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| General Info: |
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Since the creation of the Bowman Museum in 1971, generations of
Central Oregonians have contributed time, money and family heirlooms to help
tell the history of their county. With our region changing faster than ever, the
time is now to expand Bowman Museum. Please join Let’s Make History! to
preserve and promote our heritage and help prepare our children for the future.
The Bowman Museum brings Central Oregon’s history to life for thousands of
students, community members and tourists. School children visit for hands-on
and eye-opening learning. Scholars and researchers scour our historical and
genealogical library.
Community members participate in lectures and scramble high desert trails on
our field trips. Visitors buy our books and view exhibits … deepening their
understanding of our region’s resources, economy and people.
Through the generosity of the Bowman family enhanced by the contributions of
more community members, the Bowman Museum serves more than 10,000
students, scholars and visitors each year.
Central Oregonians have contributed time, money and family heirlooms to help
tell the history of their county. With our region changing faster than ever, the
time is now to expand Bowman Museum. Please join Let’s Make History! to
preserve and promote our heritage and help prepare our children for the future.
The Bowman Museum brings Central Oregon’s history to life for thousands of
students, community members and tourists. School children visit for hands-on
and eye-opening learning. Scholars and researchers scour our historical and
genealogical library.
Community members participate in lectures and scramble high desert trails on
our field trips. Visitors buy our books and view exhibits … deepening their
understanding of our region’s resources, economy and people.
Through the generosity of the Bowman family enhanced by the contributions of
more community members, the Bowman Museum serves more than 10,000
students, scholars and visitors each year.
| Let's Make History! Capital Campaign |
Imagine …
…an awestruck ten year-old
handling a real-live, hand-
pumped fire engine …
… a young woman
discovering her great-
grandmother’s name, reading
her signature in an ancient
Bible and seeing her picture for
the very first time ...
… a new resident or tourist
looking with newfound respect
at Central Oregon’s pioneers
and their struggles to wrest a
living from ranching, farming
or timber …
Imagine … all of this is
possible at A.R. Bowman
Memorial Museum.
…an awestruck ten year-old
handling a real-live, hand-
pumped fire engine …
… a young woman
discovering her great-
grandmother’s name, reading
her signature in an ancient
Bible and seeing her picture for
the very first time ...
… a new resident or tourist
looking with newfound respect
at Central Oregon’s pioneers
and their struggles to wrest a
living from ranching, farming
or timber …
Imagine … all of this is
possible at A.R. Bowman
Memorial Museum.
A History of Accomplishment
The Bowman Museum is operated by the Crook County Historical Society,
which was founded in 1969 to preserve and promote understanding of the
history of Crook County.
In 1971 the A.R. Bowman family boosted the Historical Society’s efforts when
they donated the Crook County Bank for use as a museum. A Kansas native,
civic leader Arthur Ray Bowman served as Crook County Judge and promoted
initiatives creating the Ochoco Irrigation District, the Prineville Airport, U.S.
Highway 26, and the Crooked River Project, which today includes the A. R.
Bowman Dam.
Through generous public and private support the Bowman Museum has
created a vivid collection of pioneer history and organized programs serving
more than 10,000 people annually. In 1991 its building was entered on the
National Register of Historic Places. In 1996 it hosted the first Smithsonian
exhibit in Central Oregon. In 1997 it won national recognition from the
Institute of Museum Services.
Today, in addition to hosting students and visitors, the Bowman Museum
publishes books and field guides, presents a lecture series, conducts historical
field trips, and through the Internet links its collection with museums and
libraries throughout the world.
The Bowman Museum is operated by the Crook County Historical Society,
which was founded in 1969 to preserve and promote understanding of the
history of Crook County.
In 1971 the A.R. Bowman family boosted the Historical Society’s efforts when
they donated the Crook County Bank for use as a museum. A Kansas native,
civic leader Arthur Ray Bowman served as Crook County Judge and promoted
initiatives creating the Ochoco Irrigation District, the Prineville Airport, U.S.
Highway 26, and the Crooked River Project, which today includes the A. R.
Bowman Dam.
