MARCH 8, 2018 // 3
An Astoria native in the land of the Shogun
COURTESY CLATSOP COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY
A monument to Ranald MacDonald, credited as Japan’s first
native-speaking English teacher, in Nagasaki, Japan
coast
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
weekend
arts & entertainment
4
8
10
THE ARTS
Heart By Heart
Original Heart members play Liberty Theatre
ASTORIA — The Clatsop
County Historical So-
ciety’s Thursday Night
Talks lecture series
continues March 15, with
“East Meets West: An As-
toria Native in the Land
of the Shogun,” a free
event at the Fort George
Showroom in the Lovell
Building. Doors open at 6
p.m.; the lecture begins at
7 p.m.
Born in Astoria in 1824
to Chinook and Scottish
parents, Ranald MacDon-
ald was a young adven-
turer who sailed across
the Pacific and illegally
entered the isolationist and
feudal kingdom of Japan
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COASTAL LIFE
Sailors’ Grave
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Peninsula Players
stage ‘I Love You,
You’re Perfect, Now
Change’
TO SUBMIT AN ITEM
DINING
14
Mouth of the Columbia
February’s flurry of food festivals
FURTHER ENJOYMENT
MUSIC CALENDAR .....................5
ASTORIA ART WALK ..................9
SEE + DO ........................... 12, 13
CROSSWORD ........................... 17
CW MARKETPLACE ......... 18, 19
WORD NERD ............................. 22
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in 1848. His arrival as an
intentional castaway was
successful, and he became
the first native-speaking
English teacher in Japan
as the country prepared to
modernize and meet the
English-speaking world a
few years later when Com-
modore Matthew Perry
negotiated the opening of
Japan to foreign trade.
MacDonald is remem-
bered today in a bilingual
birthplace monument
located at Fort Astoria
Square at Exchange and
15th streets behind Fort
George. The monument
was erected in 1988 con-
current with the formation
of Friends of MacDonald
that was established to
promote the story of Mac-
Donald and U.S.-Japan
friendship and exchange.
The evening’s speaker,
Jim Mockford, is a mari-
time historian and author
specializing in Asian and
Pacific Studies. He attend-
ed Waseda University in
Tokyo, Japan, and gradu-
ated from the University
of Oregon Honors College.
He recently published
“Salute to M/V Salvage
Chief” in Sea History
magazine’s spring 2018
issue. Mockford was chair-
man of Friends of Mac-
Donald from 1998 to 2008,
and he will tell some of his
favorite Ranald MacDon-
ald stories and describe
some of the highlights of
Friends of MacDonald,
which is celebrating its
30th anniversary this year.
The Thursday Night
Talks lecture series takes
place the third Thursday
of each month. Seasonal
beers are on tap; food
and other beverages are
available for purchase.
Minors are welcome with
an accompanying adult.
For more information
about this event or other
Historical Society activi-
ties, call 503-325-2203 or
email cchs@cumtux.org.