Springfield History Museum

01/15/2025

We are honored to be welcomed to share and display highlights from our ILLUMINATION collections featuring Springfield community members at this MLK Jr. Celebration on Monday, January 20th, at the Shedd in Eugene. It will be a pleasure to be in community with youth, families and people from all over Lane County.

If you're a Springfielder, you can participate in BOTH local celebrations. Springfield High School also has an afternoon march that will start at the Springfield Justice Center at 1:00 p.m. and end at the High School where an afternoon program will follow. Please share widely!

01/11/2025

Thank you for the coverage of our new exhibit "Housing in Springfield and Beyond", The Register-Guard!

The Springfield History Museum, in partnership with the city, is striking up conversations about local housing's history and future.

01/03/2025

New year new hours for our friends at the Springfield Public Library!

New Year, New Hours, Effective January 6, 2025
Horas de atención a partir del 6 de enero, 2025

Monday/ lunes: 12-5pm
Tuesday/ martes: 10am-7pm
Wednesday/ miércoles: 10am-7pm
Thursday/ jueves: 12-5pm
Friday/ viernes: 10am-5pm
Saturday/ sábado: 10am-3pm
Sunday/ domingo: Closed / Cerrado

12/28/2024

Check out these amazing old photos of the Springfield Public Library bookmark contest!

12/21/2024

Until the end of February, you can take part in the Dear Stranger program when you visit the Museum! While you can write on any topic, the theme for this winter is "Currents"-perfect for a city between two rivers! Just stop by the Museum, write a letter, drop it into our cute mailbox, and we'll do the rest! 💌 ....

12/20/2024

Last Friday was a beautiful celebration of the American Indian and Alaska Native community at the Springfield History Museum. We welcomed over 300 people through our small space to honor and elevate the history, stories, music and culture of the many First Nations Peoples who call this region home.

We extend our gratitude to Kunu Bearchum of Morning Star Creative (also our ILLUMINATION project photographer this year!) for his leadership and collaboration to take what the community wanted for the celebration and manifesting it.

"We are not just decolonizing, but Indigenizing," said Bearchum in his opening remarks. Indeed, we aren't just breaking down barriers and disentangling from harmful practices -- we are building forward as a collective, to better serve all of our extraordinary community.

Special thanks to Chifin Native Youth Center for lending us several gorgeous 8th Generation blankets to hang in the Museum, as well as preparing delicious salmon chowder for all.

Special thanks to our amazing partner, Native Youth Wellness Program for setting up in our kid zone with awesome free swag and books for youth.

Special thanks to our opening celebration sponsors, Springfield Utility Board and Noche Cultural.

It was very special to welcome so many guests in community across the spectrum of ILLUMINATION, as well as fellow City staff and elected officials like Mayor Sean VanGordon - Springfield, OR.

The Museum extends our gratitude to the guest artists and culture holders who helped transform our space for the evening. We also extend our deepest gratitude to our skilled and passionate ILLUMINATION story team, and the six individuals who honored us with their trust to share and steward their stories.

If you missed the event, here are some photo highlights! Also, Angela Noah (White Mountain Apache) honored the Museum with her attendance, her words and also by recording the audio of the event for her podcast, Young Elders. Stay tuned and we'll let you know when this episode drops!

You can view this ILLUMINATION collection in our windows through September, 2025, and online (forever!) at https://wheremindsgrow.org/illumination

12/09/2024

✨ILLUMINATION preview feature: Leilani Sabzalian✨

Leilani is known and loved by many students in the Eugene-Springfield area, having worked with ages ranging from kindergarten up through graduate school. In this interview, she shares memories of her work with the Indian Education program within Springfield Public Schools, her students’ advocacy to have the City of Springfield adopt Indigenous Peoples’ Day, and her insights into how Native youth today are holding onto their cultural traditions, while also creatively pushing the bounds of what it means to be Indigenous. Leilani is now an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies in Education and the co-director of Sapsik Wala, the Indigenous teacher training program at the University of Oregon. She is Aluutiq, with ancestry from the people of the south-central Alaskan coast.

You can explore all of the history, video interviews and photographs once ILLUMINATION opens 12/13/2024 at https://wheremindsgrow.org/illumination and in the windows at the Springfield History Museum window exhibit at 6th and Main St. in downtown Springfield.

