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Portland Observer
Special Edition
Volume XLIV
N um b er 8
‘City of Roses’
mreei/ears befoe
in Oregon
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www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • February 19, 2014
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Established in 1970
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devastating flood wiped out the city, Haggerty rose to become both the first African-American federal judge and the first black circuit court judge
Drawing to a Final Verdict
Ancer L. Haggerty reflects on journey to and from the bench
D onovan M. S mith
T he P ortland O bserver
by
Judge Ancer L. Haggerty seems to prefer to let his
distinctions and accomplishments shine for themselves.
The journey that saw him go from just another face in
the Marines to making history as both the first African-
American federal judge and first black circuit court
judge in Oregon was not necessarily what he envi
sioned for him self early on.
H aggerty cam e up in a Portland that was deep in
transition; he was only 3-years-old when the storied
V anport projects were com pletely w ashed away by
a M em orial Day flood in 1948. T he d isa ste r forced
him along w ith his p aren ts and th o u san d s o f other
b lack s w ho liv ed in the d ev elo p m en t into the
seg reg ated n eig h b o rh o o d s o f north and northeast
Portland.
As many of the Vanport survivors began to settle
into homes in other parts of town, their children were
integrated into schools that were primarily white.
Haggerty was a student at Woodlawn School and later
Jefferson High School during the 1950s and 60s, both
majority white at the time. While he recalls being
conscious of these realities, to him it w asn’t that big a
deal.” Instead he focused on his studies.
A fter graduating from Jefferson he set off to the
U niversity of O regon where h e’d earn his B achelor’s
D egree in 1967. He would swap the ‘‘green and
continued
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