Through generous public and private support the Bowman Museum has
created a vivid collection of pioneer history and organized programs serving
more than 10,000 people annually. In 1991 its building was entered on the
National Register of Historic Places. In 1996 it hosted the first Smithsonian
exhibit in Central Oregon. In 1997 it won national recognition from the
Institute of Museum Services.
Today, in addition to hosting students and visitors, the Bowman Museum
publishes books and field guides, presents a lecture series, conducts historical
field trips, and through the Internet links its collection with museums and
libraries throughout the world.
A Larger Museum for a New Time
Central Oregon is changing fast. Our economy is in transition. Growth brings
new values, opportunities and perspectives. Globalization brings new tests for
our rural students. During this time we must preserve tangible links to our
history, present what makes Central Oregon unique, and prepare our students
for their future by giving them a solid grounding in their past. Expanding the
Bowman Museum through the Let’s Make History! Campaign will help us do all
of these things.
Present!
Let’s Make History! will create permanent exhibits telling Crook County’s story
of timber, homesteading and ranching, the entrepreneurial Les Schwab, and
more. Flexible spaces will increase our ability to host traveling exhibits. In a
roomier space with a “potbelly stove” atmosphere visitors will enjoy historic re-
enactments, an expanded lecture series and family-focused oral histories.
Prepare!
More space for exhibits, meetings, and research will allow us to help twice as
many students and visitors learn about our region’s past and their own
heritage. The new space will accommodate more school classes for interactive
exhibits and hands-on demonstrations and improve pre-visit orientation and
post-visit discussion.
Preserve!
A fully climate-controlled collection care center will preserve valuable
documents and artifacts and accelerate electronic preservation of documents
so they may be accessed world-wide via the Internet. A larger research library
on the ground floor will give professional and amateur researchers more
access to historical and genealogical records.
Results!
After Let’s Make History! we project that use of our library will nearly double to
more than 1,000 annual visits, that we will double student participation to 2,200
each year and that more than 13,000 community members and tourists will
visit annually.
Central Oregon is changing fast. Our economy is in transition. Growth brings
new values, opportunities and perspectives. Globalization brings new tests for
our rural students. During this time we must preserve tangible links to our
history, present what makes Central Oregon unique, and prepare our students
for their future by giving them a solid grounding in their past. Expanding the
Bowman Museum through the Let’s Make History! Campaign will help us do all
of these things.
Present!
Let’s Make History! will create permanent exhibits telling Crook County’s story
of timber, homesteading and ranching, the entrepreneurial Les Schwab, and
more. Flexible spaces will increase our ability to host traveling exhibits. In a
roomier space with a “potbelly stove” atmosphere visitors will enjoy historic re-
enactments, an expanded lecture series and family-focused oral histories.
Prepare!
More space for exhibits, meetings, and research will allow us to help twice as
many students and visitors learn about our region’s past and their own
heritage. The new space will accommodate more school classes for interactive
exhibits and hands-on demonstrations and improve pre-visit orientation and
post-visit discussion.
Preserve!
A fully climate-controlled collection care center will preserve valuable
documents and artifacts and accelerate electronic preservation of documents
so they may be accessed world-wide via the Internet. A larger research library
on the ground floor will give professional and amateur researchers more
access to historical and genealogical records.
Results!
After Let’s Make History! we project that use of our library will nearly double to
more than 1,000 annual visits, that we will double student participation to 2,200
each year and that more than 13,000 community members and tourists will
visit annually.
| READ ABOUT OUR MAJOR EXHIBITS |
- Beautiful New Research Library & Community Center
- Two Major New Exhibits: Living Traditions & Timber Exhibit
| We're almost there! Become a part of history by making a donation and help us reach our goal. |
| Become a part of history and MAKE A DONATION Today! |
| Bowman Museum's beautiful new Community Center will offer space for banquets, lectures, plays and theatrical performances as well as space for classes and meetings. SEE MORE ABOUT THE COMMUNITY CENTER |
| Join your friends and neighbors in supporting this historical museum expansion. We invite you to make a contribution by mail or online (click on the Donate Now button). For a personal tour of the site, or if you would like to learn about our Special Naming Opportunities, please call us at 541-447-3715. |
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