Portland observer., September 05, 2012, Page 9, Image 9

September5,2012_____________________________
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Page 9
First Families Picnic Set
Vancouver embraces African-American heritage
S parked by the recent publica-
tion o f a book telling their story,
som e o f V an co u v er’s earliest A fri­
can A m erican residents are inviting
“ First F am ilies and F rien d s” to a
com m unity picnic starting at 1 p.m .
Saturday, Sept. 8, at the c ity ’s h is­
toric D avid D ouglas Park.
“T h e w hole purpose o f this is to
g ath er together the people we grew
up w ith, people w ho w ere b o m and
raised in V ancouver,” said Kay Swar,
w ho is helping to plan the event.
H er parents, H enry and M argie
Sw ar, w ere am ong w orkers from all
over the U. S. w ho cam e to V ancou ver
and P ortland after Pearl H arbor to
build up the N avy fleet at the K aiser
sh ip y ard s.
U ntil then, V ancouver had a l­
m ost no black population - hence
the b o o k ’s title, ’’First Fam ilies o f
V a n c o u v e r’s A fric a n A m e ric a n
C om m unity: From W orld W ar II to
the 21st C entury.”
V ancouver felt like hom e to m any
o f these fam ilies. T hey stayed here
after the w ar and put dow n roots.
C hildren w ho grew up here and
graduated from V ancouver schools
in the 1950s and ‘60s now lam ent
that the only tim e they ev er see each
other is at funerals.
“ W e ’ve been saying that fo r­
ever,” S w ar said at a recent planning
session. H er longtim e friend, Juanita
Y oung, laughed in agreem ent.
“ It w as really starting to both er
us,” Y oung said. “W e kept telling
each other, ‘W e have to stop m eet­
ing like th is!” ’
W hen the original com m unity
reunited at C lark C ollege last spring
to celebrate the b o o k ’s release - an
occasio n o f jo y , not sorrow - they
knew it w as tim e to take action.
Ralph G riffin’s fam ily w as part o f
the w artim e m igration, com ing first
to the V anport housing projects,
then settling in V ancouver after the
great C olum bia R iver flood o f 1948.
G riffin ’s aunt, Laura M ae Sm ith,
died here this y ear on his birthday,
A pril 22. H is m other and o th er fam ­
ily m em bers still live here.
N ow he and W illard N ettles Jr., a
longtim e V ancouver teacher and
form er city council m em ber w ho re­
cently m oved to N ew port, are w ork ­
ing w ith Sw ar, Y oung and others to
plan a gathering that they hope w ill
be the first o f m any.
People are asked to bring their
ow n picnic fare, plus potluck dishes
if desired. T he planners w ill have
extra plates, flatw are, napkins and
w ater on hand if needed. T he park
has no cooking facilities and does
not allow alcohol.
In a b rie f p ro g ra m sta rtin g at 2
p .m ., B ob K n ig h t, C la rk C o lle g e
p re sid en t and early frien d an d su p ­
p o rte r o f th e F irst F a m ilie s b o o k
project, w ill deliv er a personal w el-
c o m e to the fa m ilie s. M u sical p er-
fo rm an c e s and o th e r a ctiv itie s w ill
tak e p la c e th ro u g h o u t the a fte r­
noon.
M em bers o f V ancouver N A A C P
B ranch #1139, w hich was founded
by the original com m unity in 1945,
will be selling “First Fam ilies” books
at the picnic.
“W e ’re evolving and shaping it
this y ear,“ G riffin said. “T he first
o n e ’s alw ays trial and error. It can
only get better.“
For m ore inform ation, call Ralph
G riffin at 360-980-6203 or Juanita
Y oung at 360-921-9482.
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