Lane County, Oregon is best known as the home of the state’s flagship university in Eugene. Situated in the Pacific Northwest, Lane County is not known for its racial, ethnic, and religious diversity. Yet under the surface, this place has always been a part of the world. Indigenous inhabitants, white settlers, Black residents, Muslims and Jews, and immigrants and Americans with roots in every continent have made their homes here. Some stayed for decades while others remained just a few months to perform a specific job. “Hidden Histories” is a project of University of Oregon faculty that engages our students in conducting original historical research to unearth these histories and present them to the public.
In 2023, faculty member Rabbi Meir Goldstein guided Jewish Studies students in conducting research about the county’s Jewish community history; in 2024, Professor Julie Weise worked with undergraduates in her History class to present the life histories of the 140 Mexicans and Mexican Americans who were present in Lane County at the time of the April 1930 U.S. Census. Most were single males working for the Southern Pacific Railroad and living near the tracks on the county’s outskirts, but women and children were here too, as was one Mexican vacuum cleaner salesman. The UO Libraries supported our efforts by building this site and helping our students learn WordPress to share their content with the wider public.
We look forward to continuing to build the site together with our students so that it can cover more people and time periods in our county’s past. Lane County has more diverse residents today than ever before, and these communities did not appear out of nowhere. Our hope in unearthing these hidden histories is to give every person who lives here the opportunity to feel that Lane County is truly their home.
Lane County, Oregon is best known as the home of the state’s flagship university in Eugene. Situated in the Pacific Northwest, Lane County is not known for its racial, ethnic, and religious diversity. Yet under the surface, this place has always been a part of the world. Indigenous inhabitants, white settlers, Black residents, Muslims and Jews, and immigrants and Americans with roots in every continent have made their homes here. Some stayed for decades while others remained just a few months to perform a specific job. “Hidden Histories” is a project of University of Oregon faculty that engages our students in conducting original historical research to unearth these histories and present them to the public.
In 2023, faculty member Rabbi Meir Goldstein guided Jewish Studies students in conducting research about the county’s Jewish community history; in 2024, Professor Julie Weise worked with undergraduates in her History class to present the life histories of the 140 Mexicans and Mexican Americans who were present in Lane County at the time of the April 1930 U.S. Census. Most were single males working for the Southern Pacific Railroad and living near the tracks on the county’s outskirts, but women and children were here too, as was one Mexican vacuum cleaner salesman. The UO Libraries supported our efforts by building this site and helping our students learn WordPress to share their content with the wider public.
We look forward to continuing to build the site together with our students so that it can cover more people and time periods in our county’s past. Lane County has more diverse residents today than ever before, and these communities did not appear out of nowhere. Our hope in unearthing these hidden histories is to give every person who lives here the opportunity to feel that Lane County is truly their home.