Page 6 Portland Observer, March 23, 1988
The Portland Observer
Salutes Women of Color
During National
Women’s Month
“ The women o f this world . . . must
exercise leadership, quality, dedication, concern
and commitment, which is not going to be shattered
bv those who would view our cause as one that is
violative o f the American dream oj equal rights
fo r everyone. ”
B arbaraJordan
Former U.S. Congresswoman
PACIFIC POWER
THE ENERGY SERVICES COMPANY
1
IMrs. Etoile Hieksi
by Mattie Ann CallierSpears
Mrs. Etoile Hicks Cox came to
Portland in 1941 from Kansas C i­
ty, Kansas. When she arrived
there weren’t very many Blacks in
Portland.
She graduated from the origi­
nal Black Beauty School in New
York — Madame C.J. Walker's
School of Beauty. When she ar­
rived, she found out that here in
Portland they did not allow Black
girls to attend beauty school. She
opened Charlene’s Beauty Box at
1409 N. Williams. It was right
across the street from the Frater­
nal hall.
The shop occupied the same
building as Bogle’s BarberShop
(Dick Bogle’s grandfather), and
Dr. Joyner, M.D.
Later on, she added a clothing
shop called, “ Tot and Teens",
She remained in the beautiful
neer women in the Northwest.
She caused a stir when she jo in ­
ed the Catholic Daughters of
America #1488, where she was
the only Black to ever be given
membership. She was one of the
founders, and later became the
proofreader, of the Northwest
Clarion Newspaper.
She had her membership in ;
several organizations: Daughters
of the Elks #202, Beauticians ;
Sorority (Vivian Barnett was 1st
Basilius), OACW (Oregon Asso­
c ia tio n of C olored W om en), ;
President of the Multnomah W o­
men's Club, and the Ladys of St.
Peter Claver.
She has been married to Mr. Ar­
thur A. Cox, Sr. for 65 years. They
have 3 children: Ruth L. Lanca­
b u ild in g fo r 9 years. Then, ster, Arthur A. Cox, Jr. and Char­
everything moved to 2700 N. lene L. Wright, all of Portland. Mr.
and Mrs. Cox are great-great-
W illiams (just up the street).
Mrs. Cox was one of our pio­ great-grandparents.
*
CIVIL ENGINEER
HIGHWAY DESIGNER
"I did this!" said Karen Bell,
speaking to high school
students about the O regon City
Bike Path— her first project as
a Highway Engineer with the
Oregon Department of
Transportation.
There was a tone of pride in
Karen’s voice. "I'm a people
person," said Karen, 'o u t there
is a real sense of contribution
in seeing something you
design ge t constructed. M y
work benefits others."
Other projects that Karen has
worked on include the
Clackamas Park Bridge
Replacement and the
Terwilliger Blvd. overcross.
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE
COMMUNITY
Karen continues to work with
students, teachers and parents
to develop math and science
skills.
She is a regular contributor to
the Portland Mathematics,
Engineering Science
Achievement Program (MESA)—
speaking to groups, leading
site visits, and encouraging
youth to develop a b ro a d
range of skills.
She has taken a leadership
role in putting together the
Expanding Your Horizons
Conference, a program
designed to increase
awareness and understanding
of math and science careers—
targeted at middle school
stude înts, particularly young
women.
She is a "teacher" in Family
Math— a short term program
designed to teach math skills
to both students and parents.
The program is open to
students of all ages,
elementary through high school.
Karen will also be teaching at
Saturday School, sponsored by
the Black United Front, Karen
has attended all five training
sessions for the Saturday
School staff.
AN OPPORTUNITY
Karen, a graduate of Oregon
State University, credits high
school career exploration
programs and her summer
engineering trainee jo b s with
the Army Corps of Engineers
and CH2M Hill, as being
instrumental in her career.
MOTIVATED BY QUALITY
She also credits Curt Duval,
Design Engineer for ODOT’s
metropolitan region, for her
first professional job. "Curt
provided a first chance for
many minority engineers in the
Northwest," stateef Karen.
Karen’s first job after
graduating from Portland State
University was as a tem porary
Highway Engineer with ODOT.
"All I wanted was chance," said
Karen, "I knew I could create
my own opportunities once I
got in the door."
4
Bob Schalk, her immediate
supervisor stated, "I wanted
someone with the s e lf-
confidence to learn on the job
and who was m otivated by
the quality of their work."
That description fits Karen.
"She’s aggressively interested
in learning, she is a good
’student’ on the job, and she
is diligent," said Schalk.
The Oregon Department of Transportation
CIVIL RIGHTS SECTION
412 Transportation Building
Salem. Oregon 97310
3 78 -8 0 77