‘When you close your eyes and think of Clark County’

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“I am bi-racial.” 

“I am a son of Palestine.” 

“I am a happy, proud Mexican.” 

“I am a mother.” 

“I am a lifelong coach.” 

“I am a beautiful black person.” 

“I am Chinook.” 

These are only a few ways subjects of Clark County Historical Museum’s most recent exhibit described themselves when they were asked what some of their identities are. 

The exhibit, “I Am Clark County,” is an oral examination of Clark County that looks at 12 unique lives. 

The subjects — or “narrators” as they are called by their interviewers — represent a diverse group through a variety of religions, races, jobs, ages and personal histories. 

The exhibit is the brainchild of Washington State University Vancouver professor Donna Sinclair, an oral and Pacific Northwest historian, and the Clark County Historical Museum (CCHM). 

Sinclair laid the groundwork for the exhibit during WSU Vancouver’s spring semester by teaching a group of her history students how to interview and put together an exhibit. Although the spring semester ended at the begining of May, her students continued to work on the exhibit until its debut last week. 

The goal, as Sinclair describes it, was to talk with “Ordinary Clark County citizens. Through the lens of their experience we can learn something about this place,” she said. 

The physical exhibit itself features a descriptive poster of each subject, with various aspects of their lives highlighted, an assortment of graphics of both the subject and things pertaining to their life and three to five ways the subjects identify themselves. Next to each poster, hanging on the wall with headphones, are the interviews. 

In addition to the interviews, many of the students wrote an “I Am” poem from the perspective of their subject — and a few for themselves — which can be read at the exhibit. 

Although Sinclair orchestrated the project, she said the students’ hard work and creativity can be seen throughout. Brainstorming in class led to new elements of the exhibit, she said. 

The memory map is one example.  

Among the various posters hangs a crudely drawn map of Clark County. Below it is a journal and a pile of sticky notes. Once someone has gone through the exhibit, they are encouraged to share their own memory of Clark County by writing their name on a sticky note, placing it wherever on the map their memory is based, then writing it down in the journal and signing it so others might read their story. 

To prompt one’s memory, visitors are asked a simple question: “When you close your eyes and think of Clark County, what comes to mind?” 

Sinclair posted a memory from North County. 

Although growing up in Vancouver and now living in Washougal, Sinclair’s memory was out of rural Ridgefield, where as a child she would run free at a family farm with her cousins while the adults would play cards and drink whiskey. 

One recurring theme of the exhibit, and something Sinclair referred to many times during the exhibit’s opening, was Clark County’s rapid growth, noting that the population has doubled since 1990. 



“Almost everyone you talk to has a story about how they came to this place,” she said. 

“These changing demographics have led to people getting to know people who are different from them,”  she later told a crowd of around 50 people during the exhibit’s panel discussion with some of the subjects. “That difference stems from geography, ethnicity, religion or something else. It also means we are grappling as a community with the kinds of tensions that erupted last Friday in Portland. And that is why this exhibit is more important than ever — it highlights both our differences and commonalities.” 

Sinclair’s mention of Portland is in reference to an alleged double murder by a white supremacist on a MAX train in late May. The two men confronted him for harassing two Muslim women. 

One of the student-interviewers, Nadia Kassa, a history major who graduated last month, said the students learned the power of sharing one's life story by asking community members to open up. 

“We realized it was a very emotional experience from a lot of the community members,” she said. 

Another student-interviewer, Jeff Lopez, a history major as well, noted the significance of having the oral interviews archived at the museum. 

“There’s is something different about hearing a voice from the time — reflecting on the time,” he said. 

One subject, Sam Robinson, a prominent member of the Chinook Tribe, spoke of life in small town La Center as a child. 

There were only 54 students at La Center High School when he graduated, and he would spend long hours wandering North County’s open land. He said the community was a safe one, where children would play for hours on end, only going home when the sun went down. 

“It was a good life — growing up in La Center,” he said. “Clark County has always been good to me.” 

Much of the discussion focused around Clark County’s many qualities: the slower pace compared to Portland, the natural beauty of its wildlife, rivers and green backdrops and the ever growing selection of eateries. Sinclair said that throughout the interviews, although the subjects came from so many different backgrounds, their fondness for Clark County was often based on similar attributes — a common love for Burgerville being one of them, she noted. 

A couple panelists also talked about challenges they’ve faced and negative changes they’ve seen. 

Betty Matson, a resident of Clark County for over 70 years, said the county isn’t as safe anymore. 

“It’s hard to see now what I see now, versus how I lived,” she said. “We didn’t even lock the doors to our house.”  

“Today it’s horrible” she added later. “Way back then, in the early 50s, it was a safe place to live.” 

Cecelia Towner, who moved from Los Angeles and founded the Vancouver branch of Black Lives Matter in 2016, said by experiencing poverty in Clark County, she has a unique perspective compared to some of the other panelists.

“There have been some considerable unpleasant moments I’ve experienced,” she told the crowd. 

She started Black Lives Matter in Vancouver after her daughter faced racism at school.

“Nowadays at least, black children are not necessarily having a good time in schools,” she said while explaining that she hopes to make Clark County more accommodating to the black community