The Talent Historical Society

• Welcome
• About Us
• Historical Photos
• Historical Videos
• The Diary Project
• Publications
• How You Can Help
• Further Resources
• Calendar
• Tuesday Evening
  at the Museum
• Local History Curriculum
• Native American Resources
• Online Store


Support Us By
shopping via this link

• Contact us
• Visit us
• Become a member
• Volunteer

Welcome!

The Talent Historical Society (THS) values and serves everyone in the community and is committed to providing safe and equitable access to our museums and all our historical society services. THS will not tolerate racism, harassment, discrimination, or intimidation in any form.

Talent Historical Society receives Grants from the following sponsors

Talent Business Alliance Grant
The Talent Historical Society (THS) would like to recognize and give thanks to the Talent Business Alliance (TBA) for the grant that allowed us to promote and hold a special Grand Opening event for the Almeda Fire Exhibit and Book Launch. This event was held on April 29, 2023. Besides giving us the means to promote and hold this event, TBA gave us opportunities that have increased our capacity as a small non-profit and helped create a path to future successes, working together with other businesses and non-profits in Talent.

Jackson County Cultural Coalition
THS recently received notice that the Jackson County Cultural Coalition (JCCC) has approved a grant for $3000 (this is even more than we requested!). They let us know that our documentation of the Almeda Fire was their number one priority among projects in the county. The funds will be used to finish translations of the stories to Spanish, with any remaining funds to go toward the first printing of the book. We are grateful for their support.

Pacific Power and Light Grant
Talent received a $2500 grant from Pacific Power and Light last December to make a blog with the stories and images documenting the Almeda Fire. Take a look at the blog, it’s spectacular!! talenttowninflames.blogspot.com

City of Talent
TPAC recommended our Almeda Fire project to the city and the City of Talent generously donated $1500 for the layout and design of the book documenting the Almeda Fire, and another $2000 to help with translation of the text into Spanish. Thank you, City of Talent!

Oregon Cultural Trust
Time to celebrate!! THS has received a $8,451 grant from the Oregon Cultural Trust (OCT) which will fund the exhibit for the Almeda Fire Documentation Project. This will allow THS to purchase new cases for the exhibit and new portable wall panels. Yes, the exhibit will be portable in parts. It will start at the Talent Museum and work its way to the City Hall, the Library, and the schools in Talent, then on to other locations in Jackson County and the State of Oregon. In addition to that, we have been chosen by OCT as a featured project. There will be feature stories about our project on the website “Here is Oregon”, in the Oregonian, and on the Oregon Cultural Trust Facebook page.

______________________________________________________________________

Talent Historical Society Current Projects

Talent Town in Flames Documentation Project

Our Board Members originally thought we should document the fire, the crisis, and the recovery of our town, in a book. And we are making that book. But it has become a larger project. It is now a three-part project. The first part is called “Liberated Archives” making our collection of images and stories accessible online to the general public. We have started a blog, Almeda Fire History Blog

The blog has some awesome photos and stories. Some stories are in Spanish, and we hope to continue collecting stories in both Spanish and English. The blog, which is a work in progress, contains original stories in the voices of our community members of all ages. More stories will be added each week. Funding received from a Pacific Power and Light grant has made this phase of the project possible.

The Talent Historical Society is compiling fire stories from the public. If you are willing to share your story, please leave a message on the Museum telephone line, 541-512-8838 or email us at this link.

Si está dispuesto a compartir su historia de su experiencia durante el fuego Almeda, póngase en contacto con nosotros llamando a la línea telefónica del Museo. 541-512-8838, y dejando un mensaje, o escribenos en este enlace

The City of Talent is helping fund the production of a book containing selected stories and images. Talent Public Arts Committee will be a contributor as well as some businesses, and our own dear residents who had varied experiences throughout the fire itself and the aftermath. Some stories will be from children. The stories will be translated so that the whole book will be in both Spanish and English. It will be available at close to printing cost to the public through THS’s online store and museum gift shop sometime early next year.

THS is also planning to make a new fire documentation exhibit at the museum, which will include photos, text, artwork, and objects that represent the fire experience. It will be displayed at the Talent Museum, free of cost to the public. Parts of the exhibit may be portable enough to move to places such as the Library or City Hall. Become a part of the project by volunteering or submitting stories, orally or written, through one of the avenues provided.