Past Tense—The Origins of PSU: The Vanport Placemarking Project “AS YOU KNOW, we are starting from nothing.” In this quote from Gordon B. Dodds’ book, The College That Would Not Die, founder Stephen E. Epler famously described the origins of the Vanport Extension Center – the precursor to Portland State University. His was an apt description, since no modern American university began in less promising circumstances than Portland State. There were no students, no faculty, no staff. What passed as a campus was the remains of a dilapidated WWII housing project at Vanport, Oregon. As the place of our origin, PSU has a deep connection to Vanport. Once Oregon’s second largest city, Vanport was a wartime housing development built to house workers for Kaiser Shipyards. It was built in 300 days and served as home to over 40,000 people, about half of whom were African American, living in 9,900 residential units on 650 acres. Vanport was home to many Oregon firsts: integrated schools, full time daycare, a library and health care provisions for workers, and the first black school teacher hired by Portland Schools. Tragically much of the city washed away in a flood on May 30, 1948, leaving 18,000 people homeless. All that remains of Vanport are the memories of the survivors and their families, photographs, and a small concrete foundation slab of the once 750-seat movie theater. The mission of the Vanport Placemarking Project is to preserve the history of Vanport and tell the oft-forgotten role of African Americans in Portland’s wartime history. This project is a unique opportunity to construct permanent awareness of Vanport history to protect and support the cultural and environmental assets of the community for future generations. The project will include installation of permanent signage at noteworthy Vanport sites and structures, construction of an interpretive center, development of an augmented reality app, and historic designation to preserve the site. These features will offer opportunities for visitors and groups to stage cultural and arts performances, educational events, and tours. Connecting the structural history with the cultural significance through signage and an interpretive center will give perspective to the transformation of the site which is now Vanport Wetlands, the Heron Lakes golf courses, and Portland International Raceway. The completed project will create a place where the stories and memories of Vanport can be told. There will be tangible reminders to foster awareness of the profound historical and cultural significance of Vanport. It will identify a place of public significance that will help visitors to the site understand how and why “place” is meaningful to people. It protects our shared history, memories, and traditions, and will allow for the continued use of this piece of Portland history into the future. For more information and to learn how to support this project, visit http://www.vanporthistory.org. —Maryhelen Kincaid and Michael Molinaro —Map designed by Ryan Sullivan of Paste in Place 6
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