“P ortland © bsrrorr
in the Northwest to be admitted
to the Oregon State Bar, having
attended Northwestern School
o f Law in night classes while
raising two sons. Both o f the
Cannadys were prominent in
social and political circles, and
E.D. Cannady reigned for 15
years as Exalted Ruler o f the
sistant Editor.
pursue a boxing career. Mr.
he power o f the Afri Walker also founded the Miss
can Am erican news Tan Oregon and then the Miss
paper resided in its B lack O regon pag
ability to counter-balance eants.
the ne
glect and distortions A frican
Am erican news and individu
als suffered in the hands o f the ( © h s e r u e r was es
T
dom inant press. Supported by
s u b s c rip
tio n s and
advertising
fro m
th e
A fric a n
A m e r ic a n
community,
th e s e p a
pers could
exercise an
in d e p e n
dent voice
and present
an alterna
tive vision
o f iss u e s
and activi
ties. These
e a rly p a
p e rs w e re
Jimmy Bang Bang" Walker, publisher o f the ‘‘Clarion
P o r tla n d ’s
Defender. ’ ' (P hoto cou rtesy of OHS)
contribution
to the long
Rose City Elks Lodge # 111, o f standing and respected body
which he was a 1906 charter o f the national African Am eri
member. Cannady was also the can press.
famous “hat man” at the Port-
LATER MAJOR NEWS
/ land H otel; for decades he PAPERS
checked as many as 300 hats an
In 1938, Atlanta-born Bill
evening and without use o f a M cClendon came to Portland
ticket check always returned the and co-founded the Portland
hat to its proper owner. Beatrice Observer with Charlie Garrett,
Cannady was a tireless civil rights who operated the M adrona Ra
advocate, with a steady stream dio and Record Shop. The pa
o f local speaking engagements. per ran until 1943. M cClendon
She was also a speaker at an followed with the P eople’s Ob
nual National NAACP conven server from 1943-45, and then
tions and the first Pan African The Observer from 1945-50.
Congress in New York, and M any o f his riveting editorials
helped organize local NAACP are c o n ta in e d in his book
chapters in Bend and Vernonia.
“Straight Ahead: Essays on
n 1930, the Cannadys di the S tru g g le o f B la cks in
vorced and Beatrice mar America, 1934-94”. They fully
ried Advocate typesetter convey the intensity o f the local
Yancy Franklin and continued racial issues o f the eras and
as editor o f the Advocate. E.D. many are as relevant today as
Cannady continued in real es when they were published.
tate until his death in relative
The Northwest Clarion De
obscurity in 1941. The Advo fender was published in from
cate ceased publication in 1933, 1943-61 by Arthur & Etoile Cox.
having never missed a weekly Mr. Cox, who came from Kan
issue, providing an intimate pic sas City in 1941, also established
ture o f daily life in the African Cox Funeral Home, where op
American com m unity for 30 eration continues today at 2736
years.
NE Rodney Avenue.
The Portland Times was pub
The Clarion Defender was
lished from 1913 until 1923, with published from 1960-70 by
Dr. James Merriman as Editor Jimmy “Bang Bang” Walker,
and William McLamore as As who came to Portland in 1955 to
I
February 21, 2001
Focus >-
published by the Bosco-Milligan
Foundation. The book is avail
able at Reflections, located at 446
Page 7
NE Killingsworth and at local
libraries. A companion video
documentary is underway.
kt
ta b lis h e d by Rev.
A lfre d H en d erso n ,
Bethel AME pastor, in
1970 through the ef
forts o f the Albina M in-
isterial Alliance. The
paper continues publi
cation today at 4747 NE
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Blvd by the sons o f late
publisher Joyce Wash
ington;
The Skanner was
established by Bernie
Foster in 1975. It also
continues publication,
relocated in 1997 to 415
N. Killingsworth.
A number o f other
A fric a n A m erican
newspapers were pub
lished for a short time
from the 1950’s to the
1960’s.
This information is
drawn from “Corner
stones o f Community:
the B u ild in g s o f
P o r tla n d ’s A frica n
A m erican H is to r y ”,
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