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Salem History Moment

Salem History Moment

by Kimberli Fitzgerald

Season 2026

Salem's Fallout Shelters

During the Cold War in the mid-twentieth century the federal government established the Federal Civil Defense Administration – through their Marion County arm –established an emergency management plan in 1958—the “Marion County Civil Defense Operations Plan”. Prior to that they encouraged people to build fallout shelters as part of their own residences. President John F. Kennedy established a new civil defense framework in July 1961 by signing Executive Order 10952. This shifted civil defense responsibilities from the civilian Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization to the Secretary of Defense, creating the Office of Civil Defense to spearhead fallout shelter programs. Kennedy formally addressed Congress and the nation in May 1961 to emphasize national survival in the event of a nuclear war. His administration focused on identifying, labeling, and stocking fallout shelters in existing public and private buildings across the United States. Kennedy hoped that a combination of private and public shelters would help 97% of Americans survive nuclear war. In the program's first year, nearly 104 million shelter spaces were identified nationwide, typically basements in office and municipal buildings. Here in Salem, Oregon we too had fallout shelters. In 1961, they completed a survey of locations in Salem for 17 public fallout shelters. If you want to learn more about this period of American history, check out a fun documentary film produced by the federal government in 1966 featuring Gene Hackman. It is on YouTube and can be found by searching “Community Shelter Planning” starring Gene Hackman.

Historic Preservation Month 2026

May is Historic Preservation month and Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month! This year Preservation Month takes on a new meaning. As the United States marks the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, we’re looking to the places that bring its most powerful promise to life, that “all people are created equal,” and to the preservationists making sure those places endure. This year, help us celebrate the historic sites, neighborhoods, and landmarks that tell the full American story—places that remind us of how far we've come and how far we still have to go. To learn more about the Salem Historic Landmarks Commission and Salem history, subscribe to our newsletter through the City of Salem's e-newsletter portal City of Salem Connect with Us. Once on the page, enter your email address and select the Salem Historic Landmarks Commission Newsletter from the topic-specific mailing lists. Library of Congress Innovator in Residence Jeffrey Yoo Warren developed a toolkit for Asian Americans to reconstruct lost enclaves from Library collections and other sources. To experience this please visit the Library of Congress site and search for “seeing lost enclaves”.

McMinnville's UFO Festival

May is when the annual "UFO Festival" in McMinnville is celebrated. This is the second-largest UFO festival in the nation after the one held in Roswell, New Mexico. The McMinnville UFO festival began in 1999 – and was a way to honor the 1950 sighting where two local citizens witness and photographed a UFO. The photos were printed in Life magazine by Paul and Evelyn Trent at their farm outside of McMinnville. On June 8, 1950, Powell's story of the incident—accompanied by the two photos—was published as a front-page story in the McMinnville Telephone-Register. The headline read: "At Long Last—Authentic Photographs Of Flying Saucer." This year they are celebrating their 26th Festival. To learn more about this event please visit: ufofest.com. In 1974, the National UFO reporting center was established in Davenport Washington. This is a non-governmental, non profit organization registered in Washington State. Additional sightings continued to be reported – such as the sighting of a UFO over East Salem reported in January 1979 as reported by multiple residents to the Capitol Journal, who said they saw a round glowing object with red flashing lights, hovering in the sky. If you want to learn more about the National UFO reporting center please visit: https://nuforc.org/

Oregon Trail Coin

America 250 (or the U.S. Semiquincentennial) commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, celebrated on July 4, 2026. It is a nationwide initiative to honor 250 years of American history. 100 years ago in 1926, the country was celebrating the sesquicentennial and Congress authorized the minting of the Oregon Trail half dollar coin, to help fund the installation of markers along the Oregon Trail. Prior to the request by the Oregon Trail Memorial Association in 1926 there was a lot of public interest in the history of the Oregon trail – For example. in 1923 Paramount Pictures released the silent film “The Covered Wagon” about two caravans of emigrants traveling the Oregon Trail in 1848. You can watch the full silent movie on YouTube. To celebrate the Nation's Semiquincentennial (SemiQ) this year, the United States Mint is proud to unveil one-year-only changes to well-known American coinage, such as the circulating dime, quarter, and half dollar. You can find out more at https://www.usmint.gov/coins/coin-programs/semiquincentennial/

The Liberty Bell visits Salem, Oregon

In the summer of 1915 the Liberty Bell was brought to the west coast for the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco and as it made its way there it stopped here in Salem. Thousands of people came to see the Liberty Bell in Salem that day. Schoolchildren were presented with a small silk flag to keep. The Cherrian Band gave a concert in Marion Square Park The train arrived at Salem’s Oregon Electric freight depot at 2:00pm, which was located on Front Street, near where the Marion Street Bridge is today. To ensure its long time preservation, and it was transferred to the keeping of the National Park Service after World War II. In 1976 it was moved from Independence Hall to a newly constructed glass pavilion, and then to a larger Liberty Bell Center at Independence Hall National Historical Park in 1976. To learn more about the history of the Liberty Bell, and in particular more about how the Liberty Bell helped the Treasury Departments war bond drive in 1917, please visit smithsonianmag.com and search for “How the Liberty Bell won the Great War.”

