEBRATION
No celebration of Eugene’s history would be complete without deference to Wayne Lyman Morse. His granddaughter, and board member, Melanie Lee, gave a wonderful interview on “The Tiger of the Senate” for KVAL TV’s Tom Adams, as part of their series for Eugene’s 150th anniversary celebration. You can find the accompanying article and see her interview in this KVAL clip . The Register Guard also mentioned him in their special anniversary supplement edition in September – “Eugene@150,” as one of the local notable residents who made their mark on history. He is pictured at a speaking engagement in 1966, and noted as…”UO Law School dean in the 1930’s; legendary U.S. senator from 1945-1969; made brief run at U.S. presidency in 1960.” Earlier this year, Melanie gave another great interview to the RG in preparation for this anniversary. KUDOS, Melanie!
BOB KUTTNER REMINISCES ABOUT WAYNE MORSE
Kuttner paid a visit to the Morse Family Farm to view the exhibits and talk with the Wayne Morse Historical Park Board about politics and economics in 2012. He began by remembering how important it was for Senator Wayne Morse to stand up to Lyndon B. Johnson, a President of the same party, with whom Morse was aligned on many issues. In fact, Wayne Morse carried Johnson’s Great Society programs that had to do with education. (See the monograph by Morse biographer A. Robert Smith, A Triumph of Statesmanship: Senator Wayne Morse Delivers Federal Aid for Education, published by the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics and the Wayne Morse Historical Park Board in 2011.)
But despite his support of Johnson’s programs on civil rights and social progress, Wayne Morse was a vocal and constant dissenter against the disastrous course Johnson set in Southeast Asia. Morse was one of two votes against the infamous Gulf of Tonkin Resolution in 1964 that, according to Morse, gave a blank check to Johnson to expand U.S. involvement in Vietnam.
Kuttner hopes that someone will stand up for more progressive economic policy. He complimented Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley for improving the Frank-Dodd legislation that reformed the financial sector after the 2008 collapse, but we need to go further. President Obama seems set on a course of compromise with the ‘budget deficit hawks.’ Kuttner believes there is no way we can immediately cut the deficit without hurting workers, seniors and the poor. It would be a disaster, in his opinion, to reduce Social Security or Medicare benefits. The people who need it most cannot cope easily with higher eligibility age for these programs, as they have worked in demanding jobs and have no other means of support. There are better ways to deal with budget deficits in the future – for now we must get the economy back on track by investing in infrastructure, especially renewable energy and green jobs.
Robert Kuttner’s visit to Oregon was spectacular. He gave three public addresses in Eugene and two in Portland, focusing on economics and politics. He co-taught a political science class with Dan Tichenor, Senior Faculty Fellow at the Wayne Morse Center. Over 80 sophomores were treated to a rich class on Public Policy and Democracy. At the last class we were sure that Bob had some Oregon gear to take back to Boston.
LIFE ON THE FARM WITH NANCY, JUDY & AMY
A colorful, educational and fun exhibit by the WMHPC entitled, "Life on the Farm with Nancy, Judy and Amy," was displayed during July and August 2012 in the Children’s Library Room at the Eugene Public Library. The child-friendly display highlighted the Morse sisters' love of reading and how they spent their childhood at the family's Edgewood Farm. Favorite books, dolls, toys and family photos helped tell the story.
The WMHPC exhibit appeared in connection with the annual summer exhibit program at the Library for members of the Museums of Springfield/Eugene.
NHS VOLUNTEERS 2012
Thanks to a National Honor Society crew from South Eugene High School who helped clean up the grounds around the Morse house one sunny day this spring. Coordinated by WMHPC board member Lucinda Muniz Hale, NHS students Elah, Lindsey, Selina, Gabi, and Clare garnered community service hours while we received much needed help in preparation for our big open house event.
HISTORIC PRESERVATION OPEN HOUSE 2012
Camas Ridge Marimbas Highlight a Festive 2012 Historical Preservation Open House
The Wayne Morse Family Farm played host to throngs of visitors in May 2012 for the annual Historic Preservation Open House. WMHPC Board Members Melanie Lee, who served as hostess-at-large, and Harriet Behm, who offered an insightful introduction in the Senator’s study, welcomed guests and brought Wayne Morse, his work and his family’s world at Edgewood Farm to life.
In addition to house tours, Open House visitors enjoyed a classic car show, hosted by the Cascade Chapter of the Studebaker Drivers Club; an ice cream social in the Morse family tradition; and wonderfully upbeat rhythms of the fourth and fifth grade marimba ensembles from Camas Ridge Elementary School. Guests relaxed on the front lawn around picnic tables or on blankets, basking in bright spring sunshine.
WMHPC thanks the Camas Ridge students and their energetic leader, David Adee; the Studebaker Drivers Club; and several Eugene businesses who contributed to the event: BiMart, Market of Choice, Metropol Bakery, Passionflower Design, Prince Puckler’s Ice Cream, Rhythm and Blooms, Sweet Life Patisserie. It was a terrific afternoon as the photos below demonstrate!
