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.
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