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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 1973)
■ r . Frances Schoen-!.'e»,pa p9r Roob n v e r a t ty o f Oregon L tb r c r y tu g ? n e , POR TLA ND AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER Volum « 3, N o . 19 P o rtland, O regon THE ONLY NEWSPAPER IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD O re g o n 97403 OBSERVER THAT REALLY CARES ABOUT Thursday February 15, 1973 1<X per per copy PEOPLE When the Kian rode in Portland In the early 1920’s Ore gon was one of the strong holds of the Ku Klux Kian, with the Kian wielding mor- power in Oregon than any where outside the S o u t h . Beginning in 1921 an anti Catholic campaign was waged by several groups including the Masons. A t the same time an attempt was made to drive all OrienUls, especially the Japanese, from the state. The two f o r c e s , the anti Catholic and the anti-Japan ese, joined with the group attempting to abolish the private schools. E a s ily adapting to this social cli mate, the Kian subordinated its anti Black and anti Jewish appeals in Oregon and tv- come strongly anti-Catholic and anti-Oriental. The Kian came into Oregon in the summer of 1921 and soon was organized in Port land. Salem, Hood River. Medford, Eugene, The Dalles. Roseburg, Pendleton, Condon and Tillamook. It was esti mated the following spring that there were 5,000 mem bers. There was little opposition to the Kian with only two new spapers. T h e C apito l Journal and the Medford Mail Tribune standing against it. The Kian was involved in scattered arts against Blacks. Six men, including the county judge, a former coun ty judge, a former jailor took a Black man from his car in Medford, placed a ro«-. around h » neck ana threat-'* ened him. The police chief of that city was a member of the Kian. Klansmen drove Sam Johnson, a boot black, from Roseburg. ayor Baker of U95ti, (rom lhe ()rrK on SUU- „ " M '“ ' “J George — y » « r r «. M e d lrl, Society, Citizen of the ______ Society and attended its functions, , „. ,P,Paw tUrn p,ge 8 C° ' 61 although he might not have Dr. Unthank earns Brotheihood Award D r . D e N o rv a l U n th a n k , includes and A.B. degree from Portland physician, will re the University of Michigan in 1920, and graduate work at ceive the B'nni B'rith's 20th the University of Kansas from Annual Brotherhood Award 1922 to 1924. He received his on February 21»t. Dr. Un thank will be the first Black M .D. degree from Ha ward to receive this award. The University in 192« to 1928, award will be presented at a and received his certificate in dinner to be held February "Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat" 21st 7:30 p.m. at The Jewish in 1928. His medical affiliations in Community Center. «651 S.W. clude the American Medical Capitol Highway. D r. Unthank was Oregon's Association (A M A ). The Ore first Black doctor, arriving in gon Medical Association, the Portland in the late 1920's. He National Medical Association, opened an office in the Albina and the Multnomah County area and spent much of his Medical Association. He was time with infants and children. medical examiner for the Portland Terminal Railroad D r. Unthank retired from Company until July of 1968; private medical practice on as well as for the Golden November 30, 1970. He now State Life Insurance Compa ny. Billy Webb Lodge # 1050, works for the SUU« Compen the Benefit Association of sation Board in Salem, Ore gon. D r. Unthank was born Railway Employees, and the in Alentown, Pennsylvania, on United Benefit and Omaha Mutual Wabash Life Insur December 14, 1899. He atten ded Garrison Grade School in a nee Company. Kansas City, Missouri, and Lincoln High School in Kansas C ity, Missouri. His training Arc you planning to buy or build a home and have a lot of questions? Oct the answers at one of our free Wednesday evening clinics. Promi nent Builders and Realtors will speak on home construction and home buying. Benj. Franklin officers will talk on financing, followed by a question-and-answer period. To registers call 248-1361. Wednesday*—7:00-9:00 p.m. Franklin Bldg., S.W. 5th at Stark l l e n j . O F ra n k lin SMmMa a i a u Robert H Haian. Pros • 21 ORIcaa • Shona 24» 1234 Homo Otllca Franklin Bldg . Cortland Oragon »7204 been a member. He actively opposed the mixing of the races in public places and attempted to have a law passed to prevent such activ ity- The City Commission stat ed it would stand behind any police action taken to prevent "race mixing". The Portland Police Vigilantets were or ganized in 1922. One hun dred strong, armed, and car rying police commissions, the vigilantees were responsible to the leader of the Kian and were approved by Mayor Baker. The Black Patrol was a body of nine men, commis sioned and armed by the city and used to compel loyalty of Klansmen. The Kian controlled the election of 1922, electing its candidate. Governor W alter Pierce. I t controlled a ma jority of both houses of the Legislature and the adminis trative branch of government It claimed 25,000 members in 1922. with about half in Portland. The Legislature passed a law forbidding p r i v a t e schools, of which 90 per cent were Catholic, and which was later declared u n c o n s t i- tutional by the United States Supreme Court. They were not able to pass the proposed legislation excluding Japan ese from the state. The Kian began to loose its power and by 1923 was not a major political force in the state. An attempted revival in 192« failed. The Kian came earlier to Oregon than to other states outside the South. Oregon was a rural