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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (March 1, 2006)
111,1 ^Jnrtlanb © bsertier Page A2 March I. 2006 Civil Rights Era Photos Discovered Newspaper had kept scenes from public view (A P ) — Dozens o f never be fore released photos from B ir mingham. Ala. during the C iv il Rights era came to light this week end after an intern discovered them buried in an equipm ent closet at the Birm ingham News. The photos had been in a box marked: “ Keep. Do Not Sell.” But at the time they were taken, the newspaper d id n ’ t want to draw attention to the racial dis cord o f the 1950s and 1960s, news photographers from the period said. "The editors thought i f you did n ’ t publish it, much o f this would go away,” said Ed Jones, 8 1, a photographer at The News from 1942 to 1987. “ Associated Press kept on wanting pictures, and The News would be slow on letting them have them, so they flooded the town w ith photogra phers.” On Sunday, the photos fin a lly went to print in a special eight- page section called “ Unseen. Unforgotten.” Others are on the newspaper’ s Web site at http:// w w w .al.com /unseen. Several photos v iv id ly show the segregation in the South at the time, including the disparity among school buildings and the d iffe re n t lines fo r blacks and whites, even at the ja il as the Rev. Ered Shuttlesw orth posts bail after an arrest. Others show confrontations: a police o fficer shoving a dem onstrator, black children hit w ith the spray o f a firehose, crowds heckling demonstrators on their knees Freedom Riders being ar rested, and w hite s th ro w in g bricks at cars and blocking blacks from entering "w hites-only” ar eas. State U n iv e rs ity , was among those photographed. “ I was very, very thrilled to see that we do have them.” she said after learning about the newly found photos. " I knew the p ic tures had to exist, but they were being kept somewhere." Robert Adams, 84, a photog rapher who joined the newspa per in 1940 and retired in 1985, said The News d id n 't want to inflame the situation. 1 I was very, very thrilled to see that we do have them. / knew the pictures had to exist, hut they were being kept somewhere. - Katherine Burks Brooks, former Freedom Rider One photo shows a Ku K lux In the N ew s’ centennial e d i Kian ra lly w ith men wearing tio n in 1988, the newspaper hoods but their faces uncovered. said a New Y o rk Tim es story in Others show National Guards 1960 forced the paper and the men w ith their guns drawn, pro c ity ’ s w hite co m m un ity to con tecting a bus in one and rounding fro n t the racial c o n flic t: “ The up rioters protesting a black story o f The B irm ingham N ew s’ student’ s enrollment at the U n i coverage o f race relations in versity o f Mississippi. the 1960s is one m arked at Catherine Burks Brooks, 66, a tim es by mistakes and em bar The Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth (center) and Freedom Riders discuss what to do next after bus drivers Birm ingham teacher who was rassment but, in its larger o ut at a Greyhound Terminal In Birmingham. Ala., refused to carry them any farther. The May 15, part o f a group o f Freedom R id lines, by gro w in g sensitivity and 1961 photo was one o f many Civil Rights era photos never released to the public and discovered in a closet at the Birmingham News. ers w hile a student at Tennessee acceptance o f change.” Gordly Hosts Town Hall State lawmakers representing northeast and southeast Port land w ill host a Town Hall meet ing Saturday, March 4 from 10 a.m. u ntil noon at the H o lly wood Senior Center, 182ON.E. 40,h Ave. Sen. Avel Gordly, Rep. Steve March and Rep. Jackie Dingfelder w ill attend the public session. The focus is healthcare issues and other constituent concerns. Brilliant Master of Sci-Fi Dies Writer explored race, politics (A P )— Octavia E. Butler, con sidered the first black woman to gain national prominence as a o f science fictio n regardless o f race or gender, she said. "She is a world-class science fiction w rite r in her own right,” Jewell said. “ She was one o f the first and one o f the best to dis cuss gender and race in science fic tio n .” science fictio n w