It was great to attend a talk by historian James V. Hillegas-Elting at Powells earlier in the week, where he gave the highlights of his recently released book “Speaking for the River: Confronting Pollution on the Willamette, 1920s-1970s“. You can read more about his work here at his blog, and I will definitely have some follow up as I dive into the book as it paints a history closely in alignment with hidden hydrology in Portland. The arc of degradation and restoration of the key waterway through Portland and the Willamette Valley is woven together with urbanization, industrialization, and our relationship to the river, as well as the evolution of an environmental ethos that shapes the way we continue to confront existing pollution today (and yes, there’s still lots of it).

In the interim, one highlight worth sharing is this silent film from the 1940s, which is available via streaming from OSU Special Collections and Archives Research Center. A brief synopsis to go with the film:

” The Willamette River Pollution Film depicts various point sources of pollution in the Willamette River and its tributaries. The film begins near Springfield and progresses downstream to Portland and includes footage of various forms of industrial, agricultural, and municipal effluent being dumped into the Willamette River and its tributaries, including the Pudding and South Santiam Rivers. The footage includes tests of the length of time that small fish can survive in water from the Willamette River and chemical tests of the river water. The film includes footage of the river or its tributaries at Springfield, Eugene, Corvallis, Crabtree, Lebanon, Salem, Woodburn, and Portland.”

The production quality is rough at times but you get the gist, with visible pollution from multiple sources, floating dead fish, rats, and all the visual evidence to make the case of an unhealthy river, devoid of dissolved O2 and lifeless. From the OSU Special Collections listing, “The film was probably made by William Joy Smith, of Portland Oregon. Smith was State Manager of the National Life Insurance Company and President of the Oregon Wildlife Federation. It was made before establishment of the state Sanitary Authority and fostered much of the original interest in water quality in Oregon. The film may also have been known at the time of its creation by the title “The Polluted Willamette”. “

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HEADER: Still image from video showing men fishing adjacent to an active outfall. (32:11)

2 thoughts on “The Polluted Willamette

  1. Thanks Jason! I’m glad you enjoyed the talk, and I really look forward to continuing the conversation online and in person!

    One thing to point out is that the OSU Archives’ description of this amazing color film does not reflect the evidence I uncovered in my research and documented in my book. No disparagement to the OSU Archives team intended–and not to come across as pedantic–but as I explain in a 2010 blog post, this film definitely was created created by William Joy Smith; it definitely was filmed in August or September 1940, nearly two years after creation of the Sanitary Authority; and Smith definitely called it “Pollution in the Willamette.” For full documentation of my sources, see the book as well as https://speakingfortheriver.wordpress.com/2012/03/22/willamette-river-pollution-film-1940/. I hope one of these days the head note for this this film at the archives reflects this, but in the meanwhile there are my blog posts and book!

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