Page 6 Portland Ob—rvwr, September 22,1982
O B S E R V A T IO N S
FROM THE SIDELINES
by Kathryn Hall Bogle
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285-5204
A L E M , O R EG O N — Salem re
S
DARLENE'S ANSWERING
SERVICE
visited!
Fifty years ago two (2) black fam
ilies lived in Salem. A visitor might
call on the Charles Henry Maxwell
family, or she might call at the home
of Saverio Dominick Parise, a na
tive Italian, and his American Negro
wife, Reather Jackson Parise. The
visitor would have then contacted
the entire black population o f the
capitol city.
It is different now.
U.S. Census figures of 1980 show
that Salem had 994 black persons
counted as residents that year. It is
reasonable to believe that others
have moved to Salem within the last
two years, for the whole city is
growing and expanding.
Reather Jackson Parise was born
before 1900 in Salem. Her parents,
Jane and Josiah Jackson had come
to Salem from Missouri in the
1980s. Josiah died in 1900 and is
buried in Salem’s Pioneer cemetery.
Jane lived until 1928 and is buried
next to her husband.
Reather, and her brother Leslie,
went to school in Salem and were
the only black children enrolled in
their school at the time. When the
Parise daughters, Angela and Thel
ma, came along they too were the
only black students in school.
The Maxwells came to Salem (af
ter the Jacksons) from Texas. They
reared a family of six who all went
through Salem High School as the
“ only” black students enrolled,
missing the other family by a scant
three or four years.
The census figures o f 1980 show
the presence of 138 black families in
Salem now. Among them they have
82 children under age five and 187
children under age 17. There are
black teachers now in Salem schools
and at least one Counsellor on the
high school level and one school
principal. There are two physicians,
several attorneys, financial experts
and other professionals.
Early residents supported their
families by work on the railroads,
by selling foods they had cooked or
by doing seasonal work on nearby
farms. All this while encouraging
their children to “ do better” for
themselves.
The Maxwells and the Jacksons
and Parise, in turn, attended white
churches and Sunday School and
came to Portland for wider social
contacts.-
In 1982, black families are attend
ing white churches but they are also
building congregations o f at least
three churches. The Church of God
in Christ and the Assembly of God
are typical. The Rev. Arthur Shank-
el divides his time between Salem
and Springfield congregations; the
Rev. D .L. Collins, of Portland, tra
vels to Salem to preach, and the
by Ruth Spencer
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Atty. Ron Knox, office of Nor
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Lucas Knox, Financial Analyst
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William Hearn. Supervisor of
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Gwen Carr, Mgmt. Analyst for
SAIF. Kan W alker, and Carrie
Clark. Driver Examiner.
Pauline Memorial Church members
meet at Salem’s Y M C A for services.
Angela Parise Britton and her sis
ter Thelma Parise Bird, in recalling
days of their childhood for the Ob
server, said, "W e were happy there.
We lived in a little house at the end
of Willow Street. M ill Creek was at
our back door. We could sit in our
yard and catch salmon or crawdads
or go swimming whenever we
liked.” Mrs. Britton and Mrs. Bird
visit old friends in Salem and know
that a bungalow court of apart
ments has replaced their family
home.
The census reports inform us that
the black population in Salem is
young. There are 713 persons
(among 994) between the ages of 18
and 64 years. They counted only 12
people over 63.
On a recent trip to Salem, the Ob
server met a score or more of tht
present citizens at the Capitol and
found them indeed young. The offi
cial median age is 28.5 years for mer
and 21.4 years for the women.
Zoe Wilson, Personnel Officer,
Ore. Dept. of Transportation.
Those we met are employed and
enthused about their jobs and their
lives. Most live in apartments but
some are buying homes with every
intention of permanent residence in
Salem. Almost to a person they ex
pressed happiness with a chance to
meet each other at an informal
break in a week o f heavy personal
schedules. Customarily, they have
waited for a scheduled trip to Port
land for social contacts.
Some are hoping to form a
branch of the N A A C P in Salem.
Some are hoping to establish a
branch of the Jack and Jill organi
zation; others are wishing for black
business people to bring a beauty
shop operator to Salem; they have
no black barber for the 674 males
among them and many travel to
Portland for this service.
Catalysts for the current feeling
of togetherness are unofficially ap
pointed but lots of assistance has
come from Ron Knox, Zoe Wilson
and Kay Toran.
Bits and Pieces
Ted Parker was recently elected
president of the Peninsula Kiwanas
Club— a service club that is a spon
sor of a camp for handicapped chil
dren, a boy’s club in North Port
land, Little League Baseball and a
program that provides volunteers
and drivers for Loaves and Fishes.
The first quarter monitoring re
port o f the N ational Coalition on
T V violence shows an increase of 25
per cent over last year, to its highest
level yet. The N C T V findings sup
port the Surgeon General’s report
that there is an important cause-ef
fect relationship between T V vio
lence and real-life aggression.
Dr. Matthew W. Prophet was the
guest speaker at the regular meeting
of the Portland Chapter of the Na
BOBBIE NUNN
tional Association for the Advance
ment o f Colored People, Sunday,
were the most vulnerable to crime
September 19, four o ’clock, at
were black households, higher in
Bethel A M E Church.
come households, and households
Dr. Prophet, speaking to fifty
in central cities.
members and friends o f the
N AACP, traced the decline of Fed
Mrs. Bobbie N unn has retired
eral support for equal education and
from the Portland Public Schools
desegregattion. He emphasized the
after 26 years of service.
effects of the passage of Ballot Mea
sure 3 on School District programs
Diabetes is the third cause of death
and minority staff.
in the U .S .A . The rate o f death
among black women is almost twice
A Justice Department report said
that of white women. The rate of
30 per cent o f the nation’s house
death in black men is higher than in
holds were touched by crime in
white men. Diabetes is aggravated
1981.
by poor diets and stress. It is es
The kinds o f households that
timated that over ten million diabet
with $100 00 or more purchase
ics have never been diagnosed.
Mmes. Emma Chiles and Letitia
Brock recently returned from a four
day cruise in the San Juan Islands.
The cruise was sponsored by the
Odyssey Club.
House Bill 3013 enacted by the
1981 Oregon Legislature, allows a
teacher to use reasonable physical
force upon a student to the extent
necessary to reasonably perform the
teaching responsibility.
Prison Ministries, Inc. is sponsor
ing a Mission Fair, Sunday, October
17, 1982 at M aranatha Church,
from 3:30 to 5 pm. The speaker will
be Mrs. Viola H . Brazil. Activities
will include special music, exhibits,
literature, and refreshments. For
more information call the Reverend
John Parker, 284-7563.
Send or bring news for Bits and
Pieces (weddings, promotions, trips
abroad, teas and other public func
tions) to the Portland Observer,
2201 N. Killingsworth, Portland,
OR 97217, or call the Observer, 283-
2486. O r call Ruth Spencer, 286-
8093,6-9 pm.
Photo materials must be in black
and white.
(Sponsored by American state
Bank, V. F. Booker, President)
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