Albany Regional Museum Showcases Unseen Photos from Bob Potts Collection

Visitors challenged to 1911 8th grade exam questions at museum exhibit

Mar. 15, 2026 at 6:26pm

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

The Albany Regional Museum is currently hosting an exhibition featuring previously unseen photographs from the collection of the late Bob Potts, who captured thousands of images of Albany scenes, people, and events over the years. In addition to the Potts photo exhibit, the museum also features a display challenging visitors to answer questions from an 1911 Oregon 8th grade graduation exam, testing skills in arithmetic, fractions, decimals, and percentages.

Why it matters

The museum's exhibits provide a glimpse into Albany's history and the educational standards of the past, inviting visitors to reflect on how times have changed. The Potts photo collection offers a unique window into the city's past, while the 1911 exam questions highlight the academic rigor expected of students a century ago.

The details

The Albany Regional Museum's current exhibition features previously unseen photographs from the collection of the late Bob Potts, a prolific photographer who captured thousands of images of Albany over the years. In addition to the Potts photo display, the museum has set up an exhibit challenging visitors to answer questions from an 1911 Oregon 8th grade graduation exam, testing skills in arithmetic, fractions, decimals, and percentages. The exam questions, which cover topics like calculating the weight of steel rails, aim to gauge whether modern-day adults are 'smarter than an eighth grader' from over a century ago.

  • The Bob Potts photo exhibition opened at the Albany Regional Museum in February 2026.
  • The exhibition will remain on display through the end of May 2026.

The players

Bob Potts

A prolific photographer who captured thousands of images of Albany over the years, with his previously unseen collection now on display at the Albany Regional Museum.

Albany Regional Museum

A local museum in Albany, Oregon that is currently hosting an exhibition of Bob Potts' photography collection as well as a display challenging visitors with 1911 8th grade exam questions.

Got photos? Submit your photos here. ›

What they’re saying

“As far as I could tell, this is the only challenging exhibit at the Albany Regional Museum. The others you can just look at and learn from.”

— Hasso Hering, Visitor

What’s next

The Bob Potts photo exhibition at the Albany Regional Museum will remain on display through the end of May 2026.

The takeaway

The Albany Regional Museum's exhibits offer a unique glimpse into the city's history, from the photographic archives of Bob Potts to the academic rigor expected of 8th grade students a century ago. These displays invite visitors to reflect on how times have changed and to test their own knowledge against the standards of the past.