Our Process

The Travel Information Council and the Oregon Historical Marker Committee recognize our role in shaping the public’s ideas about our state’s past based on what is (and isn’t) marked and how that information is presented. We know from experience that sharing complex history in under 200 words is challenging.

We are committed to a transparent process that invites input from a variety of partners for both establishing new markers and maintaining existing markers:

• Oregon Historical Marker Committee meetings are public meetings. Schedules and  meeting minutes are posted on TIC’s website. Public comment is welcome.
• A volunteer committee of professional historians, geologists, and cultural experts reviews applications against the program’s criteria, with weight given to underrepresented stories of Oregon’s past.
• As time allows, the committee revisits the interpretive text on aging markers, seeks emerging research on the topic, and brings in new perspectives to tell the story.
• The program prioritizes consultation with Oregon’s 9 federally recognized Tribes on topics related to tribal history and resettlement.
• We invite a range of community voices to the research and editing process to ensure the markers the state supports reflect multiple perspectives of history.
• Markers are funded by community sponsorship and the Travel Information Council. Sponsors are listed on each marker page.
• To provide greater context on a topic, when possible we include links to the Oregon Encyclopedia, a public resource managed by the Oregon Historical Society.
• The Oregon Historical Marker Committee holds the ultimate responsibility for the final marker.

Our committee continually asks: What is significant, and to whom?

The Oregon Historical Marker Committee adopted the following values in 2020 and reaffirmed them in 2025:

• Context & Complexity: Through interpreting histories connected to specific places, we will be mindful of context and committed to highlighting complexity.
• Accessibility: We will produce materials that are accessible to a broad range of people who seek to learn from them.
• Cultural Humility & Accuracy: While prioritizing accuracy and fact-based narratives, we will recognize that dominant culture has long silenced different viewpoints and seek to be inclusive of varied perspectives.
• Honesty & Transparency: We will tell the truth about the past. This commitment includes prioritizing perspectives that are marginalized by simplistic and mythical narratives. We will be transparent with the public about our decision-making processes.

Recent articles examining state-sponsored historical marker programs:

• AASLH: The Case of Historical Markers in the 21st Century
• NPR: Historical markers are everywhere in America. Many get history wrong.
• Smithsonian Magazine: Why Historical Markers Matter