Cl"|.lnrtlanb Observer
May 14. 2008
Page A3
Lasting Legacy of the Vanport Flood
continued
fro m Front
our unit, picked it up off the ground
and it was headed north,” she says.
"There was a lot o f noise, a lot of
yelling going on, a lot o f screaming,
‘W here is so-and-so? W here is my
b ab y ?” ’
O ut o f everything that W hite
lost, the item she most w ishes she
had thought to grab was the silk
handkerchief that she first learned
to sew on.
W ord cam e that form er Vanport
residents should head south to
schools, shopping and recreation
centers, although housing districts
and churches remained largely seg­
regated. W ith fewer than a dozen
black students in her graduating
class, she left remembering discrimi­
nation that occurred despite W ash­
ington teachers’ remarkable efforts.
“ I was doing great, but then I got
uprooted," she says.
Even without any pride in her
grade-point average, she went on
to becom e a nurse for many de­
cades and still works 27 hours a
week as a medical receptionist. ( )th-
There was a lot o f noise, a lot
o f yelling going on and a lot of
screaming, 'Where is so-and-
so? Where is my baby?'
- Vanport survivor Marghree White
Boise Elementary, where HAP ad­
m inistered tetanus shots and new
housing assignm ents.
In 9th grade at Vanport School at
the tim e. W hite lost any prospect to
attend Roosevelt High School with
all her friends and relatives, with
subsidized tem porary housing for
flood survivors located near the
Broadway Bridge in W ashington
High School territory.
Her high school lacked the to­
getherness that she felt while living
in Vanport, which had integrated
ers from her childhood w ent on to
not-so-successful fates. She sus­
pects that the Hood may have had
som ething do with her brother suc­
cum bing to alcoholism in 1979.
White credits herfather with amaz­
ing strength in keeping the small­
town Louisiana family together and
succeeding professionally. Follow­
ing the dream he moved into Vanport
with as a dockworker, he became the
first African-American president of
a trade union in Oregon.
Sixty years after the dem ise o f a
Vanport survivors are p u lle d to s a fe ty during th e M ay 3 0 , 1 9 4 8
flo o d d isa ste r.
city. W hite argues that the name
needs more than an Interstate Max
ph o to m R aymond R endi . eman /T in I’oRI I . and O bsekvf R train station near Vanport and the
Vanport Square development on
M arghree W hite h a s fe w tre a su re d p o s s e s s io n s le ft from a flood
Northeast Martin Luther King Jr.
th a t to o k everyth in g b u t th e c lo th e s on h e r b a ck. S h e h o ld s a
Boulevard. The obvious next step
p h o to g ra p h o t h e r fa th e r w ho lived in h o u sin g c o n s tr u c te d for
for her involves the park that now
w o rkers in th e sh ip ya rd s.
Saturday’s Art Hop to Fill 17 Blocks
encom passes much of the area that
once was the nation's largest hous­
ing development.
"D elta Park should have been
named after Vanport." she says.
"They should rename it in honor of
the flood's anniversary."
Are You a Parent of a Preschooler Aged 2-5?
We Need Your Help!
Receive $50 to take part in a 90-minute
discussion group with other parents.
We are scheduling Portland dates in
May & .lune
Art on A lberta holds its 9th-
annual Art Hop with 17 blocks o f
N ortheast Alberta Street shut down
to car traffic on Saturday May 17,
from 11 a.m. unti!6p.m .
A rt H op d raw s ov er 150 artists
a n d v e n d o r s , m u s ic p e r f o r ­
m ances, local choirs, th eater p er­
fo rm a n c e s and in te ra c tiv e art
ev ents. T he m ission is to p ro ­
m ote the A lb erta A rt D istric t’s
d istin ct cultural identity through
art and ed ucational activities.
Music performances will include
the S elf Enhancem ent, Inc Choir,
The No! Kidding! Choir, Vernon
E lem entary Students, Jefferson
H igh S chool S tu d en ts, R o sa ’s
Buds, Light’s Out, artists from Great
M agnet Recordings, Lana Rebel,
T he Headliners, G olden G reats and
more.
