The Latino Project

Submitted by:
The History Museum of Hood River County
PO Box 781
300 E Port Marina Drive
Hood River, OR 97031

Submitted to:
Hood River Lions Foundation Trust
P.O. Box 860
Hood River, OR 97031

Project Dates: September 2015 August 2015

Submission Date: May 30, 2015

A. About the applicant organization:

1. The History Museum of Hood River County, PO Box 781, 300 E Port Marina
Drive, Hood River, OR 97031
2. Megan Baker, Director, PO Box 781, 300 E Port Marina Drive, Hood River, OR
97031
3. The History Museum of Hood River County is the primary repository for
heritage artifacts relating to the history of Hood River County. The museum
has been part of the Hood River County government system since 1954;
however, the artifact collection dates back to 1907 when the Pioneer Society
began collecting documents and artifacts to eventually be placed within a
permanent museum facility. The current museum facility opened in 1978
using primarily donated community funds for construction costs. The
museum functions under the direction of the Hood River County Heritage
Council. The History Museum operates on a very tight county budget with
only one paid staff (Director), an AmeriCorps Volunteer (short-term), a very
dedicated and hard working museum board and fifty active docent volunteers
that serve as greeters and committee team members.
Volunteers of and contributors to The History Museum are proud of their
accomplishments over the past thirty years, especially in the area of
Collection Management. In the past ten years they have become aggressive
in determining artifacts and collections that have special needs and have put
these items on a rotating evaluation and preservation schedule within the
museums long range plan. In addition, they have established a vital
education and community outreach program and have developed and
facilitated partnerships with local schools and colleges to provide internships
and special programs as well as partnerships with many local organizations
and businesses.
Mission Statement: To celebrate Hood River Countys diverse cultural
heritage and preserve our unique story.
Vision Statement: To create, sustain and enhance our exhibits, collection
and programs to meet the ever-changing needs of Hood River Countys
cultural heritage and community
Purpose Statement: To hold in trust a collection of artifacts and documents
relevant to Hood River County heritage, share the stories of these items
through education, exhibits and discussion and expand the understanding
Hood River Countys heritage as it relates to our past, present and future.
We share our mission in the community through the collection, preservation,
exhibition and interpretation of items significant to the history of Hood River
County and the Mid-Columbia region.
B. About the project:
1. In keeping with the mission of The History Museum of Hood River County, the
museum has embarked on a project to document and archive the stories of

our Latin American community. The focus of the Latino Project is to document
the Latino population of Hood River County history through the gathering of
first-person oral history interviews with immigrants, U.S.-born second
generations, professionals who work with immigrants, policy-makers, religious
leaders, educators, students, and local business owners. The History Museum
will obtain volunteers to interview members of the Latino community through
audio, video, or both mediums. These interviews will be digitized to make
them available for public use and to create a large-scale temporary Latino
exhibition at The History Museum that would run for a three month period,
then adapted to a permanent exhibit.
a)
A copy of all oral histories compiled will be kept (in their
entirety) in the archives of The History Museum for future use and
preservation.
b)
A summarized version of the interviews will be used with a
temporary large-scale exhibition as well as within a smaller permanent
exhibit so as to better tell the Latino Story.
c)
All artifacts and photographs that are collected during the
process will be housed within The History Museums climate controlled
archives.
I.
Photographs will be scanned into our digital database for easier
access, and to ensure the preservation of the original copies.
d)
This project serves as a unique tool to continue to educate the
community to the purpose and mission of the Museum and the need
for the preservation of significant artifacts and stories of Hood River
County.
2. There are currently 24,000+ residents of Hood River County that will directly
benefit from having the story and history of the Latino population told. Of
those 24,000+ residents, 30% are Latino and would benefit more than any
other ethnic group in Hood River County. In addition, attendance has been
documented at over 6,000 visitors per year, many of which have commented
that they would like to see the Latino story told. Our facebook and twitter
accounts both boast over 700 followers and our historic photo blog engages
an average of 50 people per week, or 2,600 per year. Through the
compilation of data within a forum that allows for sharing, the Latino Project
will not only benefit those listed above, but countless others outside of Hood
River County who will utilize the collection for research purposes, for
genealogical research, or for students or the general public to complete
historical research projects. By documenting and preserving first-person
stories from our ethnic community, the Museum is providing a tool for better
understanding and appreciation not only in the present, but for generations
to come as these interviews will be preserved in the Museums archives.
3. In past years, The History Museum of Hood River County has not had the
funds available to ensure the Latino story would be successfully told. There
have been committees created to discuss the creation of an exhibit,
programming, who to interview, etc.; however, the project has never had the