riter, has died, a close friend said Sunday. She was 58. QWEST BUSINESS SOLUTIONS G ETA BETTER VALUE FOR YOUR BUSINESS. Octavia Butler - QWEST MOST CABLE INTERNET PROVIDERS HIGH-SPEED INTERNET EÍ EÍ • Very fast Internet speeds • Dedicated connection E Í • Faster upload speed E l • FREE professional installation EÍ □ □ □ Qwest High-Speed Internet gives you everything you need at a great price. The facts speak for themselves. When you compare Qwest High-Speed Internet to most cable Internet providers, it’s an easy decision. For a low monthly price you can give your small business an advantage. Choose Qwest* today! Get Qwest Choice DSL Premier with Internet Prime 42 99 a month for an entire year ‘ When bundled with a qualifying business phone package $47.99/mo without Price indudes $15 monthly discount available to new Qwest DSL* customers only Offer expires 4/29/06 CALL 1 866-379-4983 CLICK qwest.com/businessvalue VISIT any Qwest store To find a Qwest Solutions Center,' call 1877-567-1717 or visit qwest.com/stores Butler fell and struck her head on the cobbled walkw ay outside her home near Seattle, said Leslie Howie, a longtime friend and em ployee at the Science Fiction M u seum and Hall o f Fame in Seattle. The w riter, who suffered from high blood pressure and heart trouble and could only take a few steps w ithout stopping fo r breath, was found outside her home in the north Seattle suburb o f Lake Forest Park and died Friday, H ow ie said. Butler's w ork w asn't preoc cupied w ith robots and ray guns, Howie said, but used the genre’ s artistic freedom to explore race, poverty, politics, religion and hu man nature. “ She stands alone fo r what she d id ," H ow ie said. “ She was such a beacon and a light in that w ay.” Jane Jewell, executive direc tor o f the Science Fiction and Fantasy W riters o f Am erica, said Butler was one o f the first black women to explore the genre and the most prominent. But Butler would have been a m ajor w riter Butler began w ritin g at age 10, and told Howie she embraced science fic tio n after seeing a schlocky B-m ovie called “ D evil G irl from M ars” and thought, “ I can w rite a better story than that.” In 1970. she took a bus from her hom etown o f Pasa dena, C alif., to attend a fantasy writers workshop in East Lan sing, M ich. Her first novel, “ Kindred,” in 1979, featured a black woman who travels back in time to the South to save a white man. She went on to w rite about a dozen books, plus numerous essays and short stories. Her most recent work, “ Fledgling," an examina tion o f the “ Dracula" legend, was published last fall. She received many awards, and in 1995 Butler was the first science fictio n w rite r granted a “ genius” award from the John D. and C atherine T. M a c A rth u r F o u n d a tio n , w h ic h p a id $295,(MX) over five years. Butler described herself as a happy herm it, and never mar ried. “ M ostly she just loved sitting down and w riting," Seattle-based science fiction w riter Greg Bear said. "For being a black female growing up in Los Angeles in the '60s, she was attracted to science fiction for the same reasons I was: It liberated her. She had a far- ranging imagination, and she was a treasure in our comm unity." Awards Honor City Cyclists Portland bike fans w ill honor dinner, a live auction and the theirow n at the A lice B. Toeclips awards presentation. The evem Awards and Auction on Satur is a fundraiser to support the day, M arch 4, at the Oregon advocacy and education w ork ol Convention Center. The I l lh an the Bicycle Transportation A lli nual event recognizes individuals ance. and com m unity groups that en The event's namesake is taken courage and improve local trans from Alice BabetteToklas.acom- portation conditions for cyclists. panion o f early 20"’ century w ritei T riM e t's Caleb W inter, C ity Gertrude Stein, who found sal Commissioner Sam Adams and vation on her bicycle. State Sen. G inny Burdick are a Adm ission is $65 for adults few o f the nominees this year. and $25 fo r children under 12. Doors open at 5 p.m. for com Tickets can be purchased online plimentary wine, hors-d’oeuvres atw ww .bta4bikes.org/alice/tick- and silent auction, follow ed by ets or by calling 503-226-0676. I