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Oregon Employment Department
Employment Department Celebrates Oregon's 150th Birthday
Special Commemorative Book Now In Stores
Oregon At Work: 1859-2009
Oregon At Work: 1859-2009
 
If you searched the want-ads in 1859 Oregon, what kind of jobs would you find? What sort of hours would you work and how much would you make? The character of work has changed so much during Oregon’s 150 years of statehood that it can feel like we are not living in the same state as our forebears. But the seeds planted by Oregon’s pioneers are still bearing fruit today, producing jobs and wages to keep Oregon families growing and prospering.
 
OregonAt Work: 1859-2009 traces the history of work through Oregon's 150 years as a state. Using personal stories passed down from generation to generation, historical data, and photographs, we learn what it was like to work and live in Oregon.
 
While thousands arrived in Oregon in the mid eighteenth century, they found many thousands more already at home here. Native American tribes had survived and thrived for thousands of years. Their stories of surviving the influx of newcomers are also a very important part of this state’s history.
 
Each section highlights what life was like using photographs culled from vast collections and donated by individuals, historic data from newspaper and official census records, and stories from real Oregonians, OregonAt Work: 1859-2009 paints a rich picture of life from the statehood pioneer of 19th century to the high tech pioneer of the 21st century. Also included: the changing economy of Native American tribes over the last 150 years. The book, published by Ooligan Press, is now in bookstores.
 
Share your own stories and find ones we didn't have room for in the book, plus read behind the scenes (or pages) at our website: OregonAtWork.org 
 
Authors:
 
Tom Fuller – Communications Manager for the Oregon Employment Department.
 
Art Ayre – Oregon’s foremost authority on economic and workforce issues as Labor Economist for the Oregon Employment Department.
 
Contact the authors by going to the Oregon At Work website.

Page updated: March 31, 2009