funds, nor the fuel of the volunteers to begin the journey. The Museum has
obtained funding from the Hood River Valley High Schools Community Work
Day to purchase Zoom Audio and Video Recorders to collect oral histories.
The amount granted to The History Museum is $1,500.
4. The History Museum of Hood River County is the only organization that can
complete this project. We are a history museum and can therefore properly
house historical artifacts, photos, letters, digital files, etc., and ensure the
Latino Project continues to play a prominent role in the History of Hood River
County. We have dedicated staff and volunteer members who are trained on
how to conduct oral history interviews and transcribe them in a timely
manner, and who are well versed as to creating exhibitions/exhibits within a
Museum setting and will ensure the best practices for Museums are
adhered to at all times.
5. The History Museum has planned for the gathering of oral histories
to begin fall of 2015, with a completed exhibition the following year
(May 2016).
a)
September 2015: Training volunteers to gather oral
histories of members in the Hood River County Latino
community.
b)
September 2015-December 2015: Gathering of oral
histories from members in the Hood River Latino community,
i.e. immigrants, U.S.-born second generations, professionals
who work with immigrants, policy-makers, religious leaders,
educators, students, and local business owners.
c)
December 2015-February 2016: Compiling oral histories
into a database that can be searched by tags. The tags will
help relate different stories to one another by subject matter,
i.e. the Bracero Program.
d)
February-March 2016: Search through the digitalized oral
history database to piece together a coherent story, i.e. one
that is linear in time, focuses on a particular subject matter,
etc.
e)
March-April 2016: Continue to piece together the story,
start design of temporary exhibition, panels, and marketing
materials.
f)
May 2016: Finalize design of exhibition and panels. Piece
together final exhibition. Have a soft-opening of the exhibition
with reception for those who helped make the exhibition
happen on 5 May 2016. Grand opening to the public will be on
6 May 2016.
g)
By 1 June 2016: Send a written report on how the grant
money was spent on the Latino Project.
6. The projects effectiveness will be evaluated by the final outcome of the
Latino Projects Museum exhibition. From outreach with the Latino
community, to the gathering of oral history interviews, the Latino Project will

have many milestones it will meet throughout the project-all which will be
evaluated at their completion. However, we will not know what the final
outcome is until the exhibition is up and running, and we are able to see how
many visitors we can engage through not only the exhibition, but also
programs and other initiatives to augment the exhibition.
7. This project will be overseen by The History Museums Director, Megan Baker
and Board member Deborah Chenoweth. Megan Baker has a graduate degree
in history, has completed numerous oral history interviews, transcription, and
reports, in addition to her many years experience within archival repositories
and museums wherein she learned the best practices for handling
audio/video oral histories. It is with full confidence in the project teams
ability to succeed with this project, that The History Museum submits this
grant request.
8. The Latino Project will involve purchase of equipment, banner and panel
design, photo reprinting, and the fabrication of a final exhibition that will run
for three months, at such time a smaller permanent exhibit will be created.
a)
The story-telling will not be limited to banners and panels,
historical artifacts, and photos; it will be augmented with the personal
stories of those who are interviewed.
b)
Oral histories will be uploaded into a database where we can pull
individual interviews, or even parts of interviews, and make them
available to the visitor on an iPad that is locked into a stand.
c)
iPads will be located at 4 stations where visitors can listen to
different stories from the Latino community.
I.
Each section will flow to the next so as to tell the overall Latino
story in Hood River County.
II.
(4) 16GB iPad Airs will have the capability to be used again and
again after the initial 3 month exhibition is complete, as they will
have the interviews stored on their hard drives. After the initial
exhibition, a part of its narrative will be incorporated into a
permanent exhibit. The Museums permanent cases are meant
to have the items and stories within them changed out regularly,
so what a visitor may learn about a particular subject will be
different the next time they visit. This is why having the 4 iPads
is essential to continuing to tell the story to visitors daily, as
they will be used indefinitely.
d)
The annual maintenance and operating supplies cost will be
minimal. The iPads and their stands will need to be stored in a safe,
climate-controlled environment, which is also secured from theft. There
will be no extra cost in regard to their storage, as the Museum already
has extensive climate-controlled storage that is also secured from
theft.
e)
The projected useful life of the equipment should be at least 10
years. The iPads The History Museum purchases will not be used for
anything other than exhibitions at the Museum. We will not be

