“How We Came to this Place,” a series of community conversations will explore how residents of Clark County, Wash., got there as individuals and as a community.
The Clark County Stories Project, beginning January 27, is a partnership of the Clark County Historical Museum, Washington State University Vancouver and Fort Vancouver Regional Library District. It aims to inspire and train community members to collect the oral histories of residents who have witnessed the changes of the last 30 to 50 years.
“Each of us has a story about how we came here,” said WSU Vancouver history professor Sue Peabody, one of the project founders who also is a Clark County Historical Society trustee. “Each of us can see the rapid development and changes in our communities.”
The population of Clark County has more than doubled over the last 30 years to almost 500,000. More than half — 54 percent — of its residents were born in another state; 10 percent were born in another country.