Salem in 1977

World Events

• The Torrijos-Carter Treaty gives Panama control of the waterway.
• Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is first Arab leader to go to Israel where he met Prime Minister Menachem Begin seeking peace.
• A collision between  KLM and Pan Am Boeing over Tenerife kills 538 ~ the deadliest accident in aviation history.
• Juan Carlos I of Spain institutes political reforms making his office a Constitutional Monarch as is Queen Elizabeth in England. Spain has the first democratic elections in 40 years.
• Space shuttle "Enterprise" makes first manned flight.
• Apple II is the first mass-market computer.
• TV dramatizes "Roots" and stirs an interest in African-American family genealogy research. Mikhail Baryshnikov's "The Nutcracker" premieres at the Kennedy Center and then is shown on TV.
• Elvis Presley, 42, dies in Graceland, his home in Memphis. Three days later, Groucho Marx, legendary comic, dies at age of 86.
• Anti-gay celebrity Anita Bryant is "pied" by gay-rights activists during press conference. Harvey Milk of San Francisco is the first openly gay person elected as a city official.
• The Academy Awards: "Annie Hall" (US), Madame Rosa (France). Prize-winning Book: The Spectator Bird, Wallace Stegner.

In Salem
The history of our Art Fair begins in 1949 when the Salem Art Association's first Art Fair was held on the lawn of the old Marion County Courthouse, attracting 10 artists. For the next three years it was held in Willson Park on the Capitol grounds and at the Walter Kirk home. The fair moved to Bush House permanently in 1953 and the next two years were as informal as a clothesline sale around the Museum with 50 artists displaying their talents. As the number of contributing artists grew, displays became more professional and booths were constructed. By 1961 there were 100 artists and 7,500 visitors; by 1975 there were more than 320 artists. The next year it moved south of Bush Barn Art Center, having out-grown its old location. For that year it becomes the Great State Bicentennial Art Fair and Festival, thanks to an Oregon Art Commission grant, and 450 artists show up. From Jenny Hagloch's article about the fair as it was in 1977, "... the Art Association decided to jury artists for the Art Fair. Although this change included the input and support of many local artists, the jury process was not popular with artists now being excluded for the first time. Artists were vocal about their displeasure with Letters to the Editor showing up in the Statesman. Art Fair co-chair Sue-Dell McCullough received so many threats before the event, the Salem Police Department provided her with a police escort during the Fair. The 1977 version of the event was still called the Great State Art Fair & Festival and settled into its Friday through Sunday format which still exists today."
 
When you visit
The Art Fair has continued to grow in size, now reaching over a considerable section of Bush's Pasture Park. But as it has evolved, there have been new organizational requirements to make the three-day arts festival sustainable. For several years, there were temporary barriers around the display areas to guide patrons into designated entrances where donations were suggested. In 2010, for the first time, there was an admission fee during most hours of the fair.
Because the fair can accommodate only 200 booths, the task of the jury continues to be selecting from hundreds of applicants to obtain for the fair the highest quality work in a range of mediums and prices. Recently, for example, to accommodate as many artists as possible, three galleries at Bush Barn had exhibits: Radius 25 displayed artists living within that range of miles; Camus Gallery featured regional landscape artists; Focus Gallery presented a local artist. Every year brings changes to improve production of this local attraction, both for residents and visitors.

Other events

Kent L. Aldrich became mayor and will serve three terms in office.
 

• A 1977 photograph of the Minto-Brown Park sign on South River Road reminds us of the contribution made by former Mayor Vern Miller in promoting the purchase of this 838 acre outdoor recreation area for the residents of Salem. Wes Sullivan wrote: "Another legacy to Salem of which Mayor Miller was most proud is the 800-acre Minto-Brown Island Park. Even though Salem voters refused to appropriate money for its purchase, he persisted in its acquisition. Many who treasure this unique adjunct to the city’s park system have forgotten that but for Mayor Miller’s tenacity, it would have been lost to future generations."
• Ed Ritter retires after a long career in the building and wrecking business. His company handled many of the most important Salem demolition projects. After 1977 he continued to own the building materials and salvage portions of the business.
• A plane crash near Vancouver, Washington takes the life of 63-year old Harry Eyerly, a respected local aviator. He was performing aerobatics for the Northwest Antique Airplane Club when the accident occurred.
• In 1977 our Salem Public Library has many modern features, but looking for books and research materials still require the old card catalog files. George Happ becomes Director of the library this year. As our current (2012) library Administrator, B J Toewe, reminds us, he established the Salem Public Library Foundation, one of the first in the U.S, and focused resources on developing innovative services that would make the library a community center. His vision included an AV and technology center, a fine arts center and the Children’s Discovery Room. He expanded the library collection to include A-V materials like 8 mm films and eventually DVDs, and supported the expansion with the installation of a fully automated library system. Just ten years after the advisory board hired him, George Happ was the director of one of the busiest 100 libraries in the nation. He continued to foster the growth of services to the community through a building expansion in 1991 and by adding the West Salem branch library in 1995. By the time he retires from this service in 2000, he will have brought our library into the computer age and will have established it as one of the finest in the state.
• Scott Elementary School opened this year. It was named for Harry W. Scott, a bicycle shop owner in Salem from 1919 until 1963. He was well known for fixing children's bikes, often for little or no cost. Mr. Scott was on the School Board from 1946-1961, serving as chairman for five years. The Chamber of Commerce named him Salem's First Citizen in 1962.