12/07/2024

ILLUMINATION is truly a project by and for the community. We extend our deepest gratitude to all of the individuals who have come together in community at our gatherings, meetings and other events with curiosity and creative ideas that have informed every step of the project so far. We are truly stronger together!

We also extend our deepest gratitude to the financial and in-kind supporters who made this ILLUMINATION collection and opening celebration possible.

This project is made possible in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as support from:
🔌Springfield Utility Board
🎨Springfield Arts Commission
🦆The University of Oregon The Many Nations Longhouse and Home Flight Scholars Program
🍃City of Springfield, Oregon Government
📚Springfield Public Library Foundation
📖Friends of the Springfield Public Library and History Museum
🏇Noche Cultural Comunidad y Herencia Cultural
✨Chifin Native Youth Center of Springfield Public Schools - OR

🧡Special thanks to the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz for support of our team with access to historical resources and content review for accuracy.

12/06/2024

📹 Meet the Interviewees 🎙️ https://loom.ly/amiFGuk

The 2024-2025 chapter of ILLUMINATION explores the American Indian and Alaska Native experience in Springfield and rural east Lane County. The clips in this preview video introduce six people, representing a range of tribal backgrounds, who all have ties to this geographic area. Their interviews explore topics such as identity and belonging, language revitalization work, ecological stewardship, education, and the impact of building community with other Native people. Be sure to check out the full interviews for Leo White Horse, Sheena Puls, Leilani Sabzalian, Derek Kimbol, Shannin Stutzman, and Esther Stutzman.

12/05/2024

Relive the holiday spirit of the 1980s with these vintage snapshots from the Springfield Christmas Parade. 📸 🎅

The 72nd annual Springfield Christmas Parade is happening this weekend, December 7th! Don't miss out on the festive fun—see you there! 🎄✨

All Images from the Chamber of Commerce Collection, the Springfield History Museum.

12/05/2024

We'll be closed for staff training Thursday, December 5, but we will be open again Friday December 6 at 10am!

12/04/2024

A message from the ILLUMINATION team writer and historian, Megan England:

"What an honor it was to meet with these six individuals.

Derek, passionate about traditional ecological knowledge and willing to go against the grain,

Sheena, organizing cultural programming and events for Native youth and families in the Eugene-Springfield area,

Leilani, an educator and advocate who has worked within the Springfield Public Schools and the University of Oregon,

Esther and Shannin, a mother and daughter who are working tirelessly to preserve Kalapuya language and culture,

Leo, an artist who wants to see Native people become more connected to one another and more visible in the community.

We hope the words of these six extraordinary people will help visitors see the range and variety of cultural and linguistic backgrounds among Indigenous and Native people in our community. In the words of Leilani, “We’re diverse, we’re vibrant, we’re contemporary.”

Currently, there are 9 federally recognized tribes in Oregon and 574 tribes in the United States, each with a distinct history and culture. There are many more perspectives of Indigenous people in this community that are still waiting to be shared."

✨ ✨ ✨ ✨

Join us on Friday, December 13, 2024, from 5:00–7:30 p.m. at 590 Main Street, downtown Springfield, for an opening celebration featuring Native storytellers including Brent Florendo, Esther and Shannin Stutzman, and contemporary Native musicians Kunu Bearchum and Fish Martinez. Attendees can also enjoy samples of salmon chowder provided by the Chifin Native Youth Center of Springfield Public Schools - OR.

12/03/2024

This year ILLUMINATION explores the American Indian and Alaska Native experience in the region. We welcome all in the community to show up with your friends and families to support this new collection, the extraordinary work of the community-led team, and to elevate the history, voices and sovereignty of our American Indian and Alaska Native community.

Join us on Friday, December 13, 2024, from 5:00–7:30 p.m. at 590 Main Street, downtown Springfield, for our opening celebration featuring Native storytellers including Brent Florendo, Esther and Shannin Stutzman, and contemporary Native musicians Kunu Bearchum and Fish Martinez. Attendees can also enjoy samples of salmon chowder provided by the Chifin Native Youth Center of Springfield Public Schools - OR.

11/25/2024