Page 8
the
Portland Observer Black
History Month
February 27, 2013
Enduring Courage
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 4
Vancouver Avenue’s Rev. J.
W. Matt Hennessee led the cel­
ebration in Vancouver for Ida
Jones’s 100th birthday in 2008.
The church helped her celebrate
again last summer in Portland
when she turned 104.
Mrs. Bertha (David) Baugh also
built Portland connections early.
A schoolteacher in Alabama be­
fore she and her husband came to
Vancouver in September 1945,
she was told by school officials
that Vancouver “wasn’t ready for
colored teachers.” She started
teaching in the massive north
Portland housing project called
Vanport.
After Vanport went down in
the flood of May 1948, Bertha
Baugh became one o f the first
black teachers hired by Port­ Bertha Baugh broke racial barriers as a long-time teacher.
land Public Schools. She and
her husband made their home in by phone, taking turns calling roots, as the First Families book
Vancouver, but she spent 26 every few weeks.
show, the connections between
years teach in g in P o rtland,
T h ro u g h th e ir c h u rc h , them have by now become a
mostly at George Elementary school, service and family as­ wonderfully tangled root mass -
School. In 1972 she was named sociations, they are known to a supreme challenge for histori­
an O u tstan d in g E lem en tary hundreds of people in Portland ans, a playground for genealo­
Teacher of America.
as well as Vancouver. Ties like gists, and a source of wonder for
Baugh and Jones worked to­ these have continued to develop the rest of us.
g e th e r w ith m any m ore alo n g w ith the sto rie s o f
Jane Elder Wulff o f Vancouver
Vancouver citizens, black and Vancouver and Portland’s dis­ is the author o f First Families of
white, on NAACP causes and tinct African American com ­ Vancouver’s African American
events through the 1950s. The munities.
Community, From WorldWarTwo
two friends still keep in touch
If each settlement has deep to the Twenty-First Century.
•
J j ••
'
*
L
- . * J J < i J J
of Vancouver's African .American Community
His Legacy
Will Live On
Charles H.
Washington
P ublisher and E ditor - in -C hief
of the P ortland O bserver
Dec. 18 1951 -Dec. 8 2012
From World w a r TWo io tfw T w en ty+’(rsi cen tu ry
tty tone Elder Wuift
First
Families
Support
NAACP
The book First Families of
Vancouver’s African American
Families is currently available
for $20 with 100 percent of the
proceeds benefiting Vancouver
NAACP Branch #1139.
The civil rights organization
is a historic treasure, first char­
tered by Vancouver’s earlist
black residents in 1945 to ad­
dress post-World War II hous­
ing and job discrimination. The
group continues to promote
social justice, housing and job
opportunités.
To order copies, you can
contact Jane Elder Wulff at P.O.
Box 308, Battle Ground, WA
98604
or
em ail
j wulff 123 @ msn.com.