M av3ü. 1990 The Portland Observer Page 3
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Vanport Revisited.. .a special focus
Vanport Residents' Profiles: Doll Phillips and Sarah Richey
by Angelique Sanders
Doll Phillips moved over to Vanport
in 1944. She was happy in her new
community: it was small enough to
know all of her neighbors, yet large
enough that she didn’t need to run to
Portland for little necessities.
“ It was a nice place for people to
live, a nice community...”
Doll was working as a maid in Van-
port, supporting her four children. She
was 34. They lived near railroad tracks,
about four blocks from the wooden dam
that held back the river.
Then on May 30,1948, Doll Phillips
was by the railroad tracks, and saw the
flood waters heading toward the house.
She ran back to the house and rounded
everyone up, telling them what was
going on. There was no time to collect
personal possessions, barely time to
escape unscathed...
“ It was terrible,” Doll said, shak­
ing her head at the memory. “ W e’re
just lucky everyone got out alive,’ ’ but,
of course, that was only within her fam­
ily. Her neighbors were not all as fortu­
nate.
Doll and her family stayed with a
friend until the government relocated
many of the flood victims to Swan Is­
land. Of course, the trauma of the
Vanport flood will always remain with
the survivors.
“ A lot of ’em [flood victims]...were
standing up there crying, wanting to
know what happened to their babies,
their chil’run,’’ she said. “ Itw a sju sta
sad situation.”
Sarah Richey and her family stayed
at a church, and the Red Cross provided
them with some food and clothing They
boated back to their house later, and
were fortunate enough to salvage some
items from upstairs.
“ Some people-grown people-got
drowned ‘cause they wouldn’t come
out, see—they wanted to protect what
they had. But, you see, you can get
most stuff, but you can’t get another
life.”
“ It was pitiful,” Sarah Richey be­
gan, with a reflective sorrow in her
eyes. She went on to say that a 15-year
old boy had predicted the flood, but was
ignored.
At the time of the flood, Sarah and
her five children were preparing to go
to a movie. When Sarah looked out­
side, she saw furniture and appliances
rushing toward her house. Though in a
state of shock, she and her husband kept
their wits about them, and packed their
children into the car, narrowly escap­
ing. “ If it had ‘a came at night, I don’t
think none of us would’ag o t out,” she
sighed.
(Disaster?
This human chain served as a lifeline for the last people out of
Vanport.
Refugees crowded Red Cross registration tables as an attempt was
made to compile a list of missing persons.
Reverend James Clow, pastor of Mt. Olivet Baptist Church and
past president of the Portland Chapter of the NAACP, served as a
spokesman for the Black community of Vanport.
(OHS ncg. CN 00139«)
Inside view o f living quaters before dike broke.
"Vanport was an eyesore. It was a fester­
ing ulcer on Portland's landscape. More
than that, it housed the "coloreds" who were
not really wanted in the area now that the
war had ended and cheap labor was no
longer needed. When the sand-filled dike on
the Columbia collapsed and Vanport City
was wiped out, many felt that divine provi­
dence had intervened and settled a thorny
problem. It had not. Only slipshod engi­
neering and human callousness were at
work."
Aeriel overview of dike that broke
Flood refugees Mrs. Edna Tidwell and her youngsters found
temporary home at the Portland American Legion Post No. 1.
The Portland Observer gratefully acknowleges the contri­
butions of pictures and documentation provided by the Ore­
gon Historical Society, the Portland Chapter of the American
Red Cross, the Multnomah County Library, and the Portland
Water is shown rushing thru overflow outlets prior to railroad
dike collapsing.
Housing Authority.
We also add a special "thanks" to Ms. Doll Phillips and
Ms.Sarah Richey both of whom reaches back into a "bit of
history" to provide us with much needed information.
Carl Downey carrying unidentified woman to safety. He rescued
her from the roof top in the background and wended his way
across the plywood plank walkway others laid on top of the
floatsam. Thè woman was too frightened to give her name.