Page 8
May 22, 2019
Mississippi
Alberta
North Portland
Vancouver
East County
Beaverton
Residents of Vanport evacuate from their flooded homes on Memorial Day 1948 when a levy breach sent Columbia River waters over its
banks, wiping out the entire community. Oregon Historical Society archive photo.
Vanport Mosaic Honors, Confronts Past
Opportunities to explore and
confront Portland’s past and recent
history of “othering ” and its tragic
consequences is front and center at
this year’s annual Vanport Mosaic
Festival, with events taking place
at various locations through June 5,
including a full schedule of activi-
ties for Memorial Day at the Port-
land Expo Center in north Portland.
The Monday, May 27 holiday
marks the anniversary of the 1948
flood that destroyed the town of
Vanport, a racially integrated com-
munity that housed workers from
across the country who came to the
city to work in the Portland ship-
yards during World War II.
“The Spirit of Vanport Lives On,’
a daylong celebration on Memorial
Day , will take place in the Expo
Center’s Hall A, from 10 a.m. to
4 p.m. , highlighted by the exhibit
“Vanport: A Story Lived. A Story
Told” with Vanport artifacts from
the Terri Johnson collection.
The day will also include on-go-
ing narrated bus tours and walking
tours of historic Vanport; a screening
of the film “Lost City, Living Mem-
ories: Vanport Through the Voices
of its Residents” will begin at 11:30
a.m.; and a screening about the forced
displacement of Japanese Americans
from Portland during the war, “Ore-
gon’s Japanese Americans: Beyond
the Wire” will take place at 2 p.m.
For a schedule of all related Van-
port Mosaic Festival events, visit
vanportmosaic.org.