February 7, 2001
^ o rila n ò ©bseruer
steam and lo st c o n tro l in a sh o rt
time.
■*
The Roaring 20’s
M ost A m ericans enjoyed at least
som e ofth e prosperity o f the 1920’s.
P ortland settled dow n enjoying a
w ave o f secure em ploym ent oppor
tunities and a w ave o f new house-
1930’s
F o llo w in g the S to ck M arket
C rash o f 1929, the 3 0 ’s were said to
be full o f “ econom ic disaster and
gradual recovery.” T he D epres
sion did not ju st affect m inorities.
A ll classes, races, and econom ic
levels o f people w ere “caught in the
ja w s” o f this difficult time.
the protection o f unions, m any union
halls barred black m em bers. N ear
the end o f the 1930’s, over h a lf o f
Portland’s 2 ,000A frican Americans
lived in the A lbina area. A lthough
som e w ere thinly spread around
other areas, real estate agents were
trying to force all blacks to live in the
A lb in a A rea. A round 1938 and
1939, the econom y finally started to
turn around on a larger scale, giving
great relief to all.
WWII and the 1940’s
A few years prior to the resur
gence o f the Klu Klux K ian, racist
slurs in local papers and restaurants
like the ‘ ‘Coon Chicken Inn” in North-
Page 5
east Portland was know n to be “the
m ost segregated city outside the
deep south.” Portland residents
spoke outwardly o f white supremacy
and A frican A m erican inferiority.
W W II helped create a distraction to
the prejudice as A m ericans joined
together in an all-out effort to win
the war. Portland w ent into high
History wouldn't
same.
3
jitn e y during the Roaring 2 0 ’s. (Courtesy o f OHS)
hold goods. E lectricity slow ly be
cam e sta n d ard in h om es. E lectric
o v en s, to a ste rs, re frig e ra to rs and
telep h o n es ap peared on the scene.
A m o re su b tle ch a n g e, u n n o tic ed
by m an y , b egan to h ap p en . A fri
can A m eric an s co n tin u ed finding
a ffo rd a b le h o u sin g o u tsid e the
city. Steady em ploym ent provided
o p p o rtu n ities for c h ild re n o f im
m ig ra n ts o f all races. T hro u g h o u t
the 2 0 ’s em p lo y m e n t for A frican
A m eric an s beg an to im p ro v e and
the exodus from N W Portland con
tin u ed . M any w h ite s b eg an m o v
ing to S outh P o rtlan d an d an in
cre asin g n u m b e r o f b lack s m ov
ing o u t o f do w n to w n b eg a n to
e sta b lish L o w er A lb in a.
The Great
Depression
M any people lost their jo b s
and hom es. Large num bers
o f black fam ilies ended up
living along the U nion Pa
c if ic R a ilr o a d lin e in
“Sullivans’s G ulch”, in hom e
m ade shanties and tents. In
1933, m any o f the poor found
w ork w ith the new Public
W orks Program s and C ivil
ian C onservation Corps, try
ing to pull them selves out o f
this dire poverty. Franklin
R oosevelt and The New Deal
helped im m ensely w ith em
ploym ent and social insur
ance. Opportunities included
building trails, campgrounds,
Bonneville Dam, and Timber-
line Lodge. T he N ew Deal
labor legislation helped w ork
ers form unions. A lthough
A frican A m ericans sought
Dr. D a n ie l H a le W illiam s, performed the first successful heart operation in 1893
M a d a m e C.j. W alker, first self-made American woman millionaire . H ym an S. Thomas, invented
the potato chip, originally known as the Saratoga chip , M a tth e w A. Henson, first man to set foot on
the North Pole , jessie ja ru e M a rk , first woman to earn a doctorate in botany . Isaac M urphy, won
the very first Kentucky Derby . Dr. Charles Drew, discovered the method for preserving blood plasma
, je w e l L a Fo n tan t M an kariou s, first woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court Yvonne
Clark, first woman to earn B.S. in chemical engineering a t Harvard .
in "scatting" style , Otis Boykin, invented guided missile device ,
Louis A rm strong, first to sing
la n e W righ t, pioneered several
advances in the field o f chem otherapy. Frederick M ckinley /ones, inventor o f portable X-ray machine
W illia m A. H in to n, developed first test for syphilis • N o rb e rt Rillieux. developed the first system for
refining sugar . S. Boone, invented the first ironing board , Frank G rant, inventor o f the baseball
chinguard . L.D. N ew m an, inventor o f the hairbrush . Shelby j. Davidson, created the first adding
machine . W illia m W arw ick Cardozo, pioneered the study of sickle cell anemia . Kurtis Blow, first
rap artist
You can't talk about Black history without talking about American history.
Let's remember the African Americans who helped build America.
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Flooded homes jrom the Vanportflood o f 1948. (Courtesy o f OHS)
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