February 20. 2013
The
Portland Observer Black History Month
York: Too
Long Ignored
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 2
shoulders a focal point and a sy m
bol o f the burden he bore during the
Lew is and C lark expedition, includ
ing fragm ents o f W illiam C la rk ’s
m aps “scarred” on his back.
A fter first reading about Y ork,
N eal and A bosedra w ere eag er to
dig up his history. T hey visited D oug
E rickson, Lew is & C la rk ’s head o f
special college collections. O nly
text fragm ents from the actual jo u r
nals o f M eriw h eth er L ew is and
W illiam C lark provide som e clues as
to w ho he was.
B om in o r n ear L adysm ith, V ir
ginia, York and his family were slaves
to the C larks. H is servant from boy
hood, C lark inherited Y ork w hen his
father died. In 1804, C lark took York,
a large, strong m an, as the only
A frican-A m erican m em b er on the
Lew is and C lark E xpedition.
In jo u rn als dating from 1804 to
1806, C lark describes Y ork’s duties
that attest to his skills in scouting,
hunting, field m edicine and m anual
labor in extrem e w eather conditions.
Y ork excited the curiosity o f N ative
A m ericans w ho treated him w ith
respect, m aking him a key person in
trading and diplom atic relations.
Sadly, the freedoms York endured
on the trail were not carried over at the
end o f expedition. W hile eveiy other
mem ber received money and land for
their services, Yoik got nothing. Clark
even refused to grant York’s request to
reunite with his wife, who was a slave in
Louisville. He remained a slave under
another master until 1816. His ultimate
fate is unclear and disputed among
historians.
N eal says that with Y ork’s m em o
rial in place, the history o f his life is
exposed fo r future generations. The
statue is no t ju s t a w ay for A frican
A m ericans to learn Y o rk ’s story,
but any nu m b er o f students w ho
m ay no t know his history.
W hile he initiated the project,
N eal said it w ould not have hap
pened w ithout the help o f so m any
people involved.
H e w ould like to recognize all
those w ho helped bring the York
statue, notably from Lew is & C lark’s
Y ork C o m m ittee and chair Linda
T esner; the director o f the R onna
and Eric H o ffm an G allery o f C on
tem porary A rt at Lew is & C lark;
C hris Jay, lead do n o r and Lew is &
C lark trustee; D arrell M illner, Y ork
h isto rian and p ro fesso r o f black
stu d ie s-a t P ortland State U niver
sity; as w ell as fellow law students
L ee M atthew s, Eric H evenor, Sara
B agheri, and M atthew A bosedra.
H e also recognizes the H onor-
able A ncerL .H aggerty,seniorjudge,
U.S. D istrict C ourt, Portland for giv-
C h a rle s N e a l w a s a la w s tu d e n t a t L e w is & C la rk C o lle g e in 2 0 0 4 w h e n h e c a m e u p w ith th e id e a
to b u ild a m o n u m e n t o f York, th e f ir s t b la c k m a n to e x p lo re w h a t is n o w P o rtla n d . N o w a n a tto rn e y
in C a lifo rn ia , h e is p ic tu r e d in 2 0 1 0 w ith A lis o n S a a r, th e a r t is t w h o s c u lp te d th e s t a tu te fo r th e
c o lle g e 's s o u th w e s t P o rtla n d c a m p u s .
ing him the flexibility to com plete his
internship while w orking on the York
project.
“ W ith o u t th e m h e lp in g , th e re
w o u ld b e n o m e m o ria l to s p e a k
o f ,” s a id N e a l.
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_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ THE_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
SPINACOLUMN
An ongoing series of questions and answers about Americas natural healing profession
Part 4. Stress: H o w Chiropractic can
help ease life's day-to-day pressures.
Q
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A
Dr. B illy R. F lo w e rs
Q
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C hiropractors can also help you w ith
A
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