Black
History
Month
Established in 1970
PO QR code
Volume XLVIV • Number 9
‘City
of
Roses’
www.portlandobserver.com
Wednesday • February 26, 2020
Committed to Cultural Diversity
Early Black Leader Recognized
Naming follows
new policy
promoting
racial justice
b everly C orbell
t he P ortland o bserver
When Louisa Flowers first set
foot in Portland in 1882, she and
her brand new husband Allen
joined the city’s small African
American community of less than
500 people, despite laws that dis-
couraged them from being there at
all.
Life was not easy back then
when anti-black sentiments led
to discriminatory practices in
housing, employment and voting
rights. According to the Oregon
Black Pioneers, “The direct ef-
fects of these laws lasted gener-
ations, and the harmful impacts
continue today.”
Despite these challenges, as her
1928 obituary reads, Louisa “pre-
sided as a queen with quiet digni-
ty” to build a successful life for
her family and community.
In recognition of Flowers’
contributions to the city, and a
new emphasis on recognizing
other people of color and other
under-represented communities
in Portland, the housing agency
Home Forward has named one of
its newest properties in Flowers
name as part of a new policy to
support systemic change for racial
and social justice.
Louisa Flowers was born in
Boston, while her husband, Al-
len was born in Columbus, Ohio,
arriving in Portland in 1865 as a
cabin boy on the Brother Jona-
than. He promptly jumped ship
and worked at odd jobs for sev-
eral years, and after he and Lou-
isa were married, he was hired as
porter-in-charge between Portland
and Seattle for the Northern Pacif-
Jeremy Christian
Guilty
on All
Counts
by
C ontinued on P age 12
Photo by M otoya n akaMura / Courtesy M ultnoMah C ounty
Community leaders celebrate the opening of the Louisa Flowers apartments last November. Named
for a prominent black woman steeped in early Portland history, the 240 unit affordable housing
development in the Lloyd District is the largest in 50 years. Joining the celebration was Multnomah
County Chair Deborah Kafoury, Commissioner Susheela Jayapal, Home Forward executive Michael
Buonocore and many others.
P hoto Courtesy o regon h istoriCal s oCiety
Early Portland pioneer and civic leader Louisa Flowers is surrounded by her family. Seated are her
husband Allen (left) and son Lloyd. Standing are her sons (from left) Ervin, Elmer and Ralph.
Hate spewing
Max attacker
faces life
in prison
Jeremy Christian, the man who
went on a racist tirade spewing
hate against two young black
women and others on a Max train
in 2017 before killing two pas-
sengers and critically wounding
a third, awaits a possible life sen-
tence after being convicted on all
charges Friday.
A Multnomah County jury was
unanimous in convicting Chris-
tian, 37, on 12 charges, including
murder, attempted murder, as-
sault, intimidation and menacing.
The trial took four weeks and in-
cluded chilling graphic video of
the attack and gripping testimony
from passengers and survivors on
the train.
On Tuesday, the jury returned
to the courtroom to decide Chris-
tian’s sentence in proceedings ex-
pected to take two days. A possi-
ble death sentence was taken off
the table earlier by the judge, the
C ontinued on P age 4