The
Page 10
Portland Observer
Black History Month
February 10, 2010
Portland’s Katrina
co n tin u ed ¿ ^ j r o m F ron t
Ozarks, the Sierras, and the Great
Plains.
Many o f Vanport’s residents were
African Americans from the South in
search o f a better life. Shortly before it
was washed away, about 40 percent o f
the population was black.
"Like locusts, they h ad m oved in Overturned vehicles and other debris are left in the wake of the
upon... before, a nd h ad nibbled up all 1948 flood that destroyed Vanport, a multicultural community
the shelter in sight. A population fro m north of Portland's city limits. The town was Oregon's second
many regions, they were exiles fro m largest city at the time.
better homes, exposed to new condi
O ne o fth e m ost rem arkable things w ho lived there as backw ard bum p-
tions, new climates a n d new work, and about V anport w as the racial inte- k in s . A f te r th e flo o d , th e
not y e t integrated with any’community, g ration that m arked the city, espe- g o v ern m en t’s response w as harshly
presents m any problems, not only o f cially w hen the rest o f O regon had criticized for not acting sw iftly to
physical housing, but o f human values adopted the racist public accom m o- help displaced residents, m any o f
as well-health, education, recreation, dation practices o f the deep South, w h ich en d ed up in su b sta n d a rd
safety, andmorale," read an article from
H A P n ev er m ade segregation its g o v ern m en t-issu ed m obile units-
the Oregonian when the project was o fficial policy. A nd w hile housing not unlike the infam ous F E M A trail-
opened up in 1943.
in V anport w as n ev er entirely inte- ers..
Life in Vanport was gritty. Grocery grated, public places w ere-includ-
But freshly-displaced black residents
stores, parks, libraries, shopping cen ing the schools. T he library even faced an additional layer ofdiscrimina-
ters- all the am enities com m on in hired a black assistant librarian.
tion in a state that had largely widely
Portland neighborhoods now adays-
But Vanport wasn't exactly a para- Southern-style segregation,
A human chain is formed to help rescue survivors of the Vanport
were slow to be developed. It was gon o f racial harmony. A study that
" I f it is n ecessa ry to bring in
flood o f 1948. The multicultural community between Portland and noisy from constant construction, appeared in a 1946edition o f the Ameri- large num bers o f N eg ro workers,
Vancouver was wiped out when a railroad dike collapsed from the crow ded, and far-removed from Port can Sociological Review found that a locate them on the ed g e o fth e city.
flooding Columbia River. (Oregonian photo)
land and V ancouver.
top complaint from white residents was It w o u ld be m uch b etter f o r a ll con-
For much o f its existence, V anport the racial integration o f Vanport. For cerned. I f they are a llo w e d to fa n
had a transitory environm ent. People blacks, it was discrimination.
o u t through the city’ it soon w ill
The sequel to la s t year's h it Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type.
lived there because they priced out o f
B ut the ex p erim en t w as w ashed [b e] necessary’ to sta tio n a p o lice-
Portland due to sim ple lack. A s the aw ay in M ay 1948, w hen a leak in a m an on every c o r n e r said the presi-
w ar was w inding dow n, 100 families dike turned into a flood that fo rev er dent o f the C entral E ast Portland
a day w ere leaving the project.
d estro y ed the city and left thou- C om m unity C lub in 1942.
“ W e fe e l th a t m o s t o f th e sands hom eless.
M any blacks from Vanport had
V a n p o rt re sid e n ts w o u ld n o t be
It w as com m on know ledge that money, but the racist environment in
liv in g in a h o u sin g p ro je c t i f th e re V anport w as built on a flood plain, Portland severely restricted their hous-
w e re an y o th e r liv in g q u a rte rs and H A P had to p erio d ically reas- ing options. Albina soon became the
a v a ila b le ,” H arry Ja e g e r, th e g e n sure residents o f th eir safety.
only part o f town displaced African
eral m a n a g e r o f V a n p o rt, to ld th e
Just a w eek before the disaster, a Americanscouldrelocate. Interestingly,
O re g o n Jo u rn a l in 1947.
H A P flier read, “D ikes are sa fe a t somepeopleviewedVanport’sdestruc-
But shortly before Vanport was de p resent. You w ill be w a rn e d i f nec- tion as a positive development since it
stroyed, people began to grow roots in essary. You w ill have tim e to leave, pushed the black population in closer
a place that HAP created in the middle D on t g e t excited. ”
vicinity to the rest o f Portland.
NEWMARK THEATRE
o
f
nothing.
By
1947,
it
had
its
own
ChiLdt-eK^
In addition to being in a naturally
H ow ever, the com m unity created
schools
and
libraries,
and
Vanport
Col
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