Kro Franses Schoen-Lerspaper Fooa
University of Oregon Library
tugene, Oregon 97403
Oregon quilt comes home
The A fro Am erican Heritage
Bicentennial Commemorative Quilt
has come home again after its travels
to exhibitions in Washington, D.C,
and to H arvard U niversity. It is
again on display throughout Kose
Festival week at the Oregon
Historical Society in the Park blocks.
Permanent home for this nostalgic
and his to ric q u ill is the Oregon
Historical Society which received the
Muilt as a gift to the people o f Oregon
from the hands o f the makers o f the
treasured item — fifte e n A fro -
Am erican women o f P ortland,
Oregon.
Depicted in fa b ric and em
broideries are the likenesses o f Black
heroes and heroines o f the struggle
for freedom o f Black people in the
United States o f America from the
time o f Christopher Columbus to the
time o f Hank Aaron o f the present.
Some important dates o f milestones
in Black American history are also
marked in stitchery.
O riginator and convenor o f the
quilt group was Mrs. Osly J. Gates.
Robert Stark, Museum Administrator
and Leonard K likunas, textile
curator, made the arrangements for
the q u ilt’s travels about the country
and track its course and condition as
it is received on arrival and depar
ture.
The quilt is slated for exhibit next
at the Schomburg Museum in New
York City when its new building is
completed.
In Portland the quilt is receiving
much admiration from the throngs
o f visitors as it hangs prominently
displayed and lighted in a corridor
adjacent to the OHS membership
lounge. Am ong the numbers o f
people viewing the quilt this week
were members o f the q u ilt’ s original
committee who grouped for lunch
together to savor again their joy in
the finished product o f their hand
work.
PORTLAND OBSERVER
Volume 9 No. 22
Thursday, June 7.1979 104
USPS 959 680
Alabama prison escapee fights extradition
C arl M cG ow an, cu rre n tly de
tained in Rocky Butte Jail, is fight
ing extradition to Alabama, where
he believes his life is in danger.
McGowan, who lost both legs in
an Alabama prison, escaped and
came to Oregon a year ago. His wife,
Theresa, said the couple chose
Oregon as a refuge because they had
heard Oregon laws would protect
them.
McGowan was im prisoned in
Draper Prison in 1974, on a life sen
tence for murder.
In December o f 1974, McGowan
escaped from prison and wandered
in the swamps for seven days. When
he realized that he could not get
away he started back to the prison
and was picked up on the way by a
state trooper who took him back.
As is the policy with all escaped
inmates, McGowan was taken to
Kilby Medical and Diagnostic Cen
ter.
Medical records show that when
McGowan was sent to the prison
hospital he appeared exhausted and
his feet and legs were swollen and
that a nurse indicated he might have
frostbite McGowan states, and the
record supports, that medical care
was minimal. Finally, after his legs
began to rot from gangrene, McGo
wan was sent to a public hospital
and both legs were amputated.
McGowan remained in prison, but
brought suit against the com
missioner o f the State Board o f
Corrections, the Warden, and the
State. The Federal D istrict Court
found in November o f 1975, that
“ while the prisoner may not have
received the best medical attention
available, the record shows clearly
and undeniably that there was no
neglect o f basic medical needs.”
The court also determined that the
prison was not at fa u lt; that the
W arden, although he witnessed
McGowan’s suffering and refused to
transfer him to a hospital, was not at
fault.
In 1978, McGowan sued the prison
doctor, charging that he failed to
prescribe proper treatment, treated a
serious in fe c tio n lik e a m inor
ailment, failed to have tests taken,
and after his legs started draining
and the stench was overpowering,
failed to send him to a hospital, and
that a fte r diagnosing gangrene,
waited four days to send him to a
hospital.
M cGowan believes the lack o f
tempted escape. “ I heard the War
den and the Assistant Warden talk
ing outside the room, saying ‘ Let the
nigger die.’ ”
The prison did not n o tify his
family about his illness until he was
taken to the hospital and letters he
sent to his mother were not received.
He finally got word to her through
another inmate but it was too late to
save his legs. McGowan credits the
prison’ s eventual decision to send
him to a hospital on complaints of
other inmates.
He said he had attempted escape
because he was not guilty and felt he
had been “ railroaded” to prison.
Another man had been arrested for
the crim e, but M cGowan was
arrested and tried on the word o f a
10-year-old boy who said he saw a
tall Black man with an A fro running
away from the scene.
He never had an appeal — his at
torney was sent to prison before the
appeal was completed and he never
was appointed another attorney. He
also was never able to get transcripts
o f his trial.
(Please turn to Page 4 Column 3)
Flo Kennedy addresses feminist conference
Rose Marie Hall, fourth grader at Boise Elementary School, studies
for annual 'College Bowl' contest on Black History.
