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February 13. 2008
B lack H istory M onth
Consequences of Urban Renewal
A frican -A m erican
community displaced
Emanuel Hospital's patient capacity
was expanded by a 1970s urban renewal
project. Clearing land for the project
displaced a significant num ber of
Portland’s Albina neighborhood resi
dents, including many African Ameri
cans.
A significant number of African
Americans migrated to Portland during
World War II due to the availability of
jobs in the shipyards. Housing was
scarce for both whites and blacks. After
the war ended, approximately 10,000 of
the 20,000 to 25,000 African Americans
who migrated during the war remained
in Portland. The majority of these fami
lies lived in the area known as Vanport—
a temporary settlement for war workers
and their families.
Vanport housing was not meant to be
permanent, but it became so for many
African-American families. In 1948 the
Columbia River flooded, and the dike
protecting Vanport broke. Nearly 17,000
people were left homeless as a result of
the flood, and those left homeless were
disproportionately African American.
Albina residents picket Emanuel Hospital prior to its 1970s expansion.
photo coirtesy of the
O regon H istorical S ociety
After the flood, many African
Americans moved to the area that
is now known as the Rose Quar
ter. This area was located be
tween the downtown and the
Eastside both of which were in
the process of being developed.
In November 1956 the deci
sion was made to build a sports
coliseum in the current Rose
Quarter district. The city plan
ning commission claimed that
housing in the area was substan
dard. This was just one of sev
eral projects that forced many
African Americans in the area to
move once again.
The African-American com
munity protested the expansion
of Emanuel because they were
frustrated at continually being
forced to move to make way for
development. Successive post
war construction projects in the
Albina neighborhood— the Me
morial Coliseum in the 1950s, In
terstate 5 in the 1960s, and the
Emanuel Hospital expansion in
the 1970s— resulted in a steady
migration northward.
Black Men Built the United States Capitol
Book shines light
on achievements
Black History Month is a time to honor the
achievements of African Americans throughout
the United States, but the contributions of African
Americans to our nation’s greatest monuments
and memorials in Washington, D.C. are often
glossed over by historians.
Author Jesse J. Holland's Black Men Built the
Capitol: Discovering African American History in
and around Washington, D.C., presents little-
known details and statistics about the role of
blacks in the creation of the White
House was written by an African-
House, the Lincoln Memorial and other
American slave, Paul Jennings, who
historic sites.
was owned by President James Madi
For example, several places inside and
son.
outside the Capitol can be directly linked
Black Men Built the Capitol also
toslave labor, including parts of the Statu
provides information on special monu
ary Hall, the old Senate chamber and the
ments dedicated to the contributions of
exposed original stone work of the East
African Americans, including the Afri
Front extension of the Capitol.
can American Civil War Memorial and
The National Mall was the site of
the Frederick Douglass Museum,
Jesse
J.
Holland
several slave markets visible from the
Holland has covered politics from
U.S. Capitol, including two locations near the
the U.S. Capitol and the White House for The
current Department of Education.
Associated Press. More information about his
The First tell-all book about life inside the White
book can be found atjessejholland.com .
diversity
‘"Print
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