To learn more about the 2012 Wayne Morse Family Farm Open House, read this RG article or view a clip from KEZI. Join us next year!
HISTORIC PRESERVATION OPEN HOUSE 2012, IN PHOTOS
Photo: Robert Lee
Photo: Robert Lee
Photo: Robert Lee
Photo: Robert Lee
Photo: Robert Lee
Photo: Nora H.
Photo: Gary Elam
Photo: Nora H.
OPB’s “Oregon Experience: Wayne Morse" Previews in Eugene
Oregon Public Broadcasting aired a retrospective about Wayne Morse’s life in February 2012 as part of its “Oregon Experience” series. Prior to the broadcast, WMHPC and the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics cosponsored previews in Eugene. OE Executive Producer Nadine Jelsing and segment Producer Eric Cain attended the screenings, held at the UO Knight Law Center.
The production drew heavily on research conducted in Eugene during summer 2011 at the Morse family farm and the UO Library’s Special Collections which houses Wayne Morse’s papers. Excerpts from interviews with WMHPC Board Members Ed Fadeley and Melanie Lee, Senator Morse’s granddaughter, and UO Morse Center Director Margaret Hallock appear in the production, in addition to those with former Morse staffer (and WMHPC Life Member) Gina Harden and long time campaign staffer Ron Abell who sadly passed away shortly before the production was aired.
“Oregon Experience: Wayne Morse” provides a “fresh look” at Wayne Morse who “…often stood apart from the crowd on the issues…and his vote was never for sale.” Producer Cain added, “Morse was a complicated and fascinating man. Many Oregonians today don’t remember much about him, if they remember him at all. But here was a man who insisted that a democracy can succeed only if its citizens have access to the facts. He believed that government plays an important role in protecting people’s rights and freedoms.”
Watch OREGON EXPERIENCE: WAYNE MORSE online anytime after the broadcast at watch.opb.org.
Annual Meeting Special Guest: Daniel Hosang
At our January 2011 annual meeting, Dr. Daniel HoSang, UO Assistant Professor of Political Science and Ethnic Studies, gave a compelling presentation titled “Race on the Ballot in California and Oregon.” Dan HoSang was a Resident Scholar at the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics while he was finishing his important book Racial Propositions in which HoSang looks beyond the headlines to uncover the history of California's ballot measures over the past fifty years.
HoSang shows that liberal communities will actually support conservative ballot measures, and he discussed his interest in the connection between political extremism and violence. HoSang grew up on the upper West side of NYC and was struck by the idea that a place can have liberal values and still accommodate a lot of oppression and hierarchy.
The book jacket for Racial Propositions describes HoSang’s work as follows:
As the rest of the U.S. watched, California voters banned public services for undocumented immigrants, repealed public affirmative action programs, and outlawed bilingual education, among other measures. Why did a state with a liberal political culture, an increasingly diverse populace, and a well-organized civil rights leadership roll back civil rights and anti-discrimination gains? Daniel Martinez HoSang finds that, contrary to popular perception, this phenomenon does not represent a new wave of "color-blind" policies, nor is a triumph of racial conservatism. Instead, in a book that goes beyond the conservative-liberal divide, HoSang uncovers surprising connections between the right and left that reveal how racial inequality has endured, arguing that each of these measures was a proposition about the meaning of race and racism.
HoSang discussed many of the ballot measures that passed in California in the name of liberalism but that did not actually promote equality. An early example is Proposition 14. In the election of 1964, California voted overwhelmingly for Lyndon Johnson, but voted 2 to 1 to make housing discrimination legal. Dr. HoSang showed newspaper ads stating discrimination. There was violence towards people of color who wanted to move into segregated neighborhoods. Willie Mays couldn’t buy a house in San Francisco. HoSang emphasized the problematic and contradictory phenomenon that people say they want to be open to everyone, but they also say property owners have the right to do what they want. That perspective is addressed to white voters, because the only people who would see these as actual rights would be white; blacks would not see it as a right. The center of the argument is the idea of “your” rights – who is being talked about here with the statement “you"? Pat Brown led a fight against Prop 14. His message was to not legalize hate. The California Council of Churches told members they didn’t have to worry because “other” people couldn’t afford to live where those church members lived and the ones who could afford to come in were high quality and professional.
“Tolerance” and “Political Whiteness” on the ballot produces “our” statements with racial implications: “our rights of association,” “our property rights,” “our school,” “our kids,” our language,” “our common heritage,” “our borders,“ “our rights of fairness.” We are fortunate to have had Dr. HoSang discuss these serious and timely topics, inspiring us, and no doubt many others, to explore, discuss and participate in community and national change.
For more information about Dr. HoSang, and his publications, please visit:
UO Department of Ethnic Studies
UO Department of Political Science
University of California Press
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