Nelson 1

Shae Nelson
Dr. Knepler
Portland FRINQ
November 12th, 2014
Exhibition Essay
Portland during the 1900s was rapidly growing into a well-developed city that competed
with many other cities across the west coast. People were continually flooding into Portland
creating an atmosphere of growth and new development. Businesses were evolving, the
economy was growing, and people from all over the country seemed to want to know what the
city of Portland was all about. With this powerhouse in the making, many good things were
occurring, but with good also comes the bad. Racial discrimination was a large issue in the city
of Portland during this time. The article A Menace to the Neighborhood, provided by the
Oregon Historical Quarterly, it is clear that racial discrimination, primarily against the African
American race was extremely common and even a way of life in the city of Portland during the
early 1900s. The attitudes and outlook on racial segregation made a huge impact on Portlands
upbringing as a city and was a part of shaping what Portland is today.
A Menace to the Neighborhood discusses what life was like for African Americans
during the years of 1941-45. Many African Americans fled to the city in hopes of starting a new
life but came to find that segregation was all over the country, not just within the southern United
States. With Portlands population growing due to job opportunities mostly provided by the war
and shipbuilding companies, the housing shortage in Portland became an issue. African

Nelson 2
Americans were forced to live in Coontown, a rundown west district near the Union Station
terminal. (OHQ 8) Jobs were scarce and most African Americans worked in the war industry.
Restaurants and accommodations were separated by color and local residents even mocked the
blacks with restaurants named The Coon Chicken Inn. The media during this time even
openly discussed its opinions on the racial segregation issue and on October 1st, 1942, the San
Francisco Chronicle stated, Portland can only absorb a minimum amount of Negros without
upsetting the citys regular life. (Pearson 6) The Ku Klux Klan was also growing in size by the
1940s and at this time consisted of over 65,000 members determined to encourage white
supremacy. Some African Americans even found it was more accepting to live in Washington
than Portland which influenced groups of Negros to migrate to Vancouver. Learning that racial
segregation was unavoidable, many black people during this time just accepted their position and
did what they could to make a living in the city of Portland. Although it was difficult, some
residents even admitted they were proud to be a Portland citizen, such as an African woman that
reported this to the Oregon Journal. It was their home to and most were proud to say they were
making their lives in the great city of Portland.
As mentioned previously, many American moved to Portland during the war in order to
find work and most were successful due to the demand of ship building during this time. A large
amount of immigrants would come with nothing in hopes to start a brand new life. Imagine
taking this risk and then not being awarded a job as a qualified civilian only due to racial
segregation. An article found in the Oregonian called Discrimination Charge Made, which
also happens to be my primary source, was written in 1941 and demonstrates this example
perfectly. The Portland Boil makers and Machinists Unions decided to take part in this
discrimination and exclude all African Americans from their projects. They stated It was a

Nelson 3
waste of training facilities to train Negroes in this trade because they had such a slim chance of
being hired. The irony of this story was that these specific unions were the ones hiring the
African American employees to begin with. The opportunity to hire these Negro employees was
entirely in their hands and the unions did not want to include African American immigrants in the
workforce. An agreement was created between the work unions and Portland public schools
whereby Negroes were excluded from machine shop, machine tool, and ship welding.
(Oregonian 1) This agreement did not last once Mr. Dugdale, ruler of the school board, properly
investigated the agreement and terminated it. The Oregonian publicized this story to spread
awareness of this wrong doing and to show the community the surprising opinions of some
within the Portland workforce and school districts. This source fits perfectly with my original
source and is a specific example of the way African Americans were singled out in everyday life
and how equality was not existent for all races. It took investigating but thankfully the school
board was righteous enough to change this agreement and not purposely ignore the issue.
Another scholarly article that supports my primary source is called Black Families and
Migration to a Multicultural Society. This article demonstrates similar experiences as A
Menace to the Neighborhood, and a Discrimination Charge Made. It explains the lives of
African Americans who migrated to Portland during the 1900-24 eras. Not only African
Americans came at this time but Japanese and European populations came over as well. The
struggle to find jobs is discussed as well as the housing shortage crisis. The article also explains
how Japanese and African American immigrants were connecting within society at this time due
to the racial segregation and discrimination both races received during the 1920s. These
groups of immigrants found a new sense of community within each other.(Toll 6) The

Nelson 4
workforce at this time favored jobs to longtime residents first and made it difficult for new
immigrants to have the same opportunities and the whites.
The scholarly article of A West Coast Ghetto, also demonstrates racial segregation and
explains the lives of African American housing from 1910-60 in Portland. The blacks were
forced to live in a segregated area and were denied the opportunity to buy homes in nicer
locations in Portland. Almost the entire African American race that lived in Portland during this
time lived on the west side near Union Station. In 1919, African Americans began to slowly
move to the east side where homes became available, but realtors were skeptical about selling
home to newcomers of a different race. Vanport also became a source of segregation, where
many African Americans moved in the 1940s to stay in their place. It was a segregated
society that created a huge divide between the cities and once it was washed away by a flood in
1948; African Americans were forced to flee into Portland. This created an even bigger uproar
