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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (June 6, 2012)
*’’• ÿortianb (Dbsewer June 6, 2012 Page II Alberta North. Portland East County Beaverton Watersof Change by M indy C ooper T he P ortland O bserver More than 30 residents joined historians, the Columbia Slough Watershed Council, and the Black United Fund for a memorial tour of the city of Vanport, where residents, including a large African-American community, were forced from their homes by flooding. The group met last Wednesday, 64 years from the fateful day of May 30,1948 when at 4:17 p.m. a railroad dike burst, causing floodwaters from the Columbia River to consume the growing community, the second largest city at the time of the disas ter, which left at least 15 dead and thousands homeless. A one hour tour of the flood site started from the Delta Park/Vanport Max light-rail station and park and ride in north Portland. The station is decorated with several historical installations about the flood, cre ated by local artists. N o rth east P ortland resident Dwain Taylor, 67, attended the tour because he wanted to learn more photo by M indy C ooper /T he P ortland O bserver Ed Washington (left) addresses a tour o f the former city o f Vanport, starting at the Delta P ark/ Vanport Max light rail station in north Portland. Vanport was home to many African-Americans before the city was washed away by floodwaters 64 years ago. about both the history of Vanport and the Colombia River before the construction of dams. “My aunt lived here during the shipyard days,’’ he said. • According to Susan Barthel, Colombia Slough coordinator and leader of the tour, the railroad em- bankment was serving as a levy, but weak spots catalyzed water to even- tually seep through. “Vanport was built in a hurry, in about nine months, for war workers’ housing,” she said. Others who experienced the flood first-hand shared their thoughts on what it was like to watch their lives change almost instantly. “It changed our lives forever. We lost everything we owned, except what my mother had in her suit case,” said Ed Washington, who lived in Vanport from the time he seven to 11-years-old. Washington, like many residents at the time, moved with his family to Vanport in 1944 from across the country after his father found work during the war time effort. “People were living wherever they could,” he said, adding that the city o f Vanport was a big change for his siblings and mother, who said she had never seen so many people. “It was a 24 hour town,” he said. “As I look back on it, it was also a time when kids were breaking away, and beginning to change.” According to the Oregon His- continued on page 19 M Honored for Courage and Leadership Sherri Murrell is the only openly gay coach among her peers Portland State women's basket ball coach Sherri Murrell was hon ored on Wednesday with a Leader sh ip A w ard at the E quity Foundation's 1st Annual Women's Leadership Luncheon at the Port land Art Museum's Sunken Ball room. Murrell, who just completed her fifth season as the Vikings' Head Coach, received the Leadership Award for her courage and leader ship as the only openly gay Divi sion I Women's Basketball Coach in theU.S. Former Oregon Governor Barbara continued on page 13 Portland State University women's basketball coach Sherri Murrell (left) is being honored for her courage and leadership as an openly gay coach in big college athletics.
