A contingent of SOU students with visiting alumni, led by anthropology professor Mark Tveskov, spent Labor Day and Tuesday traveling to eastern Oregon, where they will conduct excavations in search of artifacts to better tell the stories of Black loggers who lived and worked in the town of Maxville in the 1920s and 1930s.
USA Today lists Ashland’s Winchester Inn at the top of a list of the nation’s 10 best bed-and-breakfasts in an article published Aug. 14. “If this brings extra people to the valley to visit, then that’s a win for us, and that’s a win for everybody,” said owner Drew Gibbs.
“It can happen again. It can happen to somebody else. It’s all on us to prevent it from happening again.” That’s what David Loftus, son of Mitzi Asai Loftus, said of the prison camps hastily built to imprison Japanese Americans in World War II during Ashland Together’s encore presentation Monday night of Mitzi’s book, “From Thorns to Blossoms: A Japanese American Family in War and Peace.”
Emil and Alice Peil could “keep an eye” on the store from their house on Granite Street, but walking there was another matter. The drop-off from Granite Street to Winburn Way was (and still is) the height of a two-story building.
The fundraising campaign for the restoration of the historic Butler-Perozzi fountain in Lithia Park is nearing completion following a $20,000 grant awarded by the State Historic Preservations Office’s Preserving Oregon Grant Program.
With a newly funded $20,000 grant from the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office, some Southern Oregon University’s Sociology and Anthropology Program students and staff will travel to eastern Oregon this fall to perform archaeological excavations for a logging ghost town that once was home to a diverse community in the early 20th century, including African-American and white loggers.
Ashland resident Tom Giordano didn’t know until recently that his grandfather Salvatore Giordano was a world-renowned opera singer who sang in Ashland 110 years ago at the opening of a new theater on East Main Street.
Ashland has a wealth of historic stories and sites, but the stories need telling and the sites need marking. An organized process called Marking Ashland Places (MAP) began a few years ago. Thanks to years-long work by volunteers from the Historic Preservation and Public Arts committees, we now have a large sculpture in Railroad Park along with five historic markers in the Railroad District.
The oldest hotel in Ashland has just been reborn as a place “where the culture of music, art and Ashland vibes meets the relaxing rhythm of nature in the heart of the great Southern Oregon outdoors.” This quote from the newly renovated Columbia Hotel’s home page expresses much of the essence of what makes Ashland attractive to both visitors and residents.
Racism is very much alive in Ashland, even if it’s hidden, according to Portland State University history professor Kristen Teigen, who in a recent talk said the seeds were planted decades ago and still flourish today.
As of Nov. 3, Ashland Community Food Bank has a new director at the reins. Catie Mahoney will serve in the role with guidance from outgoing director Amey Broeker, who will officially retire on Dec. 31 after serving in the food bank role since 2022.
The Ashland City Council will review a proposal from a potential provider to oversee its extreme weather shelter during its regular business meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
The Ashland Independent Film Festival has added a second screening showcasing Indigenous filmmakers on Sunday, Nov. 23.
Three and a half years into the war with Russia, Ashland violinist and longtime music teacher Faina Podolnaya is still finding ways to help Ukrainian refugees.
Herbert Rothschild: As the number of ads in The New Yorker has shrunk, it seems as if the wealth of its readership has concentrated, just as one might concentrate the flavor of a sauce by reducing it on the stovetop.
Local artist MaryAnn Shank will share the thoughts behind her newest novel “Sor Juana, My Beloved” at Bloomsbury Books Jan. 26. Shank is a finalist of The Isabel Allende Most Inspirational Book of the Year 2025 award, awarded by the International Latino Book Association.
(It’s free)
