SAH MDR Annual Conference
October 1-4, 2026
Eugene, Oregon

SAH MDR is excited to host our annual conference this year in Eugene, Oregon, October 1-4, 2026. This year's theme will be Power Dynamics: People, Places, and Working Spaces of the PNW.

Power Dynamics will explore how power—everything from electrical to social—shapes place and communities. From the Leaburg Hydroelectric Project (slated for decommissioning) to McKenzie Hall (originally built as the law school at the University of Oregon) to the Mims House (among the first residences in Eugene owned by a Black family), this conference will focus on how the built environment functions as a lens for understanding who holds power—and who doesn’t.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE

Thursday, Oct 1

12pm-2:30pm – Open house at the University of Oregon Special Collections
(1501 Kincaid Street #002)
Stop by the U of O Specicial collections at the Knight Library to see the Works Progress Administration era Paulson Reading Room. Designed by the Ellis Lawrence architectural firm, it features the carved wood panels: Oregon Vistas Triptych (east wall); Oregon Vistas Triptych (west wall); Release of Youth from Depression Conditions (east wall); Release of Youth from Depression Conditions (west wall). The library will have the SAH Marion Dean Ross chapter archives out and available in the room for folks to see!

3pm-5pm – Tour of the Historic Mims Houses
(330 High Street)
Annie and C.B. Mims purchased the property on High Street in 1948, becoming some of Eugene’s first Black homeowners, with one house serving as their residence and the other as a boarding house. During an era of racial segregation, the boarding house was open to Black travelers, including musicians like Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, and Louis Armstrong, as well as University of Oregon athletes who could not stay elsewhere. A distinct example of Gothic Revival, the tour will explore the house’s important role in Eugene’s Black and civil rights history.

5:30pm – No host social at Falling Sky Brewing
(1334 Oak Alley)

Friday, Oct 2

Breakfast/coffee on your own

9am-12pm – Tour of Leaburg Hydroelectric Project
Meet at the UofO Transit Station South (1349 Kincaid Street) at 8:45am for van transportation!
The tour of the Eugene Water and Electric Board's (EWEB)’s Leaburg Hydroelectric Project will explore the architecture and engineering from the 1929 construction through recent modernizations, as well as the ongoing decommissioning project. Participants will hear from preservationists central to the writing and administering of the National Register Historic District and will see the dam headwaters, the recreational lake and interpretive pavilion, Pier Houses at the dam, and the Art Deco Leaburg Power Plant/Power House designed by noted Oregon architect Ellis F. Lawrence. The tour will be hosted by the EWEB and will include expertise in cultural resources, EWEB history, and conversation with a duty officers who have operated the power generating infrastructure while active and in its period of decommissioning.

12pm – Boxed lunches on van

1:30pm-4:30pm – Paper sessions at McKenzie Hall, Room 240A, University of Oregon, designed by DeNorval Unthank Jr.
(1101 Kincaid Street)

Papers:

  • The Hanford Engineer Works Village: Vernacular by Design presented by Diana J. Painter, Ph.D.

  • Angela Danadjieva’s Metaphors: Method, Meaning, and Manifestation presented by Cosette McCave

  • The Shifting Gayborhood: Planning for Preservation & Development in Seattle's Pike/Pine District presented by Jessica Bonner & Manish Chalana

  • Platforms of Survivance: Indigenous Fishing Scaffolds of the Columbia River as Typologies and Traditional Technologies presented by Marcel Brousseau

  • The Civic Void: Public Squares and the Politics of Assembly in American Cities presented by Aniel Guxholli

  • Power Planting: The Front Yard as Gregarious Territory presented by Anna Weichsel

6pm – No host social at Annex
(1236 Kincaid St)
Raffle! The SAH MDR board will be bringing some themed regional goodie bags to raffle off at the Friday night social. All proceeds will go to support the work of SAH MDR so buy some tickets, and maybe you’ll take home a little taste of the regions we love while supporting your regional SAH!

Saturday, Oct 3

9am-11:30am – Paper sessions at McKenzie Hall, Room 125, University of Oregon
(1101 Kincaid Street)
Coffee and snacks provided

Pecha Kuchas:

  • Data Centers and the Hidden Dynamics of Power on the Columbia River Plateau presented by Phil Gruen

  • Defending Demolition: Explorations of Power in Architectural Refuse presented by Steinar Goheen

  • Portland's Acropolis: A Fond Farewell? presented by Chandra Prater

  • 1200 SE Morrison, Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon: Peeling Back the Onion presented by Tracy Schwartz

  • Architecture Is a Character: Film, Television, and the Power to Define the Northwest presented by Shelley Walker-Harmon

Papers:

  • Castles Made Real: Spanish Revival as Manifested in One Corner of the Pacific Northwest During the 1920s and 30s presented by Stephen R. Mark

  • The Healing Power of Nature presented by Dale Kutzera

  • Reinforcing Racial Lines: Practice Houses in Home Economics Programs (1910-1940) presented by Kristina Borrman


11:30am-1pm – Lunch on your own

1:30pm-4:30pm – Eugene Modernism Tour
Meet at the UofO Transit Station South (1349 Kincaid Street) at 1:00pm for van transportation!
Explore Eugene through buildings that reflect our region’s contribution to Modernism, including Carmel of Maria Regina Monastery (Bogen, Hosey & Green, 1962), the Eugene Civic Center (Architects’ Collaborative, 1954) and the Saraha Nyingma Buddhist Institute (originally the Unitarian Church of Eugene, Balzhiser, Seder & Rhodes 1963), and many more!

5pm – No host social at McShane’s
(86495 College View Rd)

Sunday, Oct 4

(On our own) Enjoy some time in Eugene before you travel home!

  • Native American Arts and Crafts Market - Held on the first Sunday of each month from 10am - 4pm at the Farmers Market Pavilion (85 E. 8th Ave.)

  • Piccadilly Flea Market - Open 8am-3pm at the Lane County Fairgrounds (796 W 13th Ave)

  • Spencer Butte Trail - Eugene’s tallest local peak with unique vistas and a variety of popular trails
    (85385 Willamette St.)

  • Mount Pisgah Arboretum - A 209-acre nature education facility where visitors can explore the ecology of the southern Willamette Valley, open from dawn til dusk (34901 Frank Parrish Road)

  • Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path System - A collection of interconnected multi-use paved paths along the Willamette River that connects the two cities of Eugene and Springfield.

  • Self-guided Strides for Social Justice tours developed by the Oregon Black Pioneers - A variety of tours about the people, places and events that have shaped the experience of Black residents in and around Eugene

  • Clay Fest - Eugene's All Ceramics Art Show from 11am - 5pm at the Lane County Fairgrounds Performance Hall (796 W 13th Ave)

Register today

Accommodations

There is specified conference hotel, but we recommend attendees select a location close to the University of Oregon campus to be close to most conference activities and tour departures. Some ideas to consider might be:

Budget Friendly:
University Inn & Suites
2968 Franklin Blvd
$95/night

Mid-Tier:
Timber’s Inn
1015 Pearl St
$150/night

Luxury(ish):
Home2 Suites
102 W 11th Ave
$311/night