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
type 2 diabetes?
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
women have helped in
the development of new
medical advancements for
those who need it most...
you could help too.
f
v
To qualify for this research study you must be:
• A man or postmenopausal woman (naturally or
surgically)
• Age 18 to 70
• Diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes and controlling it
without any medications or taking ONLY metformin
(Glucophage) for at least 2 months
• Able to commit to 14 total days and nights at Covance
and make 3 outpatient visits over a one-month period
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!
Then call 503-55-STUDY or visit
TestWithTheBest.com today.
Please Reference Study 6348 503
C O V A tfC lP
THE DEVELOPMENT SERVICES COMPANY
533, SW Macadam Ave., Ste 307, Portland, OR
/
I