Individuals, organizations and projects that have made outstanding contributions to preserving Oregon heritage will receive Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards.
Awards recognize action over and above the call of duty. “The award recipients represent the extraordinary efforts to preserve Oregon’s heritage,” said Beth Dehn, coordinator for the Oregon Heritage Commission. “They also serve as models for others on how to develop new ideas, approaches and innovations.”
The recipients are:
- Astoria YMCA Restoration Project, for excellence in façade restoration of a nearly abandoned building and honoring the building’s civic roots in reuse.
- Black Butte Cupola Restoration Project, for a collaborative historic preservation effort between Friends of the Metolius and Deschutes National Forest to restore and preserve the 1922 look-out structure.
- Brookside Pioneer Cemetery,* for creating a cemetery preservation plan, documenting conditions and repairing more than 121 headstones to their original upright positions.
- Janice Dilg, scholar, public historian and history builder who uncovers diverse voices of resistance, particularly related to Oregon’s women’s history.
- David Ellis, for a distinguished 50-year career preserving Oregon’s archaeological, ethnohistoric and historic resources and encouraging Tribal participation in cultural resources management.
- Eileen Fitzsimons, for dedicated statewide work on heritage projects preserving Oregon’s history, including devotion to historic trails, the Oregon Quilt Project and local history.
- Oregon Chinese Diaspora Project, a grassroots Federal/State/Local partnership in public archaeology helping to rewrite the role of the Chinese diaspora and Chinese Oregonians in the history of the state.
- Don Peting, founder of PNW Field School and central figure at UO Historic Preservation Program for 40 years who has created a ripple effect through those he has taught.
- Racing for Change-The Eugene Story, a partnership between Oregon Black Pioneers and the Museum of Natural and Cultural History that prioritized community outreach and input to tell a local story about race relations in Eugene.
- Phyllis Zegers, a dedicated volunteer who has researched over 3,360 unclaimed cremated remains in the custody of the Oregon State Hospital and assisted in reuniting approximately 573 urns with family members.
* Sally Donovan Award for Historic Cemetery Preservation
The Oregon Heritage Excellence Awards are a project of • , part of the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. This year’s awards were planned to be presented in conjunction with the Oregon Heritage Conference on April 24. The event has been canceled in response to COVID-19 health and safety guidelines. Oregon Heritage is committed to honoring the hard work and accomplishments of the award winners and will announce an award event once it is confirmed.
For more information, contact Beth Dehn at 503-986-0696 or Dehn@oregon.gov.
