A Tasting Flight of New Books
OSU Press History Showcase, Presented by the Authors
History is always in the making at Oregon State University Press. As this historic year winds to a close, we’ve gathered together the authors of four books published in 2020 that deepen our understanding of and broaden our perspective on Oregon’s past. This sampling of new books explores the agricultural landscape of the hops plant, the underappreciated art of Clifford Gleason, one woman’s fight for racial equity in the U.S. Forest Service, and the emergence of the Pacific Northwest as a global economic force.
Black Woman in Green: Gloria Brown and the Unmarked Trail to Forest Service Leadership
Gloria D. Brown and Donna L. Sinclair
From an unlikely beginning as an agency transcriptionist in her hometown of Washington, D.C., Gloria Brown became the first African American woman to attain the rank of forest supervisor at the U.S. Forest Service. As scholars awaken to the racist history of public land management, Brown’s story provides valuable insight into the roles that African Americans have carved out for themselves in the outdoors.
Donna L. Sinclair is an adjunct history professor, public historian, and museum professional who specializes in oral history; Clark County, Washington, community history; and politics. Sinclair lives in Washougal, Washington, where she serves on the school board.
Hops: Historic Photographs of the Oregon Hopscape
Kenneth I. Helphand
The craft brewing renaissance of recent decades has brought a renewed interest in hops. These vigorous vines, with their flavorful flowers, have long played a key role in beer making and in Oregon’s agricultural landscape. This compendium of photographs offers a visual dive into the distinctive physical presence of hops in the state. From pickers and poles to cones and oasts, Kenneth I. Helphand brings the landscape and culture of hops to life.
Kenneth I. Helphand is the Philip H. Knight professor of landscape architecture emeritus at the University of Oregon. He is the author of several award-winning books, including Defiant Gardens: Making Gardens in Wartime.
Facing the World: Defense Spending and International Trade in the Pacific Northwest Since World War II
Christopher P. Foss
Before the Second World War, Washington and Oregon were thinly populated economic backwaters of the United States, but by the dawn of the twenty-first century, all of that changed. Facing the World highlights these changes as well as the politicians, business leaders, and ordinary people who were instrumental in making this happen.
Christopher P. Foss is an adjunct history instructor at the Tokyo International University of America Japanese student exchange program at Willamette University. Previously he taught at the University of Portland, Washington State University, Vancouver, and the University of Colorado, Boulder, where he received his PhD in U.S. foreign relations history. Foss’s work has appeared in Oregon Historical Quarterly, Pacific Northwest Quarterly, and the edited volume The Cold War at Home and Abroad: Domestic Politics and US Foreign Policy Since 1945.
Clifford Gleason: The Promise of Paint
Roger Hull
Clifford Gleason (1913–1978), who grew up in Salem and spent his adult life in both Salem and Portland, was a talented and highly original artist whose accomplishments are less generally known than those of other Oregon mid-century artists. Clifford Gleason: The Promise of Paint serves as both an introduction and a definitive study of an “artist’s artist,” who until now has not received the sustained attention that he and his work are due.
Roger Hull, an independent arts writer and curator, is professor of art history emeritus at Willamette University. He has written monographs and organized retrospective exhibitions on a dozen Oregon artists, most recently Lucinda Parker and John Stahl.
