McMenamins History Pubs: Uncover Oregon’s People and Places

Photo by Merve Şahin

McMenamins History Pub invites you to explore Oregon and Pacific Northwest history.

Enjoy an evening with local experts, scholars, first-person experiencers and historians who dive into topics from Lewis and Clark to shipwrecks, hop growing to women pioneers and beyond.

McMenamins History Pub is like attending a college lecture with a stiff drink and full menu of tasty food.

Here are the upcoming events.

Upcoming McMenamins History Pub Events

Big Medicine: York Outdoors

Watch “Big Medicine: York Outdoors,” a 30-minute documentary about eight adventurers on a four-day river expedition traversed by the historic Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1803-1806. After the screening, Zachary Stocks, executive director of Oregon Black Pioneers and film participant, will discuss the life of York and his place within national African American history in conversation with Eliza Canty-Jones, chief program officer of Oregon Historical Society.

The event is at 7 p.m. on Monday, February 23, at Kennedy School in 5736 NE 33rd Ave.

Tickets are $5 in advance. All ages are welcome.

Old Glory Unfolded: A History of the American Flag

Troutdale Historical Society Director Chris Garza presents the history, symbolism and evolving meaning of the American flag. Learn about its early origins during the American Revolution to the enduring symbol of the United States we recognize today.

The event is at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 9, at Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey St. in Troutdale.

Tickets are $5 in advance. All ages are welcome.

Subscribe Now! How the West Was Written

Join Dr. Travis E. Ross in an investigation of California publishing tycoon Hubert Howe Bancroft’s 39-volume subscription series and the Gilded Age for-profit subscription industry that morphed into the mainstream historical record for good or ill.

The event is at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 11, at the Grand Lodge, 3505 Pacific Ave. in Forest Grove.

Tickets are $5 in advance. All ages are welcome.

From Sea to Shining Sea: Katharine Lee Bates and the Story of “America the Beautiful”

Watch a documentary about “America the Beautiful” and the fascinating life of the writer behind it followed by a Q&A discussion with filmmakers Laurence Cotton and John de Graaf, moderated by Oregon Historical Society Executive Director Kerry Tymchuk. 

The event is at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 30, at Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd Ave. in Portland.

Tickets are $5 in advance. All ages are welcome.

The Origins of Baseball

Historian John Bawden explores how baseball developed and how the American Civil War spread one variety of baseball across the United States. Explore the first amateur baseball clubs in the Pacific Northwest, the Pioneer Base Ball Club of Portland in 1866.

The event is at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 8, at the Grand Lodge, 3505 Pacific Ave. in Forest Grove.

Tickets are $5 in advance. All ages are welcome.

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