• Does Salem have a continual traffic problem, or was it only at Christmas this year that cars were bumper-to-bumper on Liberty Street? Snowstorms, like one this year, cause traffic problems on the Center Street Bridge.
• Floods continue to damage structures in Salem. High water on Salishan Street forced Greg Jennings, a Leslie Junior High School student, to use a rubber raft to get to his mail box.

Salem in 1868

World Events

• The 14th Amendment is passed guaranteeing citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States.
• President Johnson is impeached by the House, but acquitted by the Senate.
• The game of badminton is introduced.
• Louisa May Allcott writes Little Women.

In SalemThe disastrous earthquake along the Pacific this year affected world populations in their most basic need, clean water. The property seen above along Pringle Creek is typical of the beautiful streams that have flowed through Salem since its founding. Although you would not want to drink this water, it is certainly cleaner now than it was in 1868 when there was no city water or sewer system and all human and industrial waste was emptied into local streams and into the Willamette River. The best source of household water then was a shallow well on your own property. For those without wells, an enterprising Chinese citizen, Lee Tong, collected water in discarded oil tins and sold it to his customers. The health of residents was affected by all local sources of water: typhoid was a common cause of death. The few doctors in Salem were most often self-educated, and remedies for illness came from general stores selling drugs of uncertain origin.

When you visit: Pringle Creek
The Willamette River has not recovered from the years of human and industrial waster. However, Riverfront Park offers panoramic views of that important historic waterway. Scenes like the one photographed above can be enjoyed along Pringle Creek in Bush's Pasture Park. Entering on Mission Street at the parking lot near University Street, walk into the wooded park over trail nearest the creek, on your left. Several byways, useful in summer, take you to the creek itself. The trail extends to Leffelle Street at the south end of Bush's Pasture Park in the SCAN neighborhood. Both of these self-guided walking tours are available for viewing on SHINE.

Other Events

• Salem has a lively theatrical community at this time: the dramatic society offers "Kill or Love" and "The Toodles" at Griswold’s Theater at the southwest corner of State and Commercial Streets. Admission ranges from 25 to 75 cents.
• In January, African-Americans from Salem and Albany gathered to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation. In a rare display of racial harmony, the celebration was attended by whites of both political parties. The Salem Daily Record reported that six of the blacks at the celebration had been freed by the Emancipation Proclamation.
• The Hall's ferry began operating this year, but did not acquire the name until 1882 when B. F. Hall, its operator, purchased the enterprise in 1882. Hall's Ferry Road, crossing South River Road in south Salem now marks the approximate location of this early transportation across the Willamette River. 
• John G. West, father of Oswald West, later a governor of Oregon, built a home on Oak Street. It was moved to D Street in the late 1990s.

Knight Memorial Church

• Rev. Plutarch S. Knight becomes pastor of the First Congregational Church where he gains fame as the "Marrying Preacher", performing at least 1,332 marriages. He was a founder and leader in both civic and business institutions of the new city as attested by his 1914 obituary: "P. S. Knight ... came to Salem in December of 1857. He attended Willamette University from 1857 to 1860. He was married to Eleanor Smith April 21st, 1861 in the old Methodist church building in Salem that now serves as a laundry. [They celebrated a 50th anniversary of their marriage.] He was reporter and editor of the Statesman from 1862 to 1864, being engaged in this work when the daily issue was commenced. He was also state librarian for 1862 to 1864 and was city recorder in 1863, when the fees of the office amounted to not more than $100 a year. He also read law, and was admitted to the bar in 1864. He was ordained a Congregational minister at Oregon City in 1866, and was pastor of the Congregational church of Salem from 1867 to 1883 sixteen years. He was superintendent of schools for Marion County from 1870 to 1872. He had charge of the Oregon School for Deaf Mutes from 1871 to 1892. His salary part of the time was nominal, part of the time nil. The degree of Doctor of Philosophy was conferred upon him by Willamette University in 1890, on account of actual work, illustrated by a course of lectures.
  "He platted Knight's addition to Salem in 1888; bought Capital Park addition in 1889; Central addition and part of Capital Home addition in 1890; Simpson addition in 1891. Substantial improvements have been made in all of these and more than 500 lots in all sold. Mr. Knight has built about thirty houses in the two years past, which have been sold mostly on the "installment plan" to working people. Mr. Knight was the moving spirit and the largest original stockholder in the Capital City electric railway, started in 1890, which has grown into such an extensive and valuable property. As a minister, a writer, a public speaker, a public spirited and useful citizen, as a business man--Mr. Knight has kept the esteem, respect and confidence of the people among whom he has led such a busy, active and useful life." A monument marks his grave in Pioneer Cemetery and the Knight Memorial Church, named in his honor in 1926 was the second Congregational Church in Salem. It now houses a Korean religious community.