UPCOMING ADULT LECTURES & LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
Celebrating Lightship Columbia's 75th Anniversary
with CRMM Education Crew
Tuesday, April 28, 2026, 11:00AM - 12:00Noon
Ford Room in the Main Museum Building
1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR

Our education crew is celebrating Lightship Columbia’s Diamond Jubilee with a special lecture that shares the history of lightships at the mouth of the Columbia River and highlights WLV-604, which was the last active lightship on the West Coast and is CRMM’s largest artifact. 

Registrar Meg Glazier-Anderson will also be on site with special lightship artifacts from the museum’s collection that are not typically on display to the public. Join us! 

No registration required
Ford Room seats 50, first come first served​
Ships Named Astoria
with CRMM Education Crew
Tuesday, May 26, 2026, 11:00AM - 12:00Noon
Ford Room in the Main Museum Building
1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR

CRMM Education Director Katy Menne will feature stories and images of four vessels named USS Astoria. She will track their movements and histories, with each new vessel bringing us closer to the present day and concluding with non-military vessels bearing the name Astoria.

Visit the U.S. Naval History gallery following the lecture to see items on display from two of the featured vessels.

​No registration required
Ford Room seats 50, first come first served
​
Battle for the Columbia River:
The Rise of the Oregon Steam Navigation Company
with Mychal Ostler
Tuesday, June 23, 2026, 11:00AM - 12:00Noon
Ford Room in the Main Museum Building
1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR

While the Civil War raged, a group of captains, merchants, bankers and gamblers in the Pacific Northwest formed the Oregon Steam Navigation Company. They aimed to develop the richest and most powerful transportation operation in the region, dominating hundreds of miles of river traffic from the Pacific Coast to Montana. They battled competitors, lawyers, the river itself, and defectors within their management team. In the unregulated business environment of the nineteenth century, men like John Ainsworth made their own rules, often deploying frontier justice against their enemies. Join author Mychal Ostler as he recounts the battle for power that shaped an industry.

Mychal Ostler, LMFT is a professional writer, licensed therapist and lifelong student of Columbia River maritime history. His other works include articles published in Sea History Magazine, COLUMBIA Magazine and ChoosingTherapy.com. A native of Stevenson, Washington, Mychal now lives in Raleigh, North Carolina with his wife and daughter. 

No registration required
Ford Room seats 50, first come first served
USCG Cutter Eagle:
The Legacy of the Coast Guard's Flagship
with author Will Sofrin
Tuesday, August 25, 2026, 11:00AM - 12:00Noon
Ford Room in the Main Museum Building
1792 Marine Drive, Astoria, OR
Past to Present Lecture Series now available on YouTube
2026 Lecture Series
Writing Deep River, author Karl Marlantes (recorded January 20, 2026)
From Sensors to Salmon, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (recorded January 27, 2026)
Born to Be a Slough Pig, Capt. Thomas Thomayer, ret. Tidewater Barge Lines, Columbia River Pilots 
(recorded February 3, 2026)
Lost City, Living Memories: Vanport and its Legacy, Laura Lo Forti and LaVeta Gilmore Jones (recorded February 10, 2026)
Sustainable Boat Practices, Olive Theodore, Walrus Boat Recycling (recorded February 17, 2026)
2025 Lecture Series
Graham Klagg & Kelli Daffron, North Coast Watershed Association (recorded January 14, 2025)
Rod Scher, Author (recorded January 21, 2025)
Jared Moultrie & Josh Goodwin, ILWU (​recorded February 4, 2025)
Katy Menne, Columbia River Maritime Museum (recorded February 12, 2025)
2024 Lecture Series
Mugdha Flores, E/V Nautilus Corp of Exploration (recorded January 23, 2024)
Julia Keiter, US Army Corps of Engineers (recorded February 6, 2024)
​Capt. Dan Jordan, Columbia River Bar Pilots (​recorded February 13, 2024)
​Sandra Yannone, poet and author (recorded February 20, 2024)
2023 Lecture Series
Jacob Hendrickson: Longest Row Across the Pacific - Solo, Non-Stop, Unsupported
Zachary Stocks:  Executive Director of Oregon Black Pioneers
Kristofer Lindberg:  Master Salvage Diver
Cameron La Follette: Author and Historian, "What Happened to Oregon's Sea Otters?"
Samantha Steerman: First Female Dispatcher for Columbia River Bar Pilots
Morgan Heim: Wildlife Photographer
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