May 15, 2013
jJortlanit (Observer
Page
Neighborhood History Revisited
Irvington Home Tour to highlight ‘red-lined’ area houses
Every year since 1967, the
Irvington Community Association
has honored the neighborhood’s
early 20th Century residential archi­
tecture by hosting the Irvington
Home Tour. This year, Portland’s
longest running home tour will fo­
cus on homes west of Northeast
15th Avenue, highlighting an area
with its own history.
M any of Irvington’s notable
bungalows, arts and crafts, colonials
and four-squares fell victim to disre­
pair and even abandonment in the
mid-1960s. This period of urban
blight, often attributed to the middle-
class flight to the suburbs, was also
due to banks’ racist practice of
“redlining.”
The phrase can be attributed to
the red lines bankers and real estate
companies would draw around mi­
nority neighborhoods, deem ing
them unw orthy o f investm ent.
Loans for restoration or purchase
were therefore not often granted to
Irvington’s minority residents.
In 1965, African American resi­
dent and Northwest Bell executive
Herbert Amerson co-founded the
Irvington Community Association
to fight the neighborhood’s dete­
rioration. Amerson and Rev. Robert
B o n th iu s, then m in iste r of
Westminster Presbyterian Church,
envisioned a racially integrated
Irvington.
Modeling its efforts after these
leaders’ vision, the Irvington Com­
munity Association distributes the
proceeds from the home tour to
nonprofits that enhance Irvington’s
quality of life.
A cco rd in g
to
B rian
Schaeperkoetter, one of the home
tour organizers, attendants are in­
terested in the historical architec­
ture of the homes, “especially since
wesr or Northeast 15th Avenue will be the focus o f the
Irvington Home Tour, from 11 a. m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 19.
nuuses
Irvington was designated a national
historic district a few years ago,” he
said. This year, as tour-goers pe
ruse the structural restorations and
interior design, they will also par­
take in an extra bit of history.
Fluoride
c o n t i n u e d f r o m page 3
to oral health.
The oldest of his mother’s five
children, Wright was the first in his
family to graduate from high school.
He continued his education at Co­
lumbia University with a focus on
dentistry, before attending Harvard.
After graduating from dental school,
he entered into the Navy where he
eventually would become respon­
sible for the entire Navy dental pro­
gram.
It was in the Navy, that Dr. Smith
and Dr. Wright would meet. Both
retired from military service in 2005,
and headed to Portland to partici­
pate in Kaiser Permanente’s dental
program.
Smith says he is shocked at the
level of untreated tooth decay in
Portland.
The two men said the decades of
research on fluoridation and their
experience in dental health has only
solidified their support of adding
fluoride to the water. They claim
opposition to the ballot measure,
which has come from groups like
C lean W ater Portland and the
N A ACP Portland chapter, misinter­
pret scientific studies.
To critics who oppose the pro­
posal based on freedom of choice,
they ask people to look to the end
game costs for medical care, com­
paring it the requirements to wear a
helmet on a motorcycle, “You may
not want to wear a helmet and say
it’s by choice, but if you get injured
we could all be paying for that. If
you can’t take care of your family
God-forbid, we’re supporting your
family.” Smith says.
Unconcerned with possible back­
lash from their public support of the
measure, the dentists continue to
talk to both supporters and opposi­
tion in the community. When asked
why they were not afraid. Dr. Wright
says, “Because every child deserves
a smile.”
They have
baggage.
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