This year’s them e is "synergy”
with three artists — A drienne Cruz,
A n a le e F u e n te s, and T rip p e r
Dungan - chosen to represent as­
pects o f the cultural diversity o f
A lberta Street.
C ruz, one o f A m erica’s best
know n A frican-A m erican fabric
artists who creates aw ard-w inning,
sensuous and richly colored art
quilts, will show her w orks at
GuardinoGallery,2939N.E. Alberta
and the Black United Lund, 2828
N.E. Alberta.
CALL tollfree 1-877-366-3119 lor info & to sign up
Research study funded by the National Institutes of Health; program developed by Oregon Center for
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G uardino Gallery a n d th e B lack U n ited Fund will fe a tu re w o rks b y
A frican-Am erican fabric a rtist A d rien e Cruz during Art H op on
A lberta S tr e e t S aturday.
A n a le e F u e n te s
D ungan will show his w orks at
the A lley way Café & Bar, 2 4 15 N. L.
Alberta. Inspired by cartoons, he
drew prolifically as a child. By age
13, he was steadily w riting acom ie
strip and at age 15, he was accepted
to the Las Vegas Academy High
school where he received his first
and most formal art training.
F uentes is show ing at O nda
Gallery, 2 2 15 N.E. Alberta. She was
born in San Diego, Calif, and was
raised by her m other, a first genera­
tion Mexican American who worked
in a sw eatshop but was also a seam ­
stress, painter and ceram ieist at the
time. She also worked with jew elry
at home.
As a Latina, Fuentes has com e to
the realization o f how fully her aes­
thetic is grounded in the Mexican
B aroque—loving the ornate, exces­
sive and overdone.
Hip-Hop Listeners Targeted
A Portland radio station aim s
to cap tu re the young listeners
d is p la c e d on M o n d a y w h en
Jam m in 9 5 .5 ’s hip hop and R&B
m usic w as replaced by an a ll­
sp o rts form at.
KVMX 107.5 EM announced
Friday it will become "Jammin’ 107.5
with a form at of hits and hip hop.
The station acquired the intel­
lectual property o f Jam m in 95.5 and
PK ’s Playhouse morning show. But
the fate o f other Jam m in DJs was
still up in the air.
Call letters of both stations will
change pending FCC approval.
"This is a rare opportunity for
CBS Radio Portland to acquire the
w e ll- e s ta b lis h e d , s u c c e s s fu l
Jam m in' brand as well as a morning
show that is consistently top-rated
in the Portland m arket." said Dave
M cDonald, local CBS senior vice
president.
Generations of men and
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you could help too.
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To qualify for this research study you must be:
• A man or postmenopausal woman (naturally or
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• Age 18 to 70
• Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and controlling it
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• Able to commit to 14 total days and nights at Covance
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Participants will receive all study- related exams and
investigational medication at no cost and may
receive up to $4,400 for time and participation.
Budget Cuts Multicultural Center
pensive programs that foster diver­
sity in the arts would be hardest hit.
“H opefully, we would remain a
A diversity-rich exhibition of
over 7 0 artists from north and north­ diverse rental facility, but to he
east Portland currently shows at honest, wi thou 11 FCC helping to fil I
the IFC C gallery. This spring’s pro­ the pipeline, many o f the artists
duction of D ream girls, with its A f­ (would) leave Portland for other
rican-A m erican stars, had to ex­ opportunities or worse yet. cease
tend its run and continue playing at production. There are som e who
Jefferson High School because of will alw ays scrape anil struggle to
find a way to produce, but scraping
demand.
IFCC operations would continue and struggling reinforces their dis­
as planned for at least a year. Flagg enfranchisem ent from ourcom m u-
says, but funding for the more ex- nity,” she says.
continued
fro m Front
The cen ter's longtime com m it­
m ent to b elow -cost art classes
helped justify the funding sourced
through Portland Parks and Recre­
ation.
Flagg found some relief in the
fact that IFCC has made strides to
becom e less dependent on its fi­
nancial partnership with the city.
The cuts would have been more
disastrous two years ago when the
support equaled well over 50 per­
cent, or 10 years ago when it was
nearly 90 percent.
Think you can help? Great!
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THE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES COMPANY
533, SW Macadam Ave., Ste 307, Portland, OR
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