Portland challenger., May 01, 1953, Image 1

Neighborhood Restrictions Evident
Tw o and s ix - te n th s p e r cent of
the P o rtla n d population is Negro,
according to statistical facts re ­
v ealed in a rep o rt given to th e
C om m ittee for In terra cial P rin ­
ciples and P ractices a t th e F rie n d ­
ship House M onday n ig h t by Mrs.
M ary W inch of th e P o rtla n d
L eague of W om en V oters.
Also rev ealed in th e report, e n ­
title d
“H ousing fo r M inority
G roups in P o rtla n d ,” w as the
fact th a t 46 p e r cent of th is N e­
gro pop u latio n is confined to
census tra c ts 22 and 23. T here are
62 census tra c ts in th e city of
P ortland.
H ousing D ilapidated
lief th a t the m oving of N egroes
C ensus trac ts 22 and 23 enclosed in a d istrict p redom inantly p o p u ­
roughly the so-called W illiam s lated by C aucasians tends to low ­
av en u e o r A lbina district.
er p ro p erty values from 25 to 50
A ccording to Mrs. W inch's r e ­ per cent. Not one of the persons
port, 34 p er cent of th e housing interview ed, how ever, could back
in census tra c t 22 is listed u n d er up this belief w ith any concrete
th e category “housing d ilap id a­ facts or statistical data, related
tio n ” as com pared to 11.4 p er cent Mrs. W inch.
“housing d ilap id atio n ” for the
H om ogeneity Does Bad
en tire city.
Mrs. W inch g ath ered h e r in- f Most of th e interview ees seem ed
form ation
th ro u g h
in terv iew s to th in k th a t people p refer to
w ith appraisers, real estate b ro k ­ m ove n ex t door to a “double,”
ers and loan agencies. M uch of th a t is a fam ily having tw o ch il­
h e r in fo rm atio n received from d ren p referred to m ove n ex t lo a
these individuals held up the be- ; fam ily h aving a sim ilar am ount
Rights Bill Mode Law
By Chiefs Signature
Oregon’s civil rights bill became law Tuesday, April 28,
when Governor Paul Patterson gave his official sanction by
signing. Tabbed one of the most debated bills to pass the 1953
Oregon legislature, the act will become effective near July 21.
As with all bills passed without an emergency clause, this V olum e 2, N um ber 1
legislation can n o t becom e effec­
tiv e u n til 90 days a fte r leg isla­
tiv e session.
R eferen d u m Possible
D anger th a t a group of ho tel
ow ners, opposing th e bill, m ig h t
sponsor a referen d u m petition,
w as som ew hat m inim ized w hen
legislators le arn ed th a t m any
hotel and m otel ow ners and op­
e ra to rs w ere in accord w ith th e
n o n -discrim in atio n bill b u t w ere
forced to seg reg ate or b a r m i­
n o rity te n an ts because o th e r op­
erato rs did so.
In tro d u ced by S en ato r P h ilip
H itchcock from th e S en ate ju d i­
ciary com m ittee, th e bill ek ed o u t
a 21 to 9 v icto ry vote, M arch 19,
w ith o u t referral, h av in g had its
crim in al clause rem oved in com ­
m ittee.
r
’
R eferral M ove S quelched
A pril 13, th e bill passed th e
House, 46 to 11, again w ith o u t a
re fe rra l clause, h av in g been in ­
tro d u ced by R ep resen tativ e M ark
O. H atfield from th e sta te and
fed eral affairs com m ittee.
T he act p ro h ib its hotels, m otels,
re s ta u ra n ts and am u sem en t places
from d iscrim in atin g against' peo­
ple because of race, religion or
n atio n al origin, and allow s those
d iscrim in ated ag ain st to sue for
up to $500.
| of children.
Mrs. W inch pointed out, how-
| ever, th a t hom ogeneity in an
area does not m ake the area
stable, but tends to m ake it un-
A m erican and denies children the
o p p o rtu n ity to learn about and
u n d erstan d individuals of other
races, religions or creeds.
The re p o rt offered d efinite
rem edy fo r th e falacious belief
th a t N egroes tend to d ev alu ate
property, b u t it is the feeling of
Mrs. W inch’s th a t the probable
an sw er is a person to person e d u ­
cational cam paign su pplem ented
O
A>
<
l>
c •
o
é
<b
o
»
/
«/
p
*0 C
° * *
A)
®
«
? ^ « ** i ° ç »■
i ï
N
>
®
A;
Sec. 34.66 P .L &R.
U. S. PO STA G E
PAID
P erm it No. 816
PORTLAND, OREGON
U. S. Census Used
Mrs. W inch urged fam ilies to
stay and have the opportunity
to learn a new neighbor, before
tak in g som eone else’s judgm ent
and a possible financial loss by
selling the hom e to avoid a “p ro p ­
e rty loss.”
The re p o rt given by Mrs. W inch
was a sh o rter version of a rep o rt
given by h e r to the H ousing and
Civil L ib erties com m ittee of th e
L eague of W om en Voters. Census
figures used w ere those of the
U nited S tates governm ent.
(P o rta l art d 1
Aticnacr
P o rtlan d , Oregon, F riday, M ay 1, 1953
Humane Society A wards Medal
To Little Nine-year-old Tommy
Youngster Relates
Descent 'Scary'
H eroism of a 9-year-nld boy
w as recalled last W ednesday
w hen Tom m y Felix, son of Mr.
and Mrs. E dw ard Felix, 9953 SE
A nkeny street, w as aw ard ed a
m edal from th e A m erican H u­
m ane association of A lbany, N.Y.
