Q & A with George Vogt

By peter korn

The Portland Tribune, Mar 28, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

L.E. BASKOW / TRIBUNE FILE PHOTO

George Vogt, director of the Oregon Historical Society says many Oregonians “know we exist but they’re not quite sure what we do.”

Every Friday, the Portland Tribune puts questions to a prominent — or not so prominent — local person.

George Vogt moved to Oregon 15 months ago with his standard poodle, Poster, and he isn’t one to look backward. Well, maybe a little bit. Well, maybe a lot. Vogt is, after all, executive director of the Oregon Historical Society.

Poster mostly stays in Vogt’s office but also roams the halls around Vogt’s office. Come to think of it, Vogt does pretty much the same.

Vogt has held similar posts at museums in Wisconsin and Delaware, and he’s had just enough time to take stock of the Oregon museum. Mind you, we didn’t mean taking stock in a bad way, as in taking a museum’s stock to another location. Although that can happen at museums. Let Vogt explain …

Portland Tribune: So what’s with Poster?

George Vogt: We’ve given him the title here of assistant fundraiser, because more than once I have seen some hard hearts melt when they came in and saw the dog. When I came here I negotiated poodle rights as part of the deal.

Tribune: So if we were to visit your home, would we find it jammed with stuff?

Vogt: Not in a way you would think. I collect antique posters with an emphasis on World War I. I’ve just got a bunch framed. If you walked into my house now you’d see a lot of the World War I finger-pointing posters — “I want you.”

I have them all framed up and put in one room we call the donor room, so no matter which way you look somebody’s got a finger pointed at you.

The artist was James Montgomery Flagg. He decided he’d be his own model and he dressed himself up as Uncle Sam and painted himself in front of a mirror.

Tribune: So all our Uncle Sam pictures are based on an artist’s self-portrait?

Vogt: Ever since World War I.

Tribune: What’s a nightmare for a museum director? Fire?

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