Salem in 1986

World Events

• Space shuttle "Challenger" explodes on takeoff killing 7 astronauts, including schoolteacher, Christa McAuliffe.
• A mishandled safety test at Chernobyl, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union,  sends radioactive particles over Europe, kills over 4000 people and damages almost 7 billion in property.
• Desmond Tutu is the first black Anglican bishop in South Africa.
• A secret Iran arms supply by the Reagan administration is revealed, but the disappearance of official documents handicaps the investigation. Eleven officials (but not Reagan) were convicted, including the Secretary of Defense, Casper Weinburger. Convictions were dropped or the  individuals pardoned by President George H. W. Bush (VP in 1986).
• At least 5 million people form a human chain from NYC to Los Angeles to raise money to fight hunger and homelessness.
• American Jewish professor, Elie Wiesel is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as Chairman of the President's Commission on the Holocaust.
• Greg LeMond is the first American cyclist to win the Tour de France.
• Les Miserables wins multiple awards on Broadway. Academy Awards: "Platoon" (US), "The Assault", (Netherlands). Prize-winning Books: World's Fair, E.L. Doctorow and Lonesome Dove, Larry McMurtry.

In Salem
After a fund drive effort of six years, the Mark Hatfield Library at Willamette University opened with a dedication on September 4 this year. Willamette's original library was established in 1844, two years after the school was founded. The library was housed in Waller Hall before moving to its own building (now Smullin Hall) in 1938. The academic library is named in honor of former Senator Mark O. Hatfield, a 1943 graduate of Willamette and former member of the faculty.
Dr. Daniel J. Boorstin, Librarian of Congress, gave this tribute:
"Following the trail of the early settlers and missionaries who found their way to your beautiful valley, Willamette University continues to awaken explorers of the mind. Mark Hatfield has carried the best traits of the missionary and the explorer to the nation's capital. To the deliberations of the Senate he has brought a large vision and a broad culture. There can be no more appropriate tribute to Willamette University's effort to educate the whole man than the Mark O. Hatfield Library."

When you visit
The two-story, redbrick building has abundant glass that brings light inside to the reception lobby, the 24-hour study and private areas, and to the materials collections. The library is one of the first academic libraries on the west coast to automate its card catalog and circulation systems. Of special interest is the portion of the second floor housing the public papers and, on display, the personal memorabilia of the career of Senator Hatfield.
In the Plaza before the main entrance there is a handsome Clock Tower and flowing west along the north side of the building and continuing across the campus, is the historic Millrace. This diversion of Mill Creek brought early waterpower to the industries of the growing city and is a dominant landscape feature of the center of the campus, redesigned when the library was erected.

Other events

• At a residential fire, fireman Bob Benson was working his way through the tangle of the upper floor. The drug processing tenants had reconnected wiring to mask the use of electricity. Bob's oxygen tank on his back touched a live wire, sending electricity into his body. He remembers nothing except awaking on the ground outside, with his father-in-law, George Ventura, leaning close and asking if he were conscious. This scene was caught in this Gerry Lewin's Statesman Journal photograph. Bob recovered and is now serving with the department as a Captain. He and his wife have been active in collecting memorabilia and artifacts for the fire department exhibits in fire stations #5. #7, #10 and #11. A memorial for his father-in-law is at Fire Station #5 at 1520 Glen Creek Rd NW.

High Street Bungalows in Gaiety HIll/Bush's Pasture Park Historic District

• Gaiety Hill/Bush's Pasture Park, a National Register Historic District is established this year. The bungalows on High Street, the Bush family residence and barn of Bush Pasture Park are significant features. A walking tour slide show is on the SHINE website.
• In 1983, when Boise Cascade began cutting back its Salem operation, Chemeketa Community College was asked to help retrain employees. The project was so successful that the college combined several programs into a Training and Economic Development (TED) Center in 1986. The downtown facility (moved to a new location in 2009) is dedicated to the improvement of businesses and organizations throughout the Mid-Willamette Valley.
• Two noted Salem cultural leaders of Salem retire this year: Wes Sullivan, Chairman of the Editorial Board of the Statesman Journal and popular chronicler of our city's history; and Carl Hall, after a nearly forty-year association with the Willamette University that resulted in his reputation as an educator as well as an artist.
• A popular movie and TV star, James Garner, visits Salem during the production of a TV film.
• Norma Paulus had been elected Secretary of State in 1976, the first woman elected to statewide office in Oregon. As Secretary of State she instituted Vote-By-Mail, the first in the nation. She was reelected to serve the maximum two terms allowed under the Oregon constitution. In 1986, she is the Republican candidate for governor, but loses by a small margin.
• The Children's Discovery Room at the Salem Public Library, a project funded by the Salem Rotary Club, opens in December as a portion of the main floor of the Library devoted to allowing children to explore inter-active displays and learn about their surroundings.
• The Southeast Mill Creek Association is organized. The neighborhood includes the area around the McNary Airport and extends south to Corbin University.
• Starting this year, the Salem Center retail mall added the theater complex at the intersection of Marion and High Streets as well as the pedestrian sky-bridges between JC Penney's and the south building. Shortly thereafter the remaining sky-bridges were built: Marion Parkade to Mervyn's; north building to Meier and Frank; over Center Street connecting the two mall buildings.