Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Historic Preservation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Lake Oswego honors Carolyn Gladd; preservation groups digitize 19th-century Oregon Iron & Steel records
Summary
The City of Lake Oswego recognized Carolyn Gladd with a lifetime achievement award and highlighted a completed project that digitized four volumes of Oregon Iron & Steel Company records dating from 1882–1905.
The City of Lake Oswego and the Historic Resources Advisory Board presented the Jeanie McGuire Lifetime Achievement Award to Carolyn Gladd on May 20 and highlighted a recently completed digitization project making historic company records and neighborhood histories available to the public.
Paul Espie of the planning department and Meg Matsushima, chair of the Historic Resources Advisory Board, introduced the award presentation and described the city’s Preservation Month activities, including weekly historic-property features on the city YouTube channel.
Gladd, a member of the Oswego Heritage Council, was recognized for leading a project to preserve, catalog and digitize a substantial collection of local historical documents. "She provided over 7,000 hours of dedicated service," a board presenter said during the ceremony.
Gail Toft Fazzini, a Lake Oswego Preservation Society board member who spoke during public comment, described the recovery and preservation work: "This book that I am holding is 143 years old. It is the original board meeting record of the Oregon Iron and Steel Company from 1882 to 1905." She said the volumes were rescued from a building cleanout decades ago, later donated to local preservation groups, and transcribed and digitized with support from an Oregon Heritage Commission grant and local volunteers.
Project details provided to the council noted four volumes spanning about 1,000 pages (the first volume is roughly 400 pages and handwritten). The work took roughly 12 months, eight volunteers and hundreds of hours; a professional transcriber was engaged under the Oregon Heritage Commission grant. The digitized records are available online through the Lake Oswego Public Library’s digital history collection, with physical photocopies and bound transcriptions available at the library, Oswego Heritage Council and Preservation Society. An exhibit of the books is on display at the Ironworkers' Cottage and Museum.
Council members and staff thanked volunteers and praised the partnership among the library, the Oswego Heritage Council and the Preservation Society. Staff said the city is accepting historic-preservation grant applications for neighborhood projects and will continue outreach on preservation programs.
