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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 3, 1982)
Page 6 Portland Observer. November 3. 1982 Elise Reynolds dies Long life reflects Portland history by Kathryn H a ll Bogle Elise A Reynolds, a well-known Portland m a triarc h , died F rid ay, October 29th a fte r a long illness. Mrs. Reynolds, who had been a pa tient at the P a rk vie w Nursing H om e, was the w id o w o f the late Phil Reynolds. They were the p ar ents o f fo u r survivin g child ren . Born in Kansas C ity , M issouri, on July 28, 1894, M rs. Reynolds had made Oregon her home since 1915. W ith her passing, the door closes a little more on receiving living docu m entation on how life fo r blacks was in P o rtlan d when the century was young. The life o f Elise Reynolds was characterized by her love o f family, her love o f humanity and her cham pionship o f the p a rtic ip a tio n o f women in the affairs o f the commu nity. M any adults, as well as chil dren not her own, called Mrs. Rey nolds ‘ ‘ M o th e r,” for her door was always open for a bit o f counseling and a cup o f tea for a visitor. Habits o f introspective thought occupied much o f M rs. Reynolds* days and out o f this ‘ ‘ takin g in ward” to herself, came her outward giving to others, and her tireless quest in the search fo r s p iritu a l truths. Her friendship with Oregon’s first black fem ale a tto rn e y , Beatrice M o rro w C an n a d y , led M rs . R ey nolds into the chilly waters o f inter racial activities in a time when the Ku Klux Kian was getting a foothold in Oregon. She and M rs. Cannady held inter-racial teas in their homes, inviting other women on an equal basis with themselves to participate. In this way she became life -lo n g friends with many women o f many religious faiths. O f these was Mrs. R obert H u n g e rfo rd , a staunch Q uaker who rem ained a fa ith fu l friend for many years. Bahai mem bers also formed lasting friendships. W ithout funds for an auditorium and a stage to perform , M rs. C an nady and M rs. Reynolds sometimes used their front porches to offer ed ucational and in s p ira tio n a l p ro grams to the neighborhood families and passers-by. C h ild re n o f both fam ilies were reared with books and music in the An open outside door is an invitation to waste. It creates a draft which cools down a room in a hurry. And the effect on your electric bill could be a real blow. home and with a high regard for the dignity o f honest work to reach goals. In the early twenties M rs. Rey nolds began the life o f a club-wom an, which she maintained as long as her health p erm itte d . One o f her first organizational efforts was to form a Mothers' Club guided by the Rev. D aniel H ill, Pastor o f Bethel A .M .E . Church. The purpose o f the club was to afford members a prac tical and spiritual pattern for child rearing through the formal study o f fam ily life . A little time was spent on review ing curren t events to round out the meetings. Mrs. Letitia Brock enjoyed and p ro fite d from those meetings and recalled, for us, other members, amont them: Estelle Gregg, A b b ie C a n tre ll and E llen Mae Dancey. Rachel Belard Green, whose chil dren were playm ates o f the R ey nolds’ c h ild re n , recalls that M rs . Reynolds organized a mortgage ben efit club, a cooperative effort for a number o f women who banked $10 each every month for four years to go into a business together. They d id n ’ t go in to business but each woman had a tidy little sum when they divided their savings. Another long-time friend, Polly anna Reed, recalls Mrs. Reynolds as a gracious personality, as a faithful wife and a devoted mother. M rs. Reynolds was a charter m ember o f the L ite ra ry Research C lub founded by Bonnie Bogle in the la tte r tw enties and th irties . O th er clubs and o rg anizations claiming Mrs. Reynolds’ time as her fa m ily grew were: the D a ffo d il Birthday club, Y W C A activities, the N A A C P , where her husband, Phil, w orked so tirelessly, the Oregon Federation o f W om en’s Clubs, the Portland Urban League when it es tablished in the early forties, and the O rder o f the Eastern S tar, E n te r prise C hapter, N o. 6 o f the Prince H all Masonic Temple. N ever one to neglect her home and fam ily, M rs. Reynolds entered many items at the annual exhibits and meetings o f the Oregon Asso ciation o f Colored Womens Clubs. She has fou n d tim e to do all the c ra fty things lik e n eed lew o rk, crochet, canning, ceramics, table Change a habit. \ Conserve your current and :^ ^ y o u r currency. Mrs. Elis« A. Reynolds was greeted by her family —Phil, Walter and Phyllis—following award as 1967 Oregon Mother of the Year. setting and china painting, and gar nered her share o f blue ribbons. In 1947 to 1957 M rs . Reynolds had a flin g at w o rk outside her home, when she took a jo b at the Northern Pacific Terminal Co. It was in 1957 that the M u ltn o mah C lub o f the O A C W C became sponsor organization for the candi dacy o f Mrs. Reynolds to be named Oregon M o th e r o f the Y e ar. T he A m erican M o th e rs ’ C o m m ittte e , Inc., agreed that Mrs. Reynolds de served the title and she became the first A fro-A m erican woman to be come the state o f Oregon’s ‘ ‘M other o f the Y ear.” To celebrate their long marriage, the Reynolds took a leisurely trip to A frica in 1957. They brought home many mementoes, but one o f M rs. Reynolds’ favorites was a list o f new friends with whom to correspond. Led by her faith, M rs. Reynolds shared many o f Bahai teachings; she was a form er member o f St. Philip Episcopal C hurch and had been a faithful student at the U nity Center since 1974. This dauntless lady is survived by three sons— Jack, a career mathe matician in ballistics with the U .S . Navy and a credit counsellor in re tirem ent in Pasadena; R obert, a t tached to the U .S . D ept. o f A g ri cultu re in cooperative w ork w ith U .C .L .A .; W alter, a Portland phy sician and surgeon practicing at the Phil Reynolds Medical Clinic named for his father, and a daughter, Phyl lis Smith, a medical secretary. Also surviving arc 13 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. Funeral services, conducted on W ednesday, N ovem ber 3 at 2:00 p .m ., were in charge o f C aldw ell’s C o lo n ial M o rtu a ry . The O rder o f Eastern Star participated in the final services. O ffic ia tin g were the Rev. John Jackson o f M t. Olivet Baptist Church and Deacon Alcena Boozer o f St. Philip Episcopal Church. A representative group o f ‘ ‘ Oregon Mothers o f the Y ear” attended the services in company with the current president o f Oregon Mothers, Inc., C o u n ty C om m issioner G ladyt McCoy. The fam ily suggested that in lieu o f flowers contributions might be sent to the Phil Reynolds Scholar ship Fund established several years ago, or to a youth organization o f the donor’s choice. Private interment was at Portland Memorial, Inc. nerican Bits and Pieces THE BEEPER PEOPLE. 713 S.W. 12th Street Call 224-BEEP for a free demonstration. by Ruth Spencer C onvention at K noxville, Tennes see. Three hundred women in the electrical and allied fields attended the convention. The W o rld ’ s F air was a p art o f the C o nventio n agenda. The 1983 E lec trica l W om ens Round T ab le C o n v e n tio n is scheduled to be in Po rtlan d. M rs. Jones is the Program Chairman for the 1983 Convention. D r. William L ittle, associate pro fessor at Portland State University, visted Q a ta r, K u w a it and Saudi A rabia to gather inform ation about the Arab-African for a research pro ject. Also, to get first-hand experi ence with the African culture. • D r. Joseph E. Lowery, president o f the Southern Christian Leader ship Conference, sent a statement to the United Nations objecting to the approval o f a $1.1. b illio n loan to South A fric a by the In te rn a tio n a l Monetary Fund. ‘ ‘Approval o f the loan implies in ternational affirm ation o f the racist policies o f the South A fric a n gov ernment,” said D r. Lowery. • M r. E a rl Chase has retired from the Portland Public Schools after 12 years o f service. He was a classroom teacher at Sabin, Beach, Arleta, and King Schools. M r. Chase plans to enjoy his re tirement and return to his work as a real estate broker. • Tony B row n jo u rn a lis t, com menting on Black T V M o n th , said the chief T V abuser and exploiter o f the image o f black people is Norman Lear. ‘ ‘ L e a r’ s comedies are credited with the re-birth o f the old minstrel characters: the s h u fflin g U ncle Toms, the rascally picaninnies, the fat mammies and the d im -w itte d coons. Instead o f the old names like Buckwheat, Amos, Andy, Sapphire, Kingfish and Stepin Fetchit, Normal L e a r’ s ‘ social s atire ’ produced names like J.J. S anford, A unt Es- Abortion: A woman's choice • DR. JOSEPH LOWERY th e r, and George Jeffe rs o n . The names change, but the gam e’ s the same,” Tony Brown commented. • Messrs. C urtis W illiam s, Vener able Booker, and D r. Booker L ew is attended the N a tio n a l Bankers A ssociation in A tla n ta , G a. The N B A comprises about one hundred bankers representing m ajor cities in the United States. • D r. M asizi Kunene, professor o f A frican Literature and Linguistics at the University o f C alifornia, Los Angeles, D r. Carleen Young, presi dent o f the N a tio n a l C o u n cil fo r Black Studies, and D r. M a tth e w P rop h et, Superintendent o f P o rt land Public Schools, are the main speakers for the Northwest Regional Conference o f the National Council fo r Black Studies, N o v . 5, 6, at C hem eketa C o m m u n ity C ollege, 400 Lancaster D riv e , N .E ., in Sa lem. The conference is held in conjunc tion with the W illam ette Valley Ra cial Minorities Consortium C onfer ence and is sponsored by the P .S. Black Studies Department. • M rs. Geneva Jones attended an E lectrical W omens Round T ab le • Morehouse School o f Medicine in A tlan ta is the third predom inantly black medical school in the country today (Howard and Meharry are the other tw o ). Morehouse is the first major one founded in this country. It was established to train m inor ity primary care physicians in medi cally underserved inner-city and ru ral areas. The President and Dean o f the M orehouse School o f M edicine is D r. L o u is S u lliv a n . D r. S ullivan said, **We need black doctors in all areas (only two percent o f the physi cians in the U.S. are black). But the greatest need is in primary care. We have to get physicians out there tak ing care o f people who are not get ting the medical care they need.” • Abortion is safe and legal when provided in a dime setting The Portland W irnen s Health Center is a non profit, w o m e n « mtrolled clinic providing gynecologic at health rare s< reenmgs. birth control, pregnancy screening. abortion, and referral information Fees are on a slid trig scale Welfare. Insurance, and credit cards are accepted C al fur ■ further information DR. WILLIAM LITTLE • PORTLAND W OM EN'S Condolences to D r. W alter Rey nolds and fam ily over the death o f his mother Mrs. Elisc Reynolds. i |f~ A t T l I / J C tN ItK 6 M 0 S I FO SfU f k tlA IJ IV )W1I AND. n iff (.< )N 9 / / 0 6 s o i / / / / / oh (Sponsored by A m erica n State Bank, V.F. Booker, President./ / The U .S . C om m ission on C iv il Rights in a recent report warned that the roles o f blacks in television s itu ation com edy largely fixes an image in the public mind as a ridicu lous and non-serious people. Control Supplies For Do-it-yourself Hom eowners Call: 286-6252 At USO we re more than best friends We re listening ears, help ing hands, guiding eyes and more We re programs and ac tivities of all kinds to help our servicemen and women and their families "Because life's toughest battles aren't always fought in the field." 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