August 30, 2017
Page 9
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
A memorial plaque telling the story of the late Dr. DeNorval Unthank, the first black doctor in Portland and a dedicated humanitarian who tirelessly advocated for civil
rights while building his medical practice, is dedicated at Unthank Park in north Portland during an Aug. 19 community celebration sponsored by Self Enhancement,
Inc. Pictured (from left) are Bill Failing, president of the Lang Syne Society of Portland which made the plaque possible, Lesley and Jim Unthank, daughter and son of Dr.
Unthank; Portland City Commissioner Amanda Fritz and Tony Hopson, president and co-founder of SEI.
Building Community Pride
New plaque tells
story of Dr. Unthank
by m iChael l eighton
P ortland o bserver e ditor
A memorial plaque telling the story of
the late Dr. DeNorval Unthank, the first
black doctor in Portland and a dedicated
humanitarian who tirelessly advocated
for civil rights while building his medical
practice, was dedicated at Unthank Park
in north Portland during an Aug. 19 com-
munity celebration sponsored by Self En-
hancement, Inc.
The historical marker is a plaque at-
tached to a large boulder that is now placed
in the city park at North Kerby and Shaver
that was named in Dr. Unthank’s honor be-
fore his death in 1977. The memorial was
made possible by contributions of the Lang
Syne Society of Portland, a business group
dedicated to friendship and preserving the
memory of individual leaders who helped
build the city.
Self Enhancement, Inc., the non-prof-
it organization and public charter school
providing academic support and services
for African American and other students,
sponsored the dedication during its annual
free community “homecoming and music
festival,” an event that drew more than 950
community members.
The words on the memorial are as fol-
lows:
“DeNorval Unthank, M.D.
1899 – 1977
Dr. DeNorval Unthank completed med-
ical school at Howard University in Wash-
ington D.C. He was recruited to Portland
in 1929 and for several years after 1931
was Portland’s only black doctor. It was a
time when black families were turned away
from Portland hospitals. In the 1940s Dr.
Unthank began tirelessly advocating for
civil rights while building his medical
practice.
He became the first black member of
Portland’s City Club, served as president
of the local chapter of the NACP, and
was a cofounder of the Portland Urban
League. In 1958, the Oregon Medical As-
sociation named him Doctor of the Year,
a recognition that was just one of a long
list of awards in his 40 years of service. In
1969 the city of Portland dedicated this
park to Dr. Unthank in commemoration
of his years of activism in humanitarian
efforts.
Lang Syne Society of Portland – 2017”