This thesis examines the experiences of fairgoers at the Lewis and Clark Centennial, American Pacific Exposition and Oriental Fair held in Portland, Oregon from June to October of 1905. Historians have framed world's fairs and international expositions as sites of legitimating narratives and restagings of empire and nationhood. This thesis focuses on women, Asian Americans, and Native Americans who interrupted and disrupted the performance and exhibition of U.S. imperialism in the specific case of Portland, Oregon. It considers who benefitted from or endured loss in the demonstrations of imperial culture at the Fair. Following the premises that metropolitan and colonial histories should be considered in the same analytical field and that the systemic power of domestic imperialism in the United States extended beyond Native Americans into the experiences of most nonwhite American communities, this thesis adds a metropolitan approach to Native-American history and, in turn, applies a more colonial approach to the study of African-American, Asian-American, and working-class women's histories. In three chapters, this study explores a range of disruptions at the 1905 Lewis and Clark Centennial - patched over by the Exposition's civic elites and overlooked by previous historians of the Fair - that shed light on the politics of race, class, and gender within the processes of empire and nation building in the turn-of-the-century West.

The subject of Jews in sports is often times perceived as an oxymoronic research topic given the ethnic stereotypes that Jews are physically weak, unfit, and more focused on intellectual pursuits. However, Jews have had a long history and in-depth interaction with sports that is important to understand, not only to expand our perception of the Jewish people, but also to realize the important role sports play in social historiography. While the Jewish population of East Coast America and their involvement in athletics has been studied to some extent, the West Coast population, in particular, the Northwest, has been sorely neglected. This thesis examines the lives of immigrant Jews on the West Coast, specifically Portland, OR and their interaction with sports compared to the experiences of immigrant Jews on the East Coast from 1900 to 1940. An overall examination and comparison of the Jewish immigrant experience in the West is presented along with an evaluation of the establishment of the Portland Jewish community and their coinciding athletic community. The experiences of the Jews in Western America is compared to the immigrants of the East Coast and how these differing involvements shaped the development of Jewish sporting facilities. The thesis then expands on how the Portland Jews grew their athletic facilities and overall involvement in athletics, related to the experience of East Coast Jews. The growth of the Jewish Zionist movement is examined along with how Jewish involvement fit more seamlessly into certain sports than others. The thesis also takes a closer look at Jewish women and their specific experiences in athletics compared to their East Coast counterparts and the experience of Jewish men in Portland. The role of philanthropic organizations as a means of greater involvement in athletics is assessed, along with how the experiences of Western European versus Eastern European immigrants played into their varying involvements with sports. Finally, the conclusion discusses the importance of scholarly sports inquiry as it plays to the relevance of a greater social history and for immigrants in particular, their assimilation and acculturation into American society.

Generally, Oregon historians begin Portland Civil Rights history with the development of Vanport and move quickly through the passage of the state's public accommodations law before addressing the 1960s and 70s. Although these eras are ripe with sources and contentious experiences, 1945 to 1953 provide a complex struggle for civil rights in Portland, Oregon. This time period demonstrates the rise of local leaders, wartime racial tensions, and organizational efforts used to combat inequality. 1945 marked a watershed moment in Portland Civil Rights history exhibiting intergroup collaboration and interracial cooperation converging to eventually provide needed legislation. Although discrimination continued after 1953, the era between 1945 and 1953 provided an era of change upon which subsequent movements in Portland were based. My thesis uses material from various collections to piece together the early struggle for civil rights in Portland, and more broadly, Oregon. These documents show that the local struggle started before the classical phase of the Civil Rights Movement, usually defined as Brown v. Board of Education to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By focusing on the classical phase of civil rights, historians miss the building of a strong foundation for Portland's Civil Rights history. My research proves the existing nuances of the fight for equality by looking at local movements rather than the national struggle. This study demonstrates the nuances by focusing on rising racial tension, the efforts to document them, and the strategies used to combat discrimination.