connecting them to the web, but rather to our internal server, which
will ensure a longer life-span for the 4 iPads.
C. Projects Budget
1. There is no previous budget for this project.
2. The total cost before donated time from volunteers will be $22,523.88.
Donated time from volunteers (690 hours at $23.07 per hour) $15,918.30,
donated time from Director (4 hrs at $21.59 per hour) $86.36. Cost of Latino
Project after donated time from Volunteers and Director: $6,519.22.
a)
To begin the entire project, The History Museum must first
purchase the equipment needed to collect the oral histories. We will
purchase three Zoom audio recorders and two Zoom video recorders.
The final cost for this part of the project will be $1199.92.
I.
(3 )Zoom H2n Handy Recorder Performer Pak purchased with
free shipping through Kraft Music will cost $199.98 each, for a
total cost of: $599.94.
II.
(2) Zoom Q4 Handheld Portable Video Recorder w/ LCD and free
shipping will cost $299.99 each, for a total cost of: $599.98.
b)
Beginning in September of 2015, The History Museum will begin
collecting oral history interviews for the Latino Project. The estimated
final cost for this part of the final project will be donations of time by
the Volunteers and Museum Director, $15206.86.
I.
A course on how to conduct oral histories via an audio or visual
device will be taught by The History Museums Director, Megan
Baker prior to any collection of oral histories. The 4 hour course
will not only address how to complete the interviews, but also
the ethics of gathering oral histories. This will be donated time,
completed at a rate of $21.59 per hour, or $86.36.
II.
The assumption is that our volunteers will gather 300 hours of
oral history interviews. The total cost in volunteer time to The
History Museum will be $23.07 per hour, for a total cost of:
$6,921 (see https://www.independentsector.org/volunteer_time).
We are planning on 300 hours as the baseline we would like to
collect. Ultimately, we would like to collect as many interviews
as possible, but the time table does not allow for us to spend
more than 3-4 months on this part of the project.
III.
The general transcription of the oral histories will be completed
directly after they are gathered. A general transcription consists
of the volunteer inputting tags as a description for each
interview. By using tags, we can easily search for subject areas,
instead of only by the file name. For example, immigration or
Bracero may be tags we use to search from. A rough estimate
is 1 hour per hour of oral history interviews, for a total of 300
hours. The tagging process may take longer than 1 hour per
hour, but the timetable does not allow us to spend more time on
this part of the project at this time. At a later date, we will go

through the interviews and transcribe them fully. The total cost
in volunteer time to complete the general transcription of the
interviews will be $23.07 per hour, for a total cost of $6,921.
IV.
After transcription has occurred, volunteers can start piecing
together stories based off of the tags that were in put with each
oral history file gathered. A rough estimate of this portion is no
more than 10 hours a week starting 1 February with completion
by 4 March 2016, for a total of 50 hours at $23.07 per hour, with
a total cost of $1153.50. As has been stated in both (b) and (c),
the total hours may end up going over what we have estimated
at this time; however, the timetable does not allow for much
over the planned 50 hours.
c)
(4) 16GB iPad Air: $1400.00
I.
The iPads will be used within four separate areas of the largescale temporary exhibition. The four iPads will have different
oral histories stored on their hard drives. This will make it easier
to change the story we tell within the permanent exhibit.
d)
(4) iPad stands + shipping and handling: $500.00
I.
Each stand holds on iPad in a locked case so that we ensure
there will be no theft of our technology. The keys for the cases
will be housed in a locked space.
e)
Design and Printing of 30x68 Banners with grommets:
$1242.00
I.
There will be six large-scale banners hung by grommets
throughout the temporary exhibition. We have to limit this
number to six because of the space limitation within our
exhibition space.
II.
We estimate a graphic designer will need 12 hours to create the
six banners, at a rate of $75/hour, for a total of $900.00. The
History Museum outsourced the design of four banners for its
most recent exhibition and the cost was $600 for 12 hours. The
designer gave us a reduced rate of $50 per hour at that time,
and further reduced her time by four hours as an in-kind
donation. There is no guarantee that we will be able to receive a
reduced rate when the banners for The Latino Project are
designed.
III.
To print the banners, we will need to outsource them to a largescale printer. The cost of each banner will be $52.00 (this is
based off of a recent invoice from the printing of four large scale
banners used in our current exhibition) + shipping of $30 for a
total of $342.00.
f)Photograph reprints: $119.90
I.
We would like to print up a variety of photographs of those who
were interviewed (and would allow a photo to be shown in the
exhibition). To ensure we are showing enough to fit the space,

