Xljr
Page A 8
^nrtlauò Oibarrucr Black History Month
February 25, 2 0 0 9
B lack H istory M onth
Trail Blazers Honor
Local Leaders
Trail Blazer Coach Nate McMillan (right) pays tribute to Pastor Fred Woods
(from left), Daphine Bussey and Ave I Gordly during a post-game Black
History Month celebration Sunday in the Rose Quarter commons. The
extraordinary contributions o f five local African-American citizens were recog
nized by the Portland Trail Blazers during halftime at games during Febru­
ary. Honorees not pictured are Tina Myers and Howard White.
photo by
M ark W ashington ZT he P ortland O bserver
Neighborhood Reincarnation
z
continued ^ ^ f r o m A5
will be anything like the Dude
Ranch. It was like (New York’s)
Cotton Club, the Apollo The­
ater, Las Vegas and the Wild
West rolled into one ...It was
the hottest Black and Tan club
west of Chicago.” Managed by
Pat Patterson and Sherm an
“Cowboy" Pickett, it had a Wild
West motif, with walls adorned
with pictures of black cowboys
and waitresses in pseudo -cow ­
girl attire complete with holsters
carrying cardboard pistols.
Its wooden floor was so pol­
ished it reflected what was
above it. The house band was
led by Banjaski Adams, but it
attracted not only the cream of
Portland’s musical talent but
also luminaries such as Louis
A rm stro n g , Roy E ld rid g e,
C o lem an
H aw kins
and
Thelonious Monk.
The nightclub also attracted
people from all races and all
parts of the social spectrum. To
quote Dietsche, they included
“Z o o t-su ite d h ip ste rs and
sidemen from Jantzen Beach
looking to get the taste of Guy
Lombardo out of their mouths.
Racially mixed party people
who co u ld n ’t care less that such as the 1-5 Freeway and the
what they were doing was on a b o rtiv e e ffo rt to expand
the cutting edge of integration Emanuel Hospital, would create
in the city that had been called sim ilar havoc. As D ietsche
the most segregated north of notes, “It is all gone now, bull­
the Mason-Dixon line.” Public dozed away like some kind of
segregation was the law in Port­ jazz Pompei.”
This is the Dude R anch’s
land until 1953.
This last, many suspect, led second claim to fame; unlike so
many of the area’s former jazz
to the club’s closure.
c lu b s, the b u ild in g it was
housed in still stands.
A few years ago, a group of
young entrepreneurs wanted to
restore the old club space and
use it as a jazz club much like
the Dude Ranch. They were
unable to make the project
photos by M ark W ashington ZT he P ortland O bserver
work, but the building and two
Joanna Agee does marketing for the Left Bank Project near the Rose Quarter. The
adjacent buildings were then
neighborhood once was the major hub for Portland's African American population.
-R o b ert Dietsche
purchase by a second group of
investors.
They have renovated the
“The papers said it was (be­
cause of) all the big-time gam­ structures and are in the pro­
b lin g
and
a ccid en tal cess of leasing them for com­
shootings,” D ietsche wrote. mercial space.
The Left Bank backers also
“Most people think it was the
m ixed couples, the flirting, hope to have a restaurant or
those racy dances, those happy night club. While it won’t be a
bottoms ‘shaking the African.’” replica of the Dude Ranch, they
Eventually not just the jazz have adorned some of the space
scene, but an entire community with photos and memorabilia
of more than 400 homes would from the club.
As with much of that era, it
be leveled to make way for the
Rose Quarter. Other projects, is gone but not forgotten.
It is all gone
now, bulldozed
away like some
kind o f jazz.
Pompei.
IT ALL STARTED ON THE BUS
A SALUTE TO ROSA PARKS
(1913-2005)
On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks was
arrested in Montgomery, Alabama after
refusing to give up her seat to a white man
while riding a segregated bus.
Alex Ganyn oversees thejnstallation o f equipment for Upright Brewing in the Left Bank
Project on Northeast Broadway. The company will craft beer in the basement o f the building,
directly below the ballroom where jazz greats from the Dude Ranch once performed.
Rosa Parks' courageous act drew national
attention to simple truths: A public transit
system paid for by all must benefit all, and
civil rights must be protected for all.
ROSA PARKS STATION
In honor of Ms. Parks’ courage, TriMet
is proud to announce the renaming of the
Portland Blvd. Yellow Line MAX Station
to the Rosa Parks Station.
TriMet is an EOE, committed to
developing an organization that
is reflective of and sensitive
to the needs of the diverse
community we serve,
including the elderly and
persons with disabilities.
Visit us at trimet.org.
TR l© M E T
1