Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 6, 1981)
Discrimination came early to state By JIM GERSBACH Of the Emerald February is Black History Month, and most Oregon whites probably will observe it as they did last year — by ignoring it. That's unfortunate, according to some University blacks, because many white Oregon ians need to know more about black history and culture. "They (white students) don’t know about black dancers, authors or playwrights," says Paula Tode, a peer advisor with the Black Student Union. "They think black culture is pimps, drugs and hanging out on the street corner.” Because Oregon and Eugene are so heavily White Anglo-Sax Blacks celebrate their culture on Protestant (WASP), the need for whites to study black history is all the greater, says Northwest history Prof. Richard Brown. BSU Director Don Brown agrees. Brown says he sees Black History Month not only as a time for blacks to celebrate their cultural heritage and con tributions to American life, but also as an opportunity to teach whites about black life and cul ture. Although Oregon has never had a large black population, blacks have been involved in Oregon’s history since the region was discovered by Eu ropeans. The first black to set foot in Oregon was Marcus Lopez, a cabin boy on Robert Gray's 1788 expedition to the Northwest. A few days after that historic footfall Lopez was killed by Alsea Indians in an alterca tion over a stolen sword. A black man accompanied the first American overland ex pedition to Oregon. York, a slave of William Clark, traveled to Oregon with the Lewis and Clark expedition in the early 1800s. York proved popular with Native Americans encoun tered by the expedition, who had never seen a black man before. One good throb deserves another.... HEART THROBS Classified Personals in the Emerald. 20 romantic words for $1.50 if placed by 1 pm February 12. Available at the usual locations: ODE office (300 EMU), EMU Main Desk, UO Bookstore Cultural Forum Presents John McCutcheon performing a concert of Old Time Mountain Music and calling an APPALACHIAN SQUARE DANCE “Without a doubt, the finest hammer dulcimer player in the South...” ■ —Great American Dulcimer Convention “One of the best square dance carters in the Southern Mountains.” —D. Reich Friday, Feb. 6 Concert at 8:00 p.m. EMU Ballroom U of O Campus Dance at 9:00 p.m. $2.00 admission Free workshop on traditional dance Friday, 2:30-4:20 p.m. Gerlinger 220 Oregon’s white settlers were not as enthusiastic about later black arrivals. Oregon's Dona tion Land Act, the legislation that gave free farmland to pion eers who settled the Willamette Valley and the land around Eugene, barred minorities from receiving land grants. Although Oregon was a free state prohibiting slavery, some blacks were openly kept as slaves until the Civil War. About the time of the war, the first black family in Lane County is believed to have settled near Eugene. No blacks attended the University, however, until 1924 when Sherman Savage enrolled in a master’s degree program. Savage later became a history professor at Ohio State Univer sity. The University’s first black undergraduates were two ath letes, Bobby Robinson and Clarence Williams, both from Portland. They weren’t allowed to live in the University dorms and wound up renting an apart ment from a shoe repairman, says University archivist Keith Richards. During their senior year, white members of the football team protested the enforced seg regation and got Robinson and Williams accepted into Friendly Hall, then a University dormitory. That same year, the University team played Miami in a precur sor of the Orange Bowl. Wil liams and Robinson, however, had to stay in Oregon since Southern colleges didn’t permit black athletes to play against white athletes. The first black woman to at tend the University also faced the color barrier. Although Mabel Byrd's ap plication for University housing had been accepted, she was refused admittance to the women’s dormitory in the fall of 1927. The housemother hadn't known that Byrd was black. After spending the night in a residence hall lounge, Byrd found off-campus accommoda tion. But her plight caused an outcry in Portland newspapers that prompted the University to end segregation in University housing. Although only a handful of blacks attended the University during the 1930s, several made important contributions. Black University track star Mack Robinson placed second behind Jessie Owens in the famous run that shattered Hit ler’s hopes of Aryan victory during the 1936 Berlin Olym pics. Robinson’s brother Jack ie, incidentally, was the first black to play major league ba seball. After World War II the number of black students at the Univer sity increased substantially. Black students formed the Black Student Union in 1965, and 11 years later in 1976 University students elected Jan Oliver, a black woman, as student body president. vOne black graduate of the University, Emery Barnes, was elected to the provincial par liament of British Columbia. Despite these successes, Brown says he is concerned about the declining enrollment of black students at the Univer sity. Enrollment is down from 300 several years ago to about 170 now, even though Oregon’s black population has increased to over 30,000, according to Brown. To boost black registration, the BSU plans to incorporate recruitment into their Black His tory Month activities, Brown says. Activities will include a film festival the last week of February and various work shops and speakers, including black historian Herb Cawth orne. 164 W. 7th & Charnelton Downtown Eugene Open Mon.-Fri. 8-5:30 Sat. 8-5 343-2501 SOAPS BOX Keep up on what’s happening in the soap operas with your personal portable TV G.E. 12" Diagonal Black & White TV Longlasting 100% solid state. Sand color cabinet & easy-carry handle. Model 0111 CHARGE IT • Goodyear Car Card • Installment Pay Plan • MasterCard • Diners Club • Visa • American Express • Carte Blanche oood/year SERVICE STORES