(Photo courtesy of The Oregonian)
Boise: Slow progress
The teaching s ta ff at Boise
Elementary School waited anxiously
to r the results o f the May
achievement tests. Although Boise
was the only school in Albina to in
crease in achievement as demon
strated by Fall 1977 and Fall 1978
tests, the staff was anxious to see the
results o f the year's work.
When the results arrived they
showed that not only had most o f
the students gained, but the school as
a whole has gained in its relative
position in the district.
"O u r school is now in the middle
one-third o f the district’ *. Principal
Dave McCrea explained. “ That’ s not
as good as we would like; it’ s not
good enough; but it is a start and we
arc tremendously proud. We started
at the bottom three years ago and
we are moving u p .” McCrea ex
plained that the real interest is in the
progress o f each child, but that the
school's overall scoring dem on
strates progress.
McCrea explained that some Boise
students are at the top o f the
d is tric t’ s achievement scale, and
some are at the bottom , but the
average Boise student is in the ‘ low
average’ range for the district.
McCrea credits what progress has
been made to small classrooms and
the concentrated e ffo rts o f the
teachers. While some o f the district's
special Early Childhood Education
Centers have classes o f 30 to 35,
McCrea has kept Boise’ s classes
small
“ The building principal has com
plete control o f how he spends his
T itle I and State Disadvantaged
money. We spend all o f our extra
money on teachers and teacher
aides,” McCrea said. Boise receives
approximately $160,000 in T itle 1
and State Disadvantaged money and
all but about $10,000 is spent on
classroom staff. “ While others prin
cipals might spend their money on
materials, equipment and field trips,
we have used ours for teachers. Our
(Please turn to page 2 col. 4)
Flo Kennedy — attorney, lecturer, .
author and activist — w ill be the
keynote speaker o f FEM IN ISM ‘ 79.
Ms. Kennedy is a long-time theorist
and activist in c iv il rights and
feminist movements.
Known fo r her “ outrageous”
style, Ms. Kennedy is a (951
graduate o f the Columbia University
School o f Law. She is a director o f
the Media Workshops on Consumer
Inform ation Service.
O f her struggle growing up Black
and female, Ms. Kennedy said, “ The
main thing to me is the theory that
you never have troubles bigger than
you can handle, as long as you don’ t
panic. People tend to feel that the
enemy is so much bigger than they
are, but I think everyone can handle
their pro iota share o f everything
that comes their way.”
The theme of this year’s conference
is "Power and Purpose.” Four sub
themes to provide workshop oppor
tunities are: “ D epthsou nding,”
" I ’m not a Feminist, but . . .
"Pioneers fo r Century I I I , ” and
“ Revolution: Radical Feminism.”
Gloria Long and Linda Maclntrye
from Salem w ill offer a workshop on
“ The Feminist Wife and M other.”
Elaine Steinke, an attorney with the
Urban Indian Council, w ill lead a
w orkshop on “ T e rm in a tio n o f
Parental Rights and Foster Care
Placement and How it Affects Poor
and M inority Mothers.”
Hazel Fox from the Displaced
Homemakers Center in Eugene will
offer a workshop on the social and
legal aspects o f women who, through
death or divorce, lose their emotional
and economic support.
Other workshops w ill explore
alternate w ork hours, n u tritio n ,
stress, the arts, etc.
A Culture Fair w ill be featured
Friday night and Native American
Singer Chris Williamson w ill appear
with Jackie Robbins Saturday night.
The conference w ill be held on
June 15th through 17th, at Portland
State University. For inform ation
call 224-9782.
Bohanan joins PSU Social Work faculty
LYNDON BOHANAN
One o f the first graduates o f Port
land State University’s American In-
dian/Alaskan Native Social W ork
Education Program has returned to
the campus as assistant professor of
social work and project director.
Lyndon Bohanan, a full-blooded
Choctaw Indian who earned his
Master o f Social W ork degree
(MSW) at PSU in 1974, was selected
for the position following a national
search, according to Social W ork
Dean Bernard Ross.
Since his graduation from PSU,
Bohanan has w orked in Indian
programs in Oklahom a, the last
three years teaching in the Depart
ment o f Sociology at Southeastern
Oklahoma State University and as
coordinator o f a drug abuse program
fo r the Oklahoma Department o f
Mental Health. While a student at
PSU, he was coordinator fo r the
United Indian Students for Higher
Education.
Bohanan’ s goal is to provide
stability to the program and im
proved advising for students. The
program, funded by a grant from the
National Institute for Mental Health
(N IM H ), aims to increase the num
ber o f American Indian and Alaskan
Natives who are educated fo r
professional social work practice.
