February 15, 2017
BLACK
HISTORY
MONTH
Page 5
photo courteSy o regon h iStorical S ociety
Verdell and Otto Rutherford (far right) were among the leaders of Portland civil rights community in the 1940s and 1950s who worked with then-state Rep. Mark O. Hat-
field to adopt Oregon’s Public Accommodation Act, the 21st state in the union to pass legislation outlawing discrimination in public places.
A Legacy Preserved
c ontinued from f ront
was strictly on a volunteer basis, Charlotte
Rutherford explains, stating that they were
never compensated for their work.
After returning to Portland in the late
1990s from her own career as a civil rights
attorney with the NAACP’s Legal Defense
Fund on the East Coast, the younger Ruth-
erford began the task of clearing through
her parents’ belongings.
“I didn’t really know what was in the
boxes, I just had sense enough not to throw
them away,” Rutherford explains. Eventu-
ally, through the help of friend and former
state legislator Avel Gordly, the collection
made its way to PSU.
“It has preserved the culture from a spe-
cific time period, from the ‘40s through
the ‘80s,” says Rutherford, describing the
collection’s significance. Rutherford says
that this was the height of Portland’s black
community, “Because after the 90s, people
started being dispersed.”
The wide variety of content within the
Rutherford collection offers a valuable sur-
vey of the historic strength of the commu-
nity, as even items such as dance programs
can offer insight into what neighborhoods in
north Portland once contained: “They sold
advertisements… So it would show you
what black businesses existed, and where
they were located, up and down Williams
Ave. and up and down Vancouver Ave.”
Today, the work of the Rutherford fam-
ily continues to serve Portland’s black
population. Two documentaries, “Lift
Ev’ry Voice,” and “Local Color,” both of
which were produced by Oregon Public
Broadcasting, made extensive use of the
material present in the Verdell Burdine
and Otto G. Rutherford collection. In ad-
dition, a CDC-funded Oregon Health and
Science University initiative has taken
advantage of the images. The ‘Sharing
History through Active Reminiscence and
Photo-imagery,’ or SHARP, program is uti-
lizing the extensive nature of the collection
to promote community memory building
and learn about Alzheimer’s risk in African
Americans over 55.
In November, Charlotte Rutherford was
honored with the Continuing the Legacy
Award by the Portland Branch of the NAACP
for her efforts preserving and donating the
collection to PSU’s Library. Rutherford is
quick to point out that PSU is always eager
to expand its records relating to the history of
Oregon’s black community, and encourages
individuals with potentially noteworthy con-
tent to reach out to the university.
Says Rutherford, “It’s a snapshot of a
period of time that probably doesn’t exist
like that anywhere else.”