Fourth Plain Forward: Building Community

Clark County Historical Museum’s 2022 Speaker Series continues on Thursday, September 1, with “Fourth Plain Forward: Building Community” presented by Fourth Plain Forward director, Paul Burgess, CCHM public historian, Katie Bush, and CCHM public history intern, Tanaka Axberg. The event will occur in-person at the Clark County Historical Museum. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the event begins at 7 p.m.

When people think of Vancouver, Washington, the city is often associated with a 19th century military fort, the Columbia River, and a connection to the Hudson’s Bay Company and the fur trade. Rarely are the stories of the neighborhoods developed during and post-World War II provided the same focus. Yet the people who lived, worked, and created these new communities in places such as Vancouver’s Fourth Plain Corridor are as intrinsic to the mosaic that is Vancouver today as those who first made contact with the Indigenous people of the region nearly 125 years ago.

Part of Clark County Stories, the Fourth Plain project is a collaboration between Fourth Plain Forward (FPF), Washington State University Vancouver (WSUV), and the Clark County Historical Museum (CCHM) to shed light on these narratives. In this presentation, Burgess, Bush, and Axberg discuss the community’s history as well as current and future plans for the project.

Paul Burgess is the Executive Director for Fourth Plain Forward. He is an accomplished professional and leader in the social impact space with a successful track record of implementing and advancing complex development programs.

With five years of experience in the Global South managing complex international development programming, Paul has brought comprehensive leadership expertise of cross functional implementation, delivery and management to this role at Fourth Plain Forward.

Paul conceived of, and built the international consultancy www.cdvglobal.com/ to bring equity of opportunity to local communities and nonprofits and has 5 years experience of managing international leadership development programs for young people and over 4 years of middle and high school teaching education experience. Prior to leaving the UK in 2007, he was a senior operations manager in the UK Prison service, leading Safer Custody, anti-bullying and foreign nationals policy at HMP Pentonville in London.

Over his career, Paul has lived and worked in 10 countries spanning Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America.

Katie Bush joined CCHM as the museum’s public historian in April 2021. She holds a Masters in Public History from Portland State University (2021) and a Bachelors in History from Western Washington University (2012). Katie was the recipient of the 2020 Oregon Heritage Fellowship from the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office for her work on the policing of impoverished communities in Progressive era Portland. Katie is passionate about surfacing often overlooked or forgotten historical narratives, and looks forward to bringing this enthusiasm to her work at CCHM.

Tanaka Axberg has been a Vancouver resident since 2016. She graduated from WSUV in May of 2021 with her BA in History and recently finished her first year in the History Master’s Program at Portland State University. Tanka has been involved in and contributing to the Fourth Plain Forward project since it’s inception in 2020.

The CCHM Speaker Series is sponsored by the Clark County Historic Preservation Commission and Versa Events (formerly Wager Audio). General admission is $5; seniors and students are $4; children under 18 are $3; and the evening is free for CCHM members, veterans, and active-duty military personnel.

Attendees are encouraged to arrive early, as seating is limited and available on a first-come-first-served basis.

For more information, contact the museum at 360-993-5679 or outreach@cchmuseum.org.