Salem's Qing Ming Festival

In 2017, as part of an effort to better understand the history of some of Salem’s underrepresented communities, the City of Salem’s Historic Landmarks Commission (HLC) decided to learn more about Salem’s Chinese community. We discovered that Salem did, in fact, have a Chinatown located in our downtown, but unfortunately no buildings remain. Archaeological excavations were conducted in 2017 and 2018 revealed a flat cement slab with three holes with a partial raised section along one edge and a marble tablet with a Chinese inscription. The inscription on the Shrine’s marble tablet has been translated to mean “To the Tomb of an Unknown Friend.” To learn more about this project please see our 2022 OHQ article. We believe the Shrine was constructed as a funerary table in order to provide the Chinese a place to leave offerings for their family members during their annual Qing Ming Festival, held every year in April. This celebration is similar to our Memorial Day that we celebrate in May. We worked with Salem’s Chinese community to reinstate our celebration of the Qing Ming Festival at the cemetery using the same funerary table they used in the 1800s. If you are interested in joining us this year, we will be celebrating The eighth annual Qing Ming Festival at Salem’s Pioneer Cemetery will be held on April 4, 2026 at 11:00. Please visit our website at cityofsalem.net to learn more.

Oregon's First Woman Governor

March is Women’s History Month. Caralyn (Carrie) B. Shelton, was the Nation’s first female Governor, who served right here in Oregon in 1909. She stepped into this role after Governor Chamberlain resigned and before Governor Benson could be sworn in. This was three years before Oregon women even had the right to vote! It took another 11 years for women nationwide to finally earn the same right with the ratification of the 19th Amendment. In response to being asked by the Capitol Journal on February 27, 1909 about how she felt about taking on the job - she was quoted in the saying: “I want to fill the governor’s shoes, and he really has a small foot, [but]I fear the principal trouble will be in trying to fill his hat.” To learn more and to see a photograph of Carolyn, please visit The Willamette Heritage Centers digital exhibit documenting her life. *This episode is a rebroadcast- originally aired in March 2025.

Blossom Day

The Third Saturday of March is Cherry Blossom Day at the Capitol- and this year’s daylong celebration will be on Saturday March 21rst, which also happens to be the first day of Spring. Creation of a blossom day in Salem first began in 1920 and was established by Salem’s Commercial Club to promote the success of Salem’s local fruit growing industry. In 2015 the first Cherry Blossom Day hosted by the Capitol Foundation was celebrated at the Capitol Mall on March 28, with a photo contest, arts and crafts, and a fashion show in partnership with Tokyo International University. The partnership in 2015 was with Tokyo International University (TIU), which is Willamette University's sister university in Japan. TIU was originally located in Kawagoe, Japan (Salem's Sister City). Starting in 2017, Cherry Blossom Day has been celebrated in Salem at the Capitol on the 3rd Saturday in March. On Saturday, March 21rst At the Capitol building, in the Rotunda there will be musical and dance performances and you can even enjoy a Japanese Tea Ceremony. To learn more, please visit: oregoncapitol.com/event/cherry-blossom-day-at-the-capitol/

Women's History Month- Lord and Schryver

March is Women’s History Month. The National Women’s History Alliance selects and publishes the yearly theme, and this years is: “Leading the Change: Women Shaping a Sustainable Future”. The Alliance explains in order to plan for a brighter future, its important for us to look for examples of women in our communities where women’s leadership was central to empowering people to connect to the landscape and their environment and learn from what they did and how they did it. Here in Salem, there were two such women, Elisabeth Lord and Edith Schryver who operated their Salem landscape design firm from 1929-1969. To learn more please visit lordschryver.org

Enchanted Forest

Roger Tofte who designed and built the Enchanted Forest south of Salem, died last month on February 13 at the age of 96. From 1964-1971 he built up Storybook Lane during his free time from his job as a draftsman for the Oregon State Highway Department. Tofte quit his job in 1973 to operate Enchanted Forest full time with his family. They added rides and other improvements from 1973-20017. The Tofte family will continue to carry on Roger’s dream for Enchanted Forest. The Park opens on March 21, 2026 for the season. For more information please visit: enchantedforest.com

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