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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 2016)
VETERAN’S DAY Special Edition QR code for Portland Observer Online PCC Cascade Transformed Community open house for campus expansion See Local News, page 3 ‘City of Roses’ Volume XLV Number 45 www.portlandobserver.com Wednesday • November 9, 2016 Established in 1970 Committed to Cultural Diversity An Oregon Historical Society photo shows children refugees from Vanport after the devastating flood in 1948. A new one-hour documentary tells the story of Vanport, which, in the ear- ly 1940s, was the second largest city in the state before a catastrophic flood destroyed the town located on the del- ta between north Portland and the Co- lumbia River. “Vanport” will air Monday, Nov. 14 at 9 p.m. as Oregon Public Broad- casting kicking off an 11th season of Oregon Experience with first-hand accounts and personal stories of the people who lived in Vanport and rare- ly-seen archival film and images. Vanport City was created out of a national emergency and it was signif- icant for housing a large migration of black residents into the Northwest. World War II had turned the Portland/ in Life Vanport New documentary features stores from survivors Vancouver area into a major ship- building hub and many thousands of workers from across the country be- gan arriving for jobs in the shipyards. The Northwest migration caused a major housing shortage in the Port- land area. By early 1942, nationally-known industrialist Henry J. Kaiser was op- erating three of the area’s largest ship- yards. To help meet the demand for housing, Kaiser built the largest single federal wartime housing project in the country. Although located on a flood plain and surrounded by dikes and le- vees, Vanport was conveniently close to the shipyards. During its heyday, it was home to about 42,000 workers and their children. The city was built quickly and never meant to be permanent. The crowded apartment buildings were prefabricated and lacked cement foundations. It was a noisy 24-hour city, but offered pro- gressive services for blacks and whites, including grade schools that operated year round and 24-hour day care for preschool children. As the war came to a close, the ship- yards laid workers off. Many of the transplanted workers decided to stay in the Northwest. In 1948, about 18,500 people still lived in the city, and about one-third of the population was Afri- can American.
