A N E W E X H I B I T AT T H E U O S E E K S T O P R O V O K E
DIALO GUE AND ACTION
BY ESTER BARKAI
hen Charles Dalton came to Eugene about
50 years ago as a spokesperson for the
NAACP, he went downtown to get to know
the area. He explains in a video on display
at the University of Oregon’s Museum of Natural and
Cultural History’s new exhibit — “Racing to Change:
Oregon’s Civil Rights Years, the Eugene Story” — that
“a Black hippie” asked him for a cigarette. Next thing he
knew he was being questioned by police.
Great, he thought: In Eugene about a half an hour and
already stopped by the police. Then he discovered the
Eugene Police Department kept a book with pictures of
African Americans who stayed in the city longer than a
week, and that his picture was in it.
Later, in his role as NAACP spokesperson, he had an
opportunity at a public event to question the existence
of the book. A Register-Guard reporter heard and then
shortly after asked the chief of police about the book.
The chief responded that the book was no longer in use.
Dalton considers the change a “minor victory” but
classifies himself as an optimist. “We’re not where we want
to be. We’re not where we’ve been,” he says. But, he adds,
“We’re going in the right general direction.”
Dalton’s video history, and videos of other community
members, bring to life the written matter and materials
on display in “Racing to Change,” personalizing experi-
ences that reflect the larger attitude held by mainstream
culture towards African Americans in Eugene in the
1960s and ’70s.
The exhibit runs through May 10 and was co-created
by the organization Oregon Black Pioneers. Its grand
opening was Oct. 12 — also the opening of the UO’s Lyllye
Reynolds-Parker Black Cultural Center.
What makes this exhibit particularly fascinating is its
focus on Eugene. It’s not a grand exhibit about racism in
America or even in Oregon. This is us, our town. Amid
the testimonies and history is a small display that reads,
“Many of the people in photographs we have from the
1960s and 70s are unnamed. Do you recognize anyone?
Let us know!”
The opening ceremony featured the gospel group
Powerhouse Praise Team. They sang, among other songs,
“Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round”:
W
…I’m gonna keep on walkin’
Keep on talkin’
Marching into freedom land.
(THIS PAGE)
AFTER PROTEST AND NEGOTIATION WITH THE ADMIN-
ISTRATION, UO STUDENTS CREATED A BLACK STUDENT
UNION (BSU) IN 1966. HERE, STUDENTS MEET IN 1974.
(OPPOSITE)
Following the singers, state Sen. James Manning Jr.
joked that the music made him feel as if he was coming
up to the pulpit. He spoke about being restricted as a
kid in St. Louis, Missouri, in terms of where he was able
to set foot. He agreed with museum exhibit director Ann
Craig, who also spoke, about the importance of museums.
“Education is our greatest social equalizer,” he said.
With only 10 minutes for his speech, he didn’t step
down until he made another joke, this one more pointed.
After acknowledging the presence of UO President
Michael Schill, Manning said wouldn’t it be great if the
university built a museum as grand as Autzen Stadium
or the university’s new track and field venue currently
under construction?
State Rep. Julie Fahey also attended the reception.
She contributed materials to the exhibit related to her
sponsorship of a new bill. When she discovered the prop-
erty deed to her house stated it could only be bought by
“members of the Caucasian race,” she sponsored House
Bill 4134. Signed into law in 2018, the bill makes it easier
for homeowners to remove racist language.
“Racing to Change” points out that discrimination
hasn’t always been codified or formal. One of Eugene’s
E U G E N E W E E K LY . C O M
Image courtesy Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries
earliest African American residents, Willie C. Mims, is
cited: “There was not a bank in this whole city that would
lend a Black man money for a business.”
And a 1962 edition of Green Book: A Guide For Travel
and Vacations provides evidence that restricting Blacks
was an unspoken tradition in the days before the civil
rights movement. The “guide for travel” lists lodging,
restaurants and gas stations that would serve Black
customers. Only 10 hotels in Oregon were listed in the
1962 Green Book.
When Oregon Black Pioneers’ President Willie Rich-
ardson spoke to the crowd, she said that though history
is sometimes ugly it needs to be acknowledged. She made
a point that looking at the ugly truth was not an exercise
in blaming, but rather a necessary step towards moving
forward.
THE EUGENE BLACK PANTHERS SPEAK ON THE UO
CAMPUS IN SUPPORT OF A BLACK STUDENT PROTEST
AT OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY IN THE LATE SIXTIES.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: OLIVER PATTERSON, TOMMY
ANDERSON (SPEAKING), HOWARD ANDERSON, WILLIAM
GREEN, JEROME FOSTER, JULIUS HURST, DENNIS WHITE,
DARRELL FIELDS, TEO DERUSO AND ARTIE COX.
In 1968 the relatively new Black Student Union at the
UO issued a list of demands. Among them was “that
office space and adequate facilities be provided to the
Black Student Union in order to conduct a study skills
and tutoring center.” That 1968 list is on display in the
exhibit beside a 2015 list that puts forth a similar demand:
to “fund and open a Black Cultural Center.”
The newly opened Lyllye Reynolds-Parker Black
Cultural Center sheds light on a major theme in the ex-
hibit: We are still on this journey. It is one we must make
together across subcultures as Americans. As Charles
Dalton put it, “two steps backwards, one step forward.”
Exhibits such as this help to educate and engage, to keep
us moving in the right general direction. ■
N O V E M B E R
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