Museum’s collection transferred to Benton historical society

By KYLE ODEGARD
Gazette-Times reporter

Years of waiting, wading through red tape and negotiations ended with a flourish of pens Monday morning, with the signing of an agreement to transfer the Horner Museum collection from Oregon State University to the Benton County Historical Society.

The 60,000-artifact museum, housed in the Gill Coliseum basement, closed due to budget cuts in 1995. Since then, historical society members have looked at putting the Horner collection in public view again.

“A generation has grown up not benefiting by the educational resources provided by this collection,” said Alice Rampton, president of the Benton County Historical Society.

Once construction finishes on the group’s new 27,500-square-foot building on Second Street, the Horner collection will move there. The structure should be done by late 2007 or early 2008, said Ann Schirado, historical society executive director.

The transfer ceremony was held in the CH2MHill Alumni Center at OSU, and several representatives of the university and the historical society as well as other notables attended.

More than 80 years ago, Oregon Agriculture College Professor John Horner had a vision of a museum where people could see the world.

“Today, we are able to partner with the Benton County Historical Society to keep that vision alive,” said Sabah Randhawa, OSU provost, who also alluded to the wide scope of artifacts within the collection.

“The Horner collection truly is something special,” he said.

And so is the impending transfer of the museum, since Oregon is essentially giving away a cultural resource.

But the transfer hasn’t been easy due to state legal requirements.

“It’s been a long and at times tedious road traveled,” Schirado said.

First, there had to be a review by the Oregon Attorney General’s office to ensure the historical society could legally own the collection. OSU and the historical society also had to wait about three years for the state to create procedures so the transfer could be formalized.

Another issue that happened at the same time was debate over Native American artifacts in the Horner, which now are being returned to eight different Oregon tribes, Schirado said.

OSU took the unusual step of trying to give all 3,000 American Indian artifacts back to the tribes, not just sacred or grave items, which it is required to do by federal law.

In interviews earlier this year, historical society officials expressed frustration with that arrangement, because the group expected to receive American Indian items that weren’t sacred or burial related.

Cheryl Kennedy, chairwoman of the Confederated Tribes of the Grande Ronde, attended the transfer ceremony, and said her community was in the planning stages of building its own museum and interpretive center.

Some artifacts could be loaned to the new museum, however, Kennedy said.

“We want to create a space in this new museum for Native Americans to tell their story,” Schirado said. “That is vitally important. If they are able to see to it that we have objects from their collections, that they would like to share with the broader public, we would be thrilled with that.”

Rampton said 40,000 people visited the Horner Museum during its last year. She added an estimated 75,000 to 100,000 people annually will visit the new museum downtown.

“It’s going to be back in operation, better than it ever was,” said Peter Johnson, a historical society board member.

Johnson also is a major donor in the $8.5 million fund-raising campaign to move the Horner collection downtown. So far, about $3 million has been raised.

About $500,000 will go to improve the Benton County Historical Museum on Main Street in Philomath, which the society also operates.

Kyle Odegard covers Philomath and rural Benton County. He can be contacted at kyle.odegard@lee.net or 758-9523.