L ittle Tom m y was en route
hom e from school F eb ru ary 16
w hen a little girl tearfu lly called
to him to rescue her dog, Fluff.
The dog had fallen to the bottom
of an abandoned w ell a t SE 99th
avenue and B urnside street.
T he R ussellville fo u rth g rad er
said, “W hen I w ent down, it w as
d a rk and scary. I rem em bered
w hen a cesspool my b ro th er w as
digging caved in, so I d id n ’t look
up. J u s t looked dow n a t the dog.”
The bronze m edal carried this
inscription:
“P resen ted to Tom m y F elix for
saving the life of a dog.”
Labor Rureau
To Hold Forum
ù
by sim ilar educational articles.
P ro u d ly displaying the m edal aw ard ed him by A m erican H um ane
association is little Tom m y F elix. W ith him is pup. Fluff, the cause
of "ev ery th in g ."
Yakima to Host Elk's Regional
T he seven N o rth w est district i had its b eg inning here in 1947
G ran d Lodge ap p o in tees of th e and th e B illy W ebb lodge was
N o r t h w e s t states association also host in 1950.
(IB PO E of W) who reside in P o rt­
"F reedom W eek" A sked
land, along w ith five delegates
T he governors of W ashington
alloted Billy W ebb Lodge 1050. and O regon and the m ayors of
are p lan n in g to atten d th e an n u al i th e cities w h ere th e re are local
convention of th e association to lodges have been asked to p ro ­
be held in Y akim a M ay 22-25.
claim “Freedom W eek” during
They are O liver E. Sm ith, state th e convention, according to the
org an izer; Thom as V ickers, e d u ­ group.
cational director; A tto rn ey U. G.
H ighlights of th e convention
P lu m m er, legal ad v iser; L illard w ill be election of officers and
Evans, lectu rer; Dr. D eN orval a r orato rical contest w ith the
U n th an k , m edical d irecto r; H er­ co n testan ts w inning to receive a
m an C. P lu m m er econom ics d i­ scholarship. The contest is for
recto r; and H erb ert Lew is, c h a ir­ high school stu dents, regardless of
m an of tra n sp o rta tio n com m it­ race, creed o r color. The w inner
w ill also com pete in the regional
tee.
These officers stated they plan in San Diego, Cal., and in the
to b ring th e 1954 convention to natio n al convention in A tlanta,
P o rtlan d . The an n u al conclave Ga., in A ugust.
The th ird an n u al O regon F o r­
um on In terg ro u p Relations, sp o n ­
sored by the F a ir E m ploym ent
P ractices division of the O regon
B ureau of Labor, w ill be held at
P o rtlan d S tate college S atu rd ay ,
M ay 9.
T hem e of the forum w ill be
“F a ir E m ploym ent P ractices—-
We the P eople T ake a S tan d .”
A ccording to W. E. K im sey
com m issioner of labor, the p u r­
poses of this y e a r’s forum are to
determ ine, in conference w ith
O regon leaders in labor, ind u stry ,
schools, churches, com m unity or-1
ganizations and sta te and county
and m unicipal governm ent:
(1)—W hat is now being done
by these groups to im prove in te r­
group relations in our state? (2) (
W hat should these groups do
th a t th ey are not now doing?
Six discussion groups w ill con­
sider sim ultaneously the respon- \
sibility of each group relativ e to
the achievem ent of good in ttr-
group relatio n s th ro u g h o u t th e
state.
The m eeting w ill convene at
9:30 a m. and ad journ at 4 p.m.
PRICE 10 CENTS
House Purchase
By Negro Couple
Causes Protests
P rotesting neighbors of t he
P ark ro se H eights neighborhood
got to g eth er a t th e dow ntow n
office of the T w eten R ealty com ­
pany W ednesday night and earn
estly protested the sale of one
of the firm ’s home to a N egro
fam ily.
T h eir protest w ent to naught,
how ever, as the Negro, P o rt­
land-born C harles G ragg, coolly
rem inded the protestors of his
rig h ts as a citizen and reported
his decision to rem ain in his
new five-room hom e a t 11261
NE K nott street.
An em ployee of the U.S. pos­
tal tran sp o rta tio n service and
the fa th e r of a th ree-y ear-o ld
son, G ragg stood firm on his
purchase of the hom e and blam ed
ignorance for the protests of his
new neighbors.
R ealtor Calls M eeting
The m eeting w as called by
Ludvig T w eten, head of the real
estate firm , who said he had re ­
ceived anonym ous telephone calls
and th re a ts protesting th e sale
of the home to G ragg. A cording
to Tw eten,. the neighbors p ro ­
tested th a t G rag g ’s presence in
the neighborhood w ould low er
property values and th a t it w ould
be undesirable for G rag g ’s son
to atten d school w ith th e ir ch il­
dren.
N um erous neighbors
have
sanctioned the sale to Gragg,
how ever. Some have visited him
and expressed th e ir em barass-
m ent of th e situation and told
him to stand his ground. Both
im m ediate
neighbors
seem ed
friendly and told G ragg th a t
th e re was opposition to him in
the neighborhood.
T he real estate firm offered
to pay G rag g ’s m oving expenses
if he desired to m ove and the
M ultnom ah county sh eriff’s d e ­
p a rtm e n t has given protection to
th e fam ily.
Inside
The
P o rtlan d
C hallenger
p resen ts an o th er in a series
of articles describing the c u l­
tu re of N igeria. Africa, w rit­
ten by E phraim Layode. s tu ­
d en t from th a t country, w ho
is c u rre n tly studying at the
U niversity of P ortland.
S tory on page 2.