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Honoringa Visionary
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w orkers, the building w as saved
from the w recking ball decades
ag o w hen Jordan w on voter ap ­
proval to turn it into a cen ter for
co m m u n ity life. T oday, the c en ­
ter s one o f the best and m ost-
v isited co m m u n ity cen ters in
Portland.
A fter spending his early life in
rural T exas, Jordan served as an
o fficer in the U.S. A rm y. He
received his B.S. from G onzaga
U niversity in education, sociol­
ogy, and philosophy. In 2001, he
w as aw arded an honorary D oc­
to rate o f L aw d eg ree by the
U niversity o f V erm ont.
J o rd a n sp e n t 10 y e a rs as
P o rtlan d ’s first A frican -A m eri­
can C ity C om m issioner beg in ­
ning in 1974. He served 14
years as D irector o f P ortland
Parks & R ecreation, retiring in
2003.
Jordan w as the force behind
such Portland landm arks as P io­
n e er C o u rth o u se S q u are, the
In te rsta te F ire h o u se C u ltu ra l
C enter, and D elta Park, as well
as r e n o v a tio n s to m a n y o f
P o rtlan d ’s com m unity centers.
He earned a reputation for his
innovative and unconventional
approaches to problem solving.
He developed the C om m unity
Juvenile O fficer P rogram that
June 13. 2012
ing p ro g ram to recruit people o f w ho w o rk ed w ith Jo rd an for
c o lo r to the Fire B ureau.
years in several capacities. “H e
O n the national stage, C harles is a spiritual person w ith a strong
Jordan b ro ad en ed the agenda o f co n n ectio n to his church, and he
the environm ental m ovem ent and saw us all as being connected.
land conservation to m ake it m ore P o rtla n d ’s p ark s w ere w h ere
inclusive. H e is know n for his we co u ld com e to g eth er to build
' ‘ He is a spiritual person with a
strong connection to his church, and
he saw us all as being connected.
- Michelle Harper
Charles Jordan
put Portland Police officers in
local schools to engage youth
through positive interaction and
activities. As Fire Com m issioner,
he dev elo p ed an o utreach train ­
groundbreaking approach to put­ co m m u n ity and fam ily .”
ting p eo p le—p articu larly people
C h arles Jo rd a n ’s leadership,
o f c o lo r—at the h eart o f the co m m itm en t to P ortland an d in­
A m erican C o n serv atio n M o v e­ novative policies has helped e n ­
m ent.
sure the c ity ’s high quality o f life
“H is g reat saying w as, ‘Parks for gen eratio n s to com e.
a re m o re th a n ju s t fu n a n d
For inform ation, call 503-823-
g a m e s,” ’ says M ichelle H arper, 5300 or visit portlandparks.org.
Soar with the stories of
African Americans in aviation history —
discover what these American aviators achieved and what they overcame.
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May 12 - August 5,2012
EVERGREEN
A V I A T I O N S.
MUSEUM
www.EvergreenMuseum.org
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Smithsonian MetLife Foundation
Black WngcAmarian Dnams of Hight H orpnized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service in collaboration with
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the Smithsonian’s National H r and Space Museum. The txhfcition is made possible by the generous support of MetLife Foundation.
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