BLACK
HISTORY
MONTH
Special edition features inside
U£
‘City 0/Roses’
s v r uv r 4 3
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • Februaiy 6, 2013
F c t i i h l i c h ^ r l in
in 1970
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Established
Committed to Cultural Diversity
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An untold story to
inspire generations
C ari H achmann
T he P ortland O bserver
by
JUKI. :AN A M »*"
V l'H " A M '
Kimberly Sower Moreland spent a better part of last
year sifting through old newspapers and online catalogs,
public archives and private family photo albums to collect
more than 200 vintage photographs for her first book
published this January, “African Americans of Portland.”
As a former urban city planner and researcher, it was
Moreland’s goal to show readers the unique history and
experiences of black people in Portland using one of
time s most accessible mediums, the camera lens.
“Knowing the history is empowering for African Ameri
cans,” she said. “We have accomplished quite a bit, and the
true story about African Americans in Portland and in
Oregon hasn’t been told.”
“Our African American history is so different from the
rest o f the country,” said Moreland, who grew up in Cleve
land, Ohio but became a resident of Portland in 1987.
Her book follows the journey o f O regon’s black pio
neers from the first black of record to set foot in Tillam ook
in 1788, M arcus Lopius, an African from Cape Verde
Islands traveling as a cabin boy aboard Capt. Robert
G ray’s ship, to the small, yet determ ined population of
African Am ericans who began to settle and prosper in
Portland against a backdrop o f hostile state exclusion
laws.
continued
on page 6
All Aboard!
Exhibit at History Museum
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PHOTO BY CARI H a CHMANN/T h E PORTLAND OBSERVER
Kimberly Sower Moreland sifted through hundreds o f documents and photographs to create a new book on
the umque history o f Portland s black community. Proceeds from the publication, African Americans o f
Portland, will go to the group Oregon Black Pioneers to help establish the state's first African-American
museum.
“All Aboard! Railroading and Portland’s Black Commu
nity,” is a new exhibit at the Oregon History Museum
featuring old photographs, many of which are featured in
Kimblery Sower Moreland’s new book, “African Americans
o f Portland.”
•
The railroad was a major employer and contributor of
Portland’s black community that emerged around Union
Station in the late 19th century and continue through the mid
continued
on page 7