and augment the story that would be told through oral histories,
banners, and smaller panels, we would need 10 photographs.
II.
Through Staples, the anticipated cost of printing large
photographs (11x14) is $6.99 each, plus a $5.00 charge for
each photograph to be mounted on foam core, as listed through
their website. The total for 10 photographs to be reproduced
and mounted on foam core is $119.90.
g)
Design and Printing of 20 11x17 Story-telling Panels: $1991.60
I.
There are always stories that cannot be told through a large
banner, oral histories, or photographs. That is where smaller
story-telling panels come in. Through panels, we are able to tell
a more pointed story, one that may incorporate a subject area
that is not discussed within the narrative elsewhere.
II.
Volunteer time to research for 20 story-telling panels at a rate of
$23.07 per hour, for no more than 40 hours: $922.80.
III.
Salaried Director Time to complete design of 20 story-telling
panels at a rate of $21.59 per hour, for no more than 40 hours:
$863.60.
IV.
Printing of 20 11x17 story-telling panels through Staples at
$10.26 each: $205.20.
h)
Outreach and Promotion of Exhibition and Supplemental
Programming, Printing of Posters: $988.60
I.
The History Museum would like to see at least one event per
month. The events should give back to the community and
cover topics that will engage the public to start thinking
differently about the Latino history they have been taught.
i.
Possible programs would discuss the subject areas of
equal rights, becoming Latino American, the Bracero
program, or how the Latino culture has affected Hood
River County.
II.
Promotion and marketing of the exhibition and supporting
programs, including the design of posters, writing news releases,
and using company time to conduct interviews with local news
outlets.
i.
The History Museum Director assumes these
responsibilities and estimates a total of 40 hours at a rate
of $21.59 per hour for a total of $863.60.
III.
Production of an estimated 500 copies at .25/copy for a total of
$125.00. The estimate may be higher or lower, depending on
how many supporting programs the Latino Project has.
3. There are two areas from where funds will be allocated to go towards the
Latino Project. The total budget in addendum A reflects the following, with a
final request of $3,292.02 through this grant:
a)
The History Museum of Hood River County has obtained grant
funding from the Hood River Valley High School of $1500 to be used
toward the purchase of three Zoom audio recorders and two Zoom

video recorders. Whatever funds remain after the purchase of the

technical equipment will be used toward other areas of the exhibition
where funding is needed.
I.
The budget for the Lions Club Foundation grant that is outlined
on the previous pages does not include this donation. When
deducting the donated HRVHS funds of $1500 from the total
needed in line (C)(2) of $6,519.22, we are left with an unfunded
amount of $5,019.22.
b)
The County of Hood River funds the salary of the Museum
Director. Lines (C)(2)(g)(III) and (C)(2)(h)(II)(i) reflect a total cost of
$1,727.20. When deducting this amount from the remaining unfunded
amount of $5,019.22, we are left with an unfunded amount of
$3292.02.
4. This project will need to be sustained through the regular upkeep of the
database that is created through the gathering of oral history interviews,
photographs, and other documents and artifacts with the Latino population,
and through the creation of a permanent exhibit. The staff of The History
Museum of Hood River County and the volunteers of the Hood River County
Heritage Council are fully capable of completing the following tasks:
a)
Creation of a small-scale exhibit from the larger-scale exhibition
that this grant will help fund. The exhibit will be swapped out on a
regular basis in order to continue telling all of the stories collected
through the initial interview process. (The History Museum already has
an exhibit case available for the permanent exhibit to be housed.)
b)
Volunteers will ensure that the digital database of interviews and
photographs is backed up on a regular basis. They will also work to
ensure any historical artifacts acquired during the gathering of
information are housed in our climate-controlled facility, inside of acidfree folders and boxes.
c)
The Museum Director will maintain the internal server, alerting
the County to any possible issues. This should ensure that the digital
database remains intact and accessible for many years to come.
Attachments:
Addendum A: Budget for Latino Project
Addendum B: Printout showing cost of Zoom Q4 Handheld Portable Video Recorder
with LCD
Addendum C: Printout showing cost of Zoom Hn2 Handy Recorder Performer Pak
Addendum D: Printout showing cost of Photo Enlargements through Staples
Addendum E: Invoice showing cost of design of 4 panels for the Recreation
Exhibition (for reference only, prices may change for Latino Project)
Addendum F: Invoice showing cost of printing and shipping of 4 panels for the
Recreation Exhibition (for reference only, prices may change for Latino Project