Public Programs and Mission

Castles Programs
James B. Castles Heritage Endowment

Through the James B. Castles Endowment, CCRH sponsors annual public programs about the Columbia River Basin. The Castles Programs are funded through a generous endowment from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, of which Castles was a founding trustee and twenty-year board member.  Born in Montana, Jim Castles spent his life pursuing and promoting the art, culture, and heritage of the Columbia and the American West.  He valued public, informal education that stimulated discussion about the history of the region he loved. The James B. Castles Endowment fund support four annual programs: The Castles Endowment Lecture,the Castles Heritage Award, the Castles Public Programs, and the Castles Award in Columbia River Basin History for National History Day participants in Washington State.

The Castles Endowment Lecture brings regional and national specialists in Columbia River Basin history, literature, art, or politics to Portland State University, Washington State University Vancouver and other locations in the Basin.  This annual program is free and open to the public and is followed by questions, discussions and an informal reception.  In addition to the public lecture, each scholar also conducts informal seminars with southwest Washington secondary teachers at Washington State University Vancouver, and with graduate students at Portland State University.

William Dietrich, Pulitzer-Prize winning science journalist and author presented River of Regret, River of Promise:  The Columbia and the Future of the Pacific Northwest, a description of the cultural and environmental consequences of developing Columbia River resources, from the early nineteenth century to contemporary times.

Mary Clearman Blew and Craig Lesley, award-winning regional authors, presented A Conversation About the Columbia River Basin, addressing how the people and places of the Basin have influenced their writing and other regional literature, with special emphasis on the role of "place" in Northwest and Columbia River literature.

Richard White, acclaimed environmental historian and MacArthur Fellow, presented How to Think About a River: The Dilemma of Capitalism on the Columbia River, an analysis of how past choices faced by Columbia River managers have changed the river and why contemporary environmental and political questions about the fate of the Columbia River are so difficult to solve.

Patricia Nelson Limerick, prominent western historian and MacArthur Fellow, presented (along with colleagues from The Center of the American West)The Urban-Rural Divorce in the American West, a mock divorce trial that is a creative exploration of the complex relationship between urban and rural communities and that illustrates many of the issues faced by residents of the Columbia River Basin.

Lillian Pitt and Elizabeth Woody, renowned artists, presented Memory and Other Familiar Words. Pitt and Woody joined together to express their perspectives on the history of the Columbia River Basin through visual art, poetry and storytelling , drawing specifically from the artists' personal experiences on the middle Columbia River.

Linda Tamura, noted educator and Fellow of the American Leadership Forum of Oregon, presented Patriot Voices. This dramatic readings program, based on oral histories Tamura conducted with Japanese American veterans, their families and other community members, examined the experiences of residents of a small Columbia River Basin community during World War II, and analyzed divisive wartime issues through diverse voices and multiple perspectives.

Alex Quo and Joan Burbick, writers and professors at Washington State University, examined the myths and realities surrounding two quintessentially western themes: rivers and rodeos.

Robert Michael Pyle (Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide) and Molly Gloss (Wild Life), two award-winning authors, spoke on how their writings have explored the human encounter with nature and history in the Pacific Northwest through the figure of Bigfoot or Sasquatch.

The Center for Columbia River History announces the James B. Castles Fellowship to encourage original scholarly research that contributes to public understanding of the history of the Columbia River Basin. The $3,000 Fellowship is open to graduate students, professional historians and independent scholars. CCRH encourages proposals from diverse historical perspectives, including social, ethnic, political, cultural and environmental approaches.

Fellows will be in residence at the Center for Columbia River History in Portland, Oregon/Vancouver, Washington for four weeks during the granting year (June 1, 2007-August 31, 2008). They will deliver a public talk on their research topic and submit an article for possible publication in a regional journal such as the Oregon Historical Quarterly, Pacific Historical Review, Pacific Northwest Quarterly or Columbia Magazine. In addition, they will submit a written report on their research.

To apply, submit three letters of recommendation, and six copies of the following: curriculum vita and a cover letter (800 words maximum) outlining your research project and the archives you intend to use. If your recommendation letters will arrive under separate cover, be sure to tell us who they will be and to provide contact information for them. Recipients may work in any regional archive including (but not limited to) those of the Oregon Historical Society, Bonneville Power Association, the Army Corps of Engineers, the City of Portland, the Portland Art Museum, and municipal records. Send to the Center for Columbia River History, 1109 East 5th St., Vancouver WA 98661. Materials, including recommendation letters, should be received by March 1, 2007. No emailed or faxed applications, please.

Applicants will be evaluated both on their research skills in using archival materials and on the ways in which their topic contributes to public understanding of the history of the Columbia River Basin. The successful candidate will be announced at the 2007 Pacific Northwest History Conference held April 19-21 in Tacoma, Washington.

The Castles Fellowship is supported by an endowment provided by the Murdock Charitable Trust to CCRH in honor of James B. Castles, a founding trustee who promoted the heritage of the Columbia River throughout his life.

For questions or more information, email info@ccrh.org, call 360-258-3289. Write CCRH, 1109 East 5th Street, Vancouver, WA 98661 or visit www.ccrh.org

Download a copy of this announcement as a PDF

Through the Castles Heritage Award, CCRH honored individuals or organizations who have made significant contributions to foster a deeper understanding of Columbia River Basin history through education of the general public, preservation of heritage materials, or contribution to community life through cultural interpretation or social service. Nominations were open to any individual or non-profit organization in the Columbia River Basin. This award was retired in 2005 when the Castles Fellowship was initiated.

Ted Strong, former director of the Columbia River Inter-tribal Fish Commission

William Layman, local historian in Wenatchee

Irene Martin, local historian in Skamakowa

The Tamastslikt Cultural Institute of the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
1999 Castles Heritage Award Ceremony

The writing team of Dr. Robert Ruby of Moses Lake and John Brown of Wenatchee
1999 Castles Heritage Award Ceremony

Jeanette B. Kloos and Robert W. Hadlow, Ph.D, from the Oregon Department of Transportation
2001 Castles Heritage Award Ceremony

Barbara Bernstein, radio documentary producer, Portland

Ann Fulton, Adjunct Professor at Portland State University, and Richard McClure, Heritage Program Manager of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and the Mt. Hood National Forest

William Lang, Professor of History at Portland State University and founding Director of the Center for Columbia River History

The Castles Public Programs are organized around broad historical themes and are offered during the spring and the fall. Programs have included Woody Guthrie in song and story by folksingers Bill Murlin and Carl Allen, reminiscences of navigating the Columbia by tugboat operators, a Tears of Joy Theater production of Bridge of the Gods, panel discussions about Indian fur trading and Hawaiian workers with the Hudson's Bay Company, and a dramatic interpretation of Columbia Basin history by Vancouver School of Arts and Academics students. View CCRH's calendar page to learn more about upcoming or past Castles Programs.