10/22 The 1930s Jackson County Rebellion: A Populist Uprising in Depression Era Oregon

Class Description: Author, archaeologist and historian, Jeff LaLande, will share the study of this fascinating and insightful political movement in the 1930s southern Oregon. The Jackson County Rebellion explores a dramatic if little-known populist insurgency that captured national attention as it played out in rural Oregon. LaLande traces the rebellion’s roots back to the area’s tradition of protest, including the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s, then focuses on Jackson County’s politics of upheaval during the worst days of the Great Depression. The broad strokes of the episode may be familiar to contemporary readers, with demagogues fanning rage and relentlessly accusing an elite of corruption and conspiracy.

This program is sponsored in part by a grant from Oregon Humanities.

About the Speaker: Jeff LaLande graduated from Georgetown University in 1969 and came to the Rogue Valley later that same year. He’s lived here ever since, aside from times away to obtain a master’s in archaeology from Oregon State and a Ph.D. in American history from the Univ. of Oregon. He served for 30 years as an archaeologist for the U.S. Forest Service and an adjunct history professor at Southern Oregon University. He is the author of two books and numerous articles on Pacific Northwest history.