The grant provides scholarships,
living stipends and administrative
support.
The project director has already
begun working with students in the
School o f Social W ork and with
community and professional leaders.
"There are a lot o f challenges here,”
Bohanan says, “ but we teach
challenge and crisis handling here so
we’ll make it.”
One o f Bohanan’ s main concerns
is to recruit a pool o f potential
students from American Indian and
Alaskan Native backgrounds, help
them clarify their career goals, and
com plete the tw o-year MSW
program so they can enter this small
band o f needed professionals. There
are many fields opening fo r
graduates beyond the tra d itio n a l
ones, Bohanan points out, and the
students d o n ’ t always realize it.
Some 20 graduates o f the program
already are at work in West Virginia,
New York, Nevada, Arizona, Idaho,
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon,
Washington and Alaska. Ten students
are currently enrolled.
The PSU program is one o f only
five in the nation funded through
(Please turn to page 2 col. 5)
The present legal maneuvering in
the Boyd case involves a controver
sial out-of-court settlement made by
attorneys in November, 1978, and
since repudiated by 23 per cent o f the
p la in tiffs and 48 per cent o f the
current Black employees.
New attorneys have since replaced
the original teams which had relied
on raw statistical data supplied by
Bechtel to arrive at what NAAC P
regional counsel Oliver Jones calls a
“ sweetheart deal.” The N AAC P en
tered the case in A pril, 1979.
Bechtel
em ployed
S tanford
Research In s titu te sta tistician
Richard Singleton, an acknowledged
expert, to conduct various analysis
o f the workforce based on figures
supplied by the company.
Singleton’s analysis “ showed all
the numbers for Blacks and other
employees were in reasonable
relationship to each other and that
Bechtel’ s affirm ative action during
the years covered by the lawsuit
yielded positive re su lts,” said
Bechtel’ s counsel Hoefs.
“ We settled,” said Mark Rudy,
former counsel for the employees,
“ based on our analysis o f the work
force. We noted that in the early ‘ 70s
Bechtel was riding on the fact that
there were not many Black engineers
available. But there was a gradual
im provem ent after 1975, and we
were told by the judge that it would
be harder to prove a pattern and
practice o f discrimination.”
(Please turn to Page4 Column I)
Blacks7 job bias suit seeks to show statistics lie
by M aria Taylor
(PNS) — A racial discrimination
suit joined by more than 1,000 Black
employees o f the Bechtel Corpora
tion could stretch the boundaries o f
affirm ative action programs at the
very time they are being threatened
by the Bakke and Weber "reverse
discrimination” decisions.
Bechtel, the secretive, privately-
owned engineering and construction
firm headquartered in San Fran
cisco, faces a class action suit seek
ing re lie f under T itle V II o f the
1964 C iv il Rights A ct against
d iscrim in a to ry em ploym ent prac
tices. The suit was filed in 1975 by
Spotsel L. Boyd and three other
Blacks, and expanded in 1978 to in
clude 405 present and 600 former
employees.
"T h is is pretty significant,” said a
member o f the Black Bechtel Em
ployees Committee (BBEC), the in
ternal organizing force. “ A majority
o f the Blacks who work for Bechtel
are secretaries and clerks, many o f
them single parents who are scared
o f losing their jobs.”
In a related Title V II class action
suit, nearly 6,400 women have
charged the company with most o f
the same discriminatory practices.
Bechtel m aintains there is no
discrimination and is supported by
the available statistics.
W orkforce statistics have tra d i
tio n a lly been used in T itle V II
cases to show how many m inority
employees are in various job cate
gories, compared with the number in
the job market. But the Boyd case
has challenged this method o f proof.
The Black employees allege that
the com pany “ fin e -tu n e d ” raw
statistical data before handing it to
an outside expert for evaluation. In
support, the plaintiffs are gathering
hundreds o f personal affidavits and
other evidence.
For instance, Cynthia Stebling, a
Black woman w ith a bachelor o f
science degree, was hired in 1973 as a
lower level clerk. During her first
year and a half with the company she
claims she was neither evaluated nor
promoted. Later she was moved to a
receptionist job. The white woman
who replaced her in the first position
entered at a salary level eight grades
higher — and was given an assistant.
Stebling received a M aster’ s
Degree in public administration in
June 1978. When she was still not
advanced but instead was asked to
train a white person as her super
visor, she joined in the discrimina
tion suit. In 1978, because she still
saw no evidence at Bechtel, she re
signed.
“ We believe that the statistics
should reflect what the affidavits
say, maybe not entirely but there
should be some indication,” said
p la in tiffs ’ attorney John Houston
Scott.
Bechtel attorney W illiam Hoefs
calls the personal testimony “ subjec
tive suspicions.”
I