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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.