About ALH
Preserving Our Past For the Future
Please Contribute
Events
Our Story
In 2010, the city of Adair Village took possession of two of the few remaining structures from the World War II-era Camp Adair cantonment. The city arranged to move the buildings; placed them on foundations; installed infrastructure; and put on new siding, new windows and new roofs. These buildings, which you can see near Highway 99W, now need to have the balance of their restoration done. Enter Adair Living History, Inc. We are raising the funding required to finish the interiors of the buildings and make them ready for use. The Adair Village City Council has agreed to the establishment of an interpretive center in one of the buildings. Once construction is complete ALH will manage the center and work to provide a variety of educational opportunities for those who interest themselves in both local and military history.
With Your Help, We are Bringing the History of Adair to life.
Current Campaign
Our Mission & Approach
Barbara Melton
President
Ms. Melton grew up in the mid-Willamette Valley and has long been interested in the history of the Adair area. She is an original member of the Board of ALH and was a member of the Adair Village Historic Resources Committee prior to that. She is retired from a 30-year career in higher education.
Dennis Emerson
Treasurer
Mr. Emerson is a retired U. S. Air Force officer and is also retired from ATI Metals, Albany OR. He lived at Adair Air Force Station as an Air Force dependent while his father was stationed there from 1963-1969. He is very knowledgeable of the establishment, activities, and operations at Adair AFS.
David Dickson
Secretary
Mr. Dickson was a teacher in the New York State public schools for many years, with a special interest in history. He recently retired and moved to Oregon to be closer to family. He lives in the City of Adair Village with his wife.
Gary Richards
Member
Mr. Richards is an amateur historian who has long interested himself in the history of Camp Adair. Among other things, he has located all eleven of the Camp Adair chapels that were moved to other locations and repurposed after the war.
Mary Jamieson
Member
Ms. Jamieson is the daughter (Timberpup) of a member of the WWII 104th Timberwolf Infantry Division who trained at Camp Adair. She serves as liaison between ALH and the Timberwolves and National Timberwolf Pup’s Association.
Linda Marie Richards
Member
LINDA MARIE RICHARDS (MS, Southern Oregon University; PhD, Oregon State University) is a Senior Instructor of History at Oregon State University. She writes and teaches about the places where nuclear and environmental history converge with human rights. She facilitates the Peace and Justice Strategies Office for the Oregon State University Peace Studies Certificate program and is the child of a Vietnam Veteran. She received the Oregon State University Phyllis S. Lee University Award for her work on peace and justice in 2018. She has written numerous articles and is currently writing a book entitled “Human Rights and Nuclear Wrongs.”
Matt Helget
Member
Mr. Helget is a long-time WWII historian and living historian. His grandfather came to Camp Adair in 1942 and served with the 96th Infantry Division on Leyte and Okinawa. Hr. Helget graduated from Oregon State University in 2020 and during his time in college, he interned with the US Forest Service doing archaeological survey work in the cantonment area and documented the unfinished Bomarc missile pads. He is also the Vice President of the national 96th Infantry Division Association Heritage Fund and leads the history committee.
A Letter from the Board
Adair Living History Inc. (ALH) 2024 year in review.
The ALH Website (adairhistory.org)
In 2024 forty three blogs were posted to the Sentry News Blog on the ALH website (adairhistory.org). Sixteen of these blogs were submitted by students of the Oregon State University Special Collections and Research Center.
One can also access videos from our newly created YouTube Channel by going to the “Images/Vide” section. We have 2 new videos: Interview with Gary Richards (Board of Directors Emeritus) and a link to Mike Jager’s YouTube Playlist of Oral Histories of the 104th Infantry Division (Timberwolf). Most interesting is the Virtual Tour of our concept of what the Interpretive Center (The Barracks) will look like (https://adairhistory.org/media/). It was created by ALH Board Members David Dickson and Allison Nielsen.
The purpose of the ALH website, along with facilitating our goal of education and historical preservation, is to provide for a better way to receive donations.. We can now track and report on website activities such as the number of visitors, visitor locations, time spent on the website and each particular webpage, rating the most read pages, etc. The website provides information about ALH, our efforts in “Raising the Barracks”, the general history of the Adair area, links to resources, access to images and video, and most importantly, access to blog posts (Sentry News). Members of the ALH Board of Directors regularly submit blog posts about the history of Adair. Blog entries are found by clicking on the “Sentry News” heading at the top of the page.. Please let us know if there’s a topic you’d like to see addressed.