state, with only one population center, which was itself not an urban area. The Kian promised to solve problems which it blamed on the few Catholics and racial minorities, who were an un known quantity to most Ore gonians. Saturday ’s souled by Rick Mason Jr. la s t Saturday started out to be just another morning of routine weekend activities for many Black brothers and sisters until suddenly about 10 a.m.. when dynamic "soul ful sounds" started shattering the 1550 dial on the radio. The E. C. SO UL E X P E R E N C E had hit the airwaves, hosted by the outstanding talent of Elliott Condor (bet ter known as E.C. Soul). Executive Producer Director and D.J. of The E.C. Soul Experience. Condor, a young Black man. originally form Milwau kee, Wisconsin, previously had started broadcasting his “E C. SO UL E X P E R IE N C E " at 12:15 p.m. every Saturday. He recently worked out a coo perative a rra n g e m e n t with Roy Harris (better known as Roy J.) Executive Producer and D.J. of "SOUL CO NTROL", another new Black oriented radio show that premiered on KGAR, and has expanded the pro gramming to begin at 10 a.m. every Saturday morning. Some of the special awards D r. Unthank has received in clude Doctor of the Year Free Clinic for HOME BUYERS The Ku Klux Kian marches near Vancouver, Washington. A new innovation to the predominately soul-rock pro gramming produced by Con dor and Harris are interm it tent guest from the North west's Black-Minority Com munity. Harris said that "E.C. and myself hope to continually expand the pro gramming hours due to pop ular demand by both the Black and W hite listening audience in the metropolitian area". Condor emphasized that another addition to the shows soon will be job oppor tunities announcements to be broadcast under their public service programming commit tment. Anti-drug, Anti-crime promotions are to be included on a regular basis as well as history heritage and other activities. Harris indicated that at the present time, they are working on implementing “BLACK C O N S O L ID A T E D N EW S S E R V IC E " as a reg ular feature providing listen ers with information about local, regional and national (Please turn to II-3 col 2) Haas speaks to NAACP Harl Haas, District At- to rn e y for Multnomah County, will speak to the general membership meeting of the N A A C P on Sunday, February 18th at 4:00 p.m. According to Ellis H. Cas- son. President, M r. Haas will speak on the subject, "The New D.A. - W hat He's Al! About." Harl Haas was elcted Dis trict Attorney in November 1972. He has long been active in the area of Civil Rights, h a v i n g sponsored and carried the N A A C P bills in the 1971 legislature. He was instrumental in the Civil Rights h e a r i n g s involv ing the necessity of diligent prosecution of Civil Rights complaints by the Attorney General. M r. Haas was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1961, following graduation from W illamette University College of laiw in the same year. M r. Haas is a member of the Oregon State Bar As sociation, the American Bar Association and the Mult nomah County Bar Associa tion. He was instructor at Northwestern C o l l e g e of la w at le w is and Clark, and lecturer at W illamette University College of Iraw. He was selected as an arbi trator and member of the (Please turn to I I 3 col. 1) Model Cities Plan ready for review The rough draft of the concerning the Model Cities Comprehensive Plan for Mo area. The working committee del Cities is now available for meetings will deal with poli review and comment by Mo cies appropriate to their area del Neighborhood residents. of concern. Neighborhoxl As Before the Citizens Plann sociations will be given a ing Board makes a final reco general description of the mmendation on the policies Plan and specific examples of contained in the Plan, citizens policies which relate to their will have a chance to examine neighborhood. A ll meetings the policies and suggest are open and the public is changes where they are need urged to attend. ed. The policies in the Plan will For further information re bo adopted by City Council. garding the meeting schedule They will serve as guidelines call the Model Cities office for future planning decisions 288 8261. Rowan visits Oregon Carl Rowan, syndicated col umnist with the Chicago Da ily News since 1965, will address the closing session of the current “America: 1984" conference at Portland State University. Rowan spoke on "America, 1984" - Which Prejudices, Passions and Poverties?". Since he began his journal ism career in 1984, Rowan has won numerous awards for his reporting of major na tional and world events. In add itio n to w ritin g his column. Rowan is a roving editor for The Reader's D i gest, a television comments to r for Post N ew sw eek Broadcasting stations and host for a trice weekly radio show carried in 40 cities. Rowan left his journalism career for public service from 1961 to 1965. He served under the Kennedy adminis tration as deputy assistant secretary of state for public affairs, a member of the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations and as ambassador to Finland. The late President Lyndon B. Johnson named Rowan to succeed the late Edward R. Murrow as direc tor of the United States Information Agency, a post tion Rowan held from 1964 65. Judge Mercedes Diez acted as special moderator of the final conference session with Rowan. Rowan will go to the University of Orgon to speak at the Oregon Press Confer ence Friday, February 16, sponsored by the University of Oregon School of Journal ism and The Oregon News paper Publishers Association.
