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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 15, 2012)
Februaiy IS. 2012___________________ Portland O bserver B la c k H iS tO iy M o n t h PageS A Microcosm of Portland History Insight to Woodlawn community shared by M indy C íxiper T he P ortland O bserver In a w orld, w hich is constan tly shifting, one local historian and au th o r o f th e b o o k P o r t l a n d ’ s W o o d la w n N e ig h b o rh o o d h a s w atched both the p eople and trends o f the n eighborhood change ov er time. A uthor A njala Ehelebe m oved to the W oodlaw n district in northeast Portland w ith her husband nearly 28 years ago, w hen they settled into their new hom e in an area know n decades previous for its street cars, bakeries and bustling com m erce. Inside her old, w ell-kept house that rests on the co m er o f N ortheast B razee, she said she has w atched an evolution o f the area, w hich at one time attracted residents from all walks o f life from throughout the city. “ A fter W orld W ar II, the V anport flood in 1948 displaced m any A fri can A m ericans,” she said. A s individuals and fam ilies re settled, redlining practices d irected the displaced w orkers from the w ar tim e s e ttle m e n t to n e ig h b o rin g A lbina, as well as the W oodlaw n n eig h b o rh o o d . “W hen m y husband and I first m o v e d to th is n e ig h b o rh o o d , I w anted to help m ake good things h appen,” she said. “ So I jo in e d the neighborhood association.” A lth o u g h m any people d o n ’t en jo y th e a sso c ia tio n m e etin g s, w hich she described as “ som etim es not the m ost exciting,” Ehelebe kept going y e ar after year, and she b e gan to hang aro u n d w ith o ld e r neighbors and ask them questions o f the tim es before she arrived. “T hey began to share their sto ries and old docum ents about how life had been in the W oodlaw n w hen they w ere youngins,” she said. “T his is w hen I began to call m yself the historian o f the neighborhood.” O ne year, she said the chair asked her to w rite a history, originally an article, o f the neighborhood, and af ter her docum entation becam e pub lic, a publishing com pany asked if she w ould be willing to write a book. P ublishers gave her a form ula to include 200 photographs and 76 pages, and A njala began her re search adventure, once m ore, to capture the history o f her neighbo r hood. “ R esearching history is a blast,” she said. A ccording to Ehelebe, before the photos by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver Anjala Ehelebe outside her home in the Woodlawn neighborhood of northeast Portland, where she has lived with her husband for more than 28-years. V anport Flood, the Piedm ont neigh borhood w as the bedroom co m m u nity to the W o o d law n ’s m erchant p ractices. “ Piedm ont had a convention so that no business w ould be located there, so that people w ould com e over here to shop,” she said. B a c k in th o s e d a y s , th e d e m o g ra p h ic s o f th e n e ig h b o rh o o d w e re p re d o m in a n tly w h ite w o rk in g c la s s p e o p le , J a p a n e s e f a m i lie s , a n d a fa rm in g c o m m u n ity . In 1948, Ehelebe said A frican A m ericans began to m ove into the area after migrating for work opportu nities in the ship yards and rail lines. “ A fte r the flo o d , p eo p le n eed ed a n ew p la c e to stay , an d h o u sin g w a s a ff e c te d h e r e .” sh e s a id . “T h e re had b een re d -lin in g , w hich is th e p ra c tic e o f b a n k e rs and re a lto rs n o t o ffe rin g h o u sin g to m in o ritie s.” A lthough she said there is not m uch docum ented evidence o f ra cial tension w ithin the n eig h b o r hood at the tim e, E helebe explained the m igration o f A frican A m ericans into W oodlaw n cataly zed a lot o f w hite people to m ove out. She said, “ In o u r n eig hborhood now , black people have been hom eow ners for three g en eratio n s.” Ehelebe said, however, in addition to her historical research, she has watched throughout the years as the neighbor hood constantly transitioned as bank ing practices changed, and the housing market shifted. A lthough law s to end en v iro n m ental racism have been enacted, she said, the n eighborhood at the tim e rem ained redlined, and banks w ould not loan m oney fo r hom e im provem ents. “T h ere have alw ays been reasons for banks not to loan m oney to certain c u sto m ers,” she said. “Such w as the tim e, for a n u m ber o f y ears.” E v en tu ally , p red ato ry lending practices by banks em erged, targ et ing those w ho lived in the A lbina n eig h b o rh o o d w hile the housing stock declined, and houses, w hile not all, becam e increasingly “ra t tier.” Ehelebe also rem em bers w hen violence em erg ed in the 90s as a result o f gang violence w ithin the area, w hich she attributes to the im plem entation o f a park w ithin the n eig hborhood in the 80s. “ W oodlaw n Park bloods w ere actively having gang w arfare w ith the c rip s,” she said. “ A nd there w ere m ajor crim inal o perations in different parts o f the W oodlaw n b ecau se o f d e lib e rate d is in v e st m ent.” B ullets w ere shot through inno cent p e o p le ’s front doors on a d is tressing basis, she said. N eighbors cam e to the N eigh borhood asso ciatio n to try to find continued on page 9 ^£3 BROOKS STAFFING A Division o f S. Brooks & Associates, Inc. Your Full Service Staffing Company Commitment to Diversity S. Brooks & Associates is an Oregon-based, minority-owned staffing agency with deep roots in the Portland community. Local & Federal Staffing ■ Temporary Staffing Services Employee Recruitment & Executive Searches ■ Consulting ■ Apply & Test Online It is our mission to provide ongoing employment solutions to employers and applicants that enhance and diversify the workforce. W e hope to always provide the highest level of service to our employer clients and job seeking associates. W e pride ourselves in being a vital part of the Portland, Oregon community, supporting local businesses, along with minority entrepreneurial endeavors. 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