ALH Adair History Day
On May 4, 2024, we gave presentations on Camp Adair and Adair Air Force Station at the future Interpretive Center. Turn -out was very good. And we received very positive feed-back by visitors.
City of Adair Village Founder’s Day
ALH participated in the City of Adair Village Founder’s Day on August 10, 2024. There were exhibits, displays and presentations on Camp Adair, Adair Air Force Station, the Naval Hospital at Camp Adair, the early history of Native Americans of North Benton and south Polk counties, etc. Turn-out was a very good. The local City of Adair Village community continues to be very interested in history of the Adair area.
Raising the Barracks Fundraising and Status of Construction.
In 2024, ALH continues to seek out grant opportunities and submit applications. We submitted an application to the T-Mobile Hometown Grant but were not successful. In 2025, ALH will continue its efforts to identify funding opportunities.
ALH has received bids, and is now evaluating these bids, on completing the electrical infrastructure for the Interpretive Center.
Out-Reach Activities
On October 10, 2024,
Dennis and Vicki Emerson gave a presentation on Adair Air Force Station to residents of the Mennonite Village, Albany, OR.
On Oct 30, 2024, Dave Dickson guest lectured for an upper division OSU History class to share ALH and how wars are memorialized in different times and places. He spoke on his recent trip to Europe, retracing the route of 70th Infantry Division “Trailblazers” as it pushed into Germany. The division trained at Camp Adair.
On November 14, 2024, Mary Jamieson gave a presentation on Camp Adair (and the 104th Timberwolf Division to residents of the Mennonite Village, Albany, OR.
On November 16, 2024, Matt Helget gave a presentation on Camp Adair at the Polk County Historical Museum, Rickreall, OR. This event was extremely well attended with standing room only with about 120 attendees. Local interest in the history of the Adair area is very high.
Other Activities On June 8, 2024, members of the Board of Directors met with consultant Robert Ward concerning creating a strategic plan for Adair Living History, Inc., especially as the Interpretive Center nears completion. While this will be a work in progress, we were able to take the first step by creating a Vision Statement. That is harder than it sounds – but we did create one: Preserving the stories of sacrifice from our past to build an informed future. We feel that this Vision Statement fits nicely with our Mission Statement. We will continue our work in creating our strategic plan.
Goals for 2025
We hope that the Interpretive Center (the “barracks”) will be completed by the end of 2025. The City of Adair Village has committed to providing the assistance needed for this project.
ALH has committed to increasing it out-reach by including more information and events about the pre-war history of the Adair area, to include the Native American presence, as well as the pioneers that inhabited the area. On May 17, 2025, 1-3pm, Robert Kentta, a retired Siletz Tribal Council member, will give a presentation on the lesser-known aspects of the Camp Adair site, including the last living Siletz tribal member who trained at Camp Adair, along with what he has learned so for about the revitalization of traditional cultures at the Sweathouse Lodge (a native addictions treatment center) that was active on the Camp Adair property in the mid 1970s. This event will take place at The Village Church, 7234 NE Arnold Ave., City of Adair Village, 97330.
Board of Directors Activities
The ALH Board of Directors are: David Dickson, Vicki Emerson, Dr. Linda Marie Richards, Allison Nielsen. Matt Helget, Barbara Melton, Mary Jamieson, Dennis Emerson. Board Member Gary Richards has entered into Emeritus status. His participation, leadership and knowledge was instrumental to the success of this organization. We will continue to reach out to him when h is advice is desired. Each member has unique skills that are most beneficial to this organization. Biographies of Board Members can be found at adairhistory.org, on the “About ALH” page.
Board members meet monthly via Zoom. We welcome any and all who would like to attend our board meetings just let us know ahead of time so that an invitation can be sent to you.
Appeal for Help
ALH is always looking for sources of funding for the projects listed above and for projects that will come in the future, as well as volunteers to help us with these projects. We are also at the point where we need to consider funding for on-going operations. If you are interested in helping ALH, please contact Barbara Melton at 541-231-7838. The ultimate goal is to provide a place for residents and visitors to go and experience the rich history of the Adair area. Our webpage, adairlhistory.org , is where donations can be made.
Adair Living History is a 501.3(c) non-profit organization. We gladly accept donations (financial and in-kind) to help fund our continuing activities and operations.
The Board of Directors,
Adair Living History, Inc.
Adair Living History, Inc. is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation located in Adair Village, Oregon
Adair Living History, Inc.
630 William R. Carr Ave.
Adair Village, OR 97330
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