Lest we forget: The Klan in Oregon

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

As part of the week-long Willamette University MLK Celebration 2010, Salem Public Library will host a screening of The Ku Klux Klan in Oregon 1920-1923. The newest release of local documentarian Thomas Coulter, the film details the meteoric rise of Klan activity in communities around Oregon in the 1920s.

7 p.m. Wednesday, January 20
Loucks Auditorium at Salem Public Library, 585 Liberty St. SE
Free and open to the public

Following the screening, Coulter will be joined by Willamette University Professor of English and Film Ken Nolley, local historian John Ritter and community member Willie Richardson for a panel discussion and question-and-answer session with the audience.

The evening is sponsored by the City of Salem Human Rights & Relations Advisory Commission, and the Willamette University‘s MLK Celebration 2010 Committee and the College of Law. More information about the event is available from the City of Salem’s Human Rights & Relations Office at 503-540-2371.

More information about all the activities planned from January 18-28 in honor of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is available online at www.willamette.edu/go/mlk or from Willamette’s Office of Multicultural Affairs at 503-370-6265.

Another Capitol Idea: Madison, Wis. leads the way on reusing schools

Wow.

A project that will transform a vacant school building on Madison’s Southside into a state-of-the art urban agriculture and community center campus.

The exterior areas of the site will include the following components:

Community Gardens serving the local neighborhood

Education Gardens serving as an outdoor classroom for students from around Dane County

Edible Landscape including perennials such as nut and fruit trees and berries

Innovative Storm Water Management that views stormwater as a resource

Rain Gardens for infiltration of stormwater

Permeable Surfaces for parking and walkways to increase stormwater infiltration