Title: One (more) for the history books Author: Staff Writer Publisher: The Forest Grove News-TImes Date: 8/18/2010 For Mary Jo Morelli and Lisa Amato, it's been a labor of love - and a giant commitment of time. But it's all paying off as their book, "Forest Grove," part of Arcadia Publishing's "Images of America" series, rolls off the presses. The book features more than 200 vintage photos from the Friends of Historic Forest Grove collection and those of individuals who've lived in the area for many years. It depicts some of the disasters that beset the town, including the First Christian Church fire of 1948 and the Columbus Day Storm of 1962. It also paints a vivid picture of the early days on the west Tualatin Plains, first settled in 1841 with the arrival of Euro-American missionaries and continuing with folks fleeing the 1847 Whitman Massacre. And, the book showcases the people and buildings that gave rise to Pacific University. Amato and Morelli, both members of the nonprofit Friends of Historic Forest Grove, took time to answer some of the News-Times' questions about their new book: Q: You've been involved in efforts to preserve Forest Grove's history for a long time, but this book is a new evolution in that effort. How did it come about? Jo: I had been contacted by Arcadia in 2003 but the timing was not right.

I had just broken my ankle and there was no way I could do the work involved in a book. Plus, I didn't know anything about Arcadia Publishing. And, Friends of Historic Forest Grove had just signed a contract to purchase the Alvin T. Smith House and we (FHFG) were in the process of producing the "2004 History Buffs" calendar. I did check out some of Arcadia's books and realized that it is a real publisher! We (my husband David and I) found a book about the Italians in Albuquerque and found photos of David's family in the book - all good things. Lisa: When the press release came out for the Hillsboro book, I thought, why couldn't Friends of Historic Forest Grove do one for our town? We certainly had enough photographs . so I contacted Arcadia Publishing and the rest is history (every pun intended). Q: The book is heavily focused on photography.

Since Forest Grove was settled before the widespread use of photography, are images of the early settlements difficult to come by? Lisa: This is why we appealed to the public to come forward with any personal family collections. One never knows what historical treasure might be lying in their attic. Jo: I knew that there were early photos of community founders like Tabitha Brown, Alvin T. Smith and Rev. Harvey Clark. I had been given circa-1900 photos of the A. T. Smith farm back in 1991 when I was chair of the Forest Grove Historic Landmarks Board, and there was an effort to move the National Register house for a garbage transfer station.

Anyway, old photos are out there, and over the years I learned a lot about how to access them. I sure learned a lot in the process of getting permissions for publishing photos. Q: Were there any surprises or hang-ups you encountered in doing the research for the book? Jo and Lisa: Getting the scanning nailed down to Arcadia's specifications [was one]. Once that was accomplished, there was no stopping us. Q: Was there anything that couldn't fit into the book, a sort of cutting-room-floor moment? Lisa: We literally cried over how many beautiful and fantastic photographs we had to leave out of the book. We took some of these cutting room floor photos and made a narrated slideshow to help promote the book, which, coincidentally, we will be showing at our book signing Aug. 19. Jo: Lisa and I were on the same wavelength from the beginning.

We both wanted to write the book as.