June 24, 2020
Page 7
Introducing
Rutherford
Park
c ontinued froM p age 3
rected a naming committee before his death in January.
The committee was made up of nine local community
members.
Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler announced the new name
earlier this month amid the protests in response to the
death of George Floyd, a black man killed by a white po-
lice officer in Minneapolis.
“I am honored to recognize Verdell Burdine Ruther-
ford’s role as a leader and historian for the black com-
munity by selecting her name for the first Portland park
named after a black woman,” said Wheeler.
The park was originally named for Patrick Lynch, who
in the late 1800s donated land for the park and adjacent
Patrick Lynch Elementary School, which still bears his
name. Three other elementary schools named for the
Lynch family were renamed in 2017.
At the time, Centennial School District Superintendent
Paul Coakley said many newer families coming into the
district associated the name with lynching, the killings
of black Americans in America’s violent and racist past.
“Mom rightfully considered herself a local historian,”
Verdell’s daughter, Charlotte Rutherford said in response
to the park renaming. “She was a hardworking volunteer
and community activist who did not seek the limelight,
photo courtesy p ortland p arks & r ecreation
Charlotte Rutherford visits the park re-named for her late mother, Verdell Burdine Rutherford, a Portland civil
rights leader and historian who helped pass legislation in Oregon to outlaw discrimination in public places on the
basis of “race, religion, color or national origin.”
but she would have accepted this honor humbly, knowing
that this park will provide a place for the community to
gather together.”
Verdell Burdine Rutherford was born in Oklahoma
in 1913 and moved with her family that same year to
Oregon, who hoped who hoped to get farmland under
the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909. Upon arrival,
they learned that black people were prohibited from
owning free land in Oregon.
In 1936, Verdell married Otto Rutherford and settled
in Portland. Together, they were leaders of the Oregon
chapter of the NAACP, and oversaw one of the NAACP’s
biggest victories – the passage of the Public Accommoda-
tions Act of 1953 which outlawed discrimination in public
places on the basis of race, religion, or national origin.
In 2011, a decade after her passing, her daughter, Char-
lotte, gifted her historical collection of artifacts from Port-
land’s historical African American community to Portland
State University. It remains accessible for academic re-
search and public use as the late leader desired.
Due to public gathering restrictions during the
COVID-19 pandemic, a community celebration at Verdell
Burdine Rutherford Park will be held at a later date, offi-
cials said.