Portland Advocate_1981-11

"The Negro In Portland" by v. Rutherford Advocate's Note: Mrs. Rutherford was very gracious in sharing her "Condensed Report" with us. Printed in its original form, we thought for comparative purposes with the present, a glimpse of the past would be helpful in order to plan for tommorrow. History records that the first Negro set foot on Oregon soil in 1787. He arr.ived by ship as a servant · for the ship•s master, and was killed by Indians shortly after landing on these shores. The next Negro to come to Ore– gon accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1803. He married an Indian woman and r .e– turned to Missouri. There is nq specific mention of others reach– ing Oregon until about 1834 when several Negroes arrived by wagon train -as servants, and as inde– pendent settlers. Oregon was admitted to the Union as a free territory .in 1846, but as settlers from slave states arrived, they often brought slaves with them and there was a reluctance to sepa– rate those slaves from masters and mistresses. The 1850 census reported 207 Negroes living in Oregon. As the Civil War neared, the civil status of the Negro became a heated and debated subject in Oregon. By 1857, the Oregon Le– gislature took drastic steps to curtail the entry of Negroes in– to this state. The Oregon Con– stitutional Convention of 1857 declared, "No free Negro or Mu– latto, not · now residing in. the state at the time of adoption of the constitution, shall come, re– side, or be within the state, or hold any real estate, or make contracts, or maintain any suit therein; and the legislature shall provide ... for the punish– ment of persons who shall bring them into the state or employ them." When Negroes finally were permitted to live in the state, each Negro in Portland had to pay a ten-dollar 1 head tax• and had ·no civil rights whatever. Around 1864 the first Negro school, located at 4th & Columbia West, was opened, and the Peoples Independent Church, the first Ne– gro church of Portland, was found– ed. Near 1875 the anti-Negro atti– tude lessened somewhat, and in 1890, approximately 75 Negroes were brought from South Carolina and Georgia to work in the Port– land Hotel; most of these men sent for their families-a move that was practically the foundation of Negro family life in Portland. During the general period of 1875 to 1890 Negroes were again a ccepted - into the communities, a nd segregation was practically non-existent. The 1890 Oregon census reported 1,886 Negroes; they were accepted at downtown shops, restaurants, hotels, sa– loons, etc. Between 1890 and 1900 the first signs of segre– gation appeared in Portland theatres, and from 1890 to 1~42 there was practically no change in the occupation sta– tus of the Negro in Portland. An industrial survey of 1941 shows that Negroes were em– ployed as follows: 98.6% in the railroad industry in some capacity, 1% in private indus– try and domestic service, and .4% in business and professions. These figures changed abruptly during World War II because of the acute labor shortage. In 1948 the Annual Report of the Urban League of Portland re– ported that more than 450 Negro workers were employed by em– ployers who had not employed Negroes prior to 1945. The Oregon Fair Employment Practices Laws passed in 1949 opened the doors of employment to all capable persons, and Negroes are now employed in all levels of Federal, State, and City Civil Service, are affil– iated with unions, hold skilled jobs in private industries, are employed as grade school teach– ers, are social workers, retail clerks, and doctors and nurses on hospital staffs. Prior to 1910 a majority of Negroes lived on Portland•s West side, but gradually the popula– tion shifted to the East side of the river, and home-building be– gan to flourish. The Portland City Club Bulletin reports, "As of 1957, over 50% of Portland•s Negroes are located in the area bounded by Union Avenue on the east, Interstate on the west, Oregon on the south, and Fremont on the north." A definite expan– sioQ_out of this area is now in progress. pageS IS SLAVERY YOUR N. YOUNG'S ST£El FABRICATION CO•• INC. (503) 287-0444 ~NYFAB~ 2330 N.E. COLUMBIA BlVD. PORl\ANO, OREGON 97211 NATE YOUNG JIM MAYES Prelident Secreterv' Truaurer 281-38!12 ....... ~ ......."'- ...ou• -Dn'· ~0~ .... MCTMO- WU,.L GO IT SSOO N. WILLIAMS AVIL ~ATLAND, OAKGON .71117 BLACK A EDUCATIONAL CENTER 4919 N. E. 17th Avenue Portland, Oregon 97211 503 I 284-9552 ''Moving Together' ' THE GOVERNOR'S OMELETTE AND SAND~CH SHOP 3240 N. Williams Avenue Portland, OR 281-0280 "ORDERS TO GO" ~lggins ~emadeling !5UI211-4SM CARPENTRY-CONCRETE-PAINTING PATIOS DRIVEWAYS SIDEWALKS SHEET ROCKING-TAPING 1429 N.E. Mason Portland, OR 97211 281-8887 SAMUEL RIGGINS ALL PHASES A-1 Guaranteed 3612 N. Wlm-a ~ \.tl.~·:: .. ~-:-:-.n .. ...............Gft' ...... 61.1. ,.•• u , ., .,.u,. •••• ... ....,., _... ,. ("' ''"~. cw•'-• ........................ ._,.,_., :.-:::: ..