"Timber Culture" exhibit opens Jan. 6 at Josephy Center

Admission is free.

The Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center created the exhibit. An opening reception is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 7 at the Josephy Center from 5 to 7 p.m. Gwen Trice, executive director of the center, will give a special presentation.

Per the center’s website, the exhibit is described as a travelling, 20-piece exhibit exploring the cultural heritage in the Pacific Northwest, examining the lives of loggers and their families brought together from various cultures during the Great Migration. It explores the segregation of white and African American loggers and their families in various Oregon logging communities, including Maxville. Maxville is located about 15 miles north of Wallowa.

A collection of artifacts and oral histories, the “Timber Culture” exhibition examines Oregon’s history of racism and social justice. The exhibit has been on display at the state Capitol, Tamastslikt Cultural Center in Pendleton, the Oregon Historical Society in Portland and the World Forestry Center, Portland.

Started in 1923, Maxville was once a thriving community of about 400 residents. It boasted a store, two schools (one for white students and one for Black students), a post office, and a hotel. It was known as a company town and the logging company recruited experienced loggers from the south and Midwest — many of whom were Black — to come to Oregon to work.

It also featured segregated housing.

As the logging industry started to wind down during the Great Depression, so did Maxville. The company closed operation in 1933. A severe winter storm in the 1940s collapsed many of the remaining buildings and Maxville became a ghost town.

In addition to the “Timber Culture” exhibit, the Josephy Center will be featuring The Hello Neighbor! Project, also brought to the Josephy Center by the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center. According to a press release issued by the Josephy Center, the Hello Neighbor! exhibit is a community-building project designed to explore what it means to live in Wallowa County, to gather and preserve the history of timber culture in Wallowa County, not only what happened in the past, but including the people living here today.

In addition to the exhibits, Maxville celebrates its centennial as a part of Oregon’s logging and cultural history. It’s a story 100 years in the making.

On June 2-3, the Maxville site, now under the ownership of the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center and sponsored by the Smithsonian’s Shared Future: Reckoning with Our Racial Past, funded in part by Bank of America, will be the venue for live music, speakers, events and activities, food and a celebration of education and community. Shuttle service will be available for attendees.

Volunteers are needed to help with the event. Interested volunteers can sign up online at the Maxville Heritage Interpretive Center’s website, www.maxvilleheritage.org.