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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 2019)
Page 16 January 30, 2019 NAACP Generations c ontinueD froM f ront Vancouver NAACP assistant treasurer and artist, is aimed at exploring the NAACP’s early his- tory in Vancouver, the evolution of the Vancouver branch, and its contemporary stories and accom- plishments. “The NAACP has been real- ly active in this area, been active since the 40s,” Carter told the Port- land Observer. “It kind of ebbs and flows with the time, but we still have a strong membership. And the ebb and flow comes with the activities and people who are really active in it. But we’re still growing and we’re still keeping it alive.” Other free events as part of Black History Month observances include a community art exhibit at the Angst Gallery at 1015 Main St., Vancouver, on Friday, Feb. 1; and “Soundtrack for a Revolu- tion,” a documentary film screen- ing and discussion on Feb. 27 at the Old Liberty theater on 115 N. Main Ave. in Ridgefield. Vancouver NAACP’s forma- tion in 1945 followed the largest single increase in Vancouver’s African American population be- tween 1940 and 1944, going from just 18 people to a population of 8,825. That boom coincided with a surge in the black population in the Portland-Vancouver area with the establishment of three Kaiser Shipyards to build ships for World War II. A number of black residents were segregated in wartime hous- ing at that time, which spurred a local group of concerned citizens to join and create the Vancouver NAACP, 33 years after the cre- ation of the national organization was established, and 29 years after Portland’s NAACP was formed. The Vancouver NAACP then worked with Vancouver Housing Authority to integrate housing, specifically in the McLoughlin Heights neighborhood of Vancou- ver, which was a primary location of the black population back then, and the largest wartime housing project on the west coast at the time. After the war, the NAACP Vancouver worked to combat and eradicate the racial discrimination that confronted many of the black families who decided to stay in Vancouver in search of upward mobility through jobs, housing and education. It was due in part from NAACP Vancouver and Urban League of Portland, that both Washington and Oregon created Fair Employ- ment Practices Commissions in 1949. 1989. Though Joshua passed away in at the age of 92 in 2012, the award that carries her name still exists today, and honors others in the community who work to eliminate racism. The history of African-Amer- icans in the Pacific Northwest is rich. The first black man thought to have set foot in the Pacific North- west, Marcus Lopez, touched down at Tillamook in 1788, as a crew member of Capt. Robert Though Joshua passed away in at the age of 92 in 2012, the award that carries her name still exists today, and honors others in the community who work to eliminate racism. Though this opened some jobs for African Americans, many still left Vancouver after the shipbuild- ing jobs ended, unable to find ad- equate employment and housing. By 1960, the black population in Vancouver dropped to just fewer than 500. Nevertheless, the Vancouver NAACP survived that whole time and continues to work toward im- proving the lived experiences of the over 4,500 black residents who call Vancouver home today, about 3 percent of the total population, according to the 2010 Census. One of the founding members of Vancouver NAACP, Val Joshua, led the group as president for 29 years—from the early 70s to the early 2000s—and helped the orga- nization grow. Her efforts helped to desegregate housing, teaching and places of worship in Clark County and she was honored by the Clark County YWCA, a civil rights organization, with the Val Joshua Racial Justice award in Gray’s Lady Washington. Some black slaves brought to Oregon in the mid to late 1800s sought refuge in Washington due to Oregon’s exclusionary laws. Despite being a “free state” that did not allow slavery, Oregon outlawed any black person from residing in the state at the time. When the Washington Territory was carved off from Oregon ter- ritory in 1853 it did not adopt the same laws. Only 20 black people were in the Pacific Northwest at the time, according to a US Cen- sus from 1860. There were even black pioneers who each settled in Washington state in the mid 1800s—George Washington Bush in 1844, and George Washington in 1850. Bush’s son, William Owen Bush, was later elected to the state leg- islature and introduced Washing- ton’s first civil rights act, which prohibited racial discrimination in public places, in 1889. From 1899-1900, the all-black 1940s newspaper columnist Hattie Cox wrote about the who’s who of the black community of McLoughlin Heights in Vancouver, which housed thousands of African Americans to work in the Kaiser Shipyards. Hattie wrote for the black newspaper The People’s Observer, which The Portland Observer pays homage to in its name. “Buffalo Soldiers” from Company B of the 24th U.S. Infantry Regi- ment were stationed at Vancouver Barracks, which was the first time in the history of the post that a unit from one of the Army’s four African American regiments com- prised the post’s regular garrison of troops. A retired Buffalo Soldier and Medal of Honor recipient, Moses Williams, was even buried in Van- couver shortly after moving there in 1899. A regional black news- paper at the time, Portland New Age, reported the black soldiers received racial prejudice from some, though no lynching’s or di- rect violence towards them were recorded. To find out more about these histories, and the current priorities and future aspirations of Vancou- ver NAACP, join a panel discus- sion with past and present Van- couver NAACP presidents, and moderated by historical author Jane Elder Wulff, for “NAACP Generations” on Thursday, Feb. 7 at Clark County Historical Mu- seum, 1511 Main St. Vancouver. Doors open at 5 p.m., and the event starts at 7 p.m., and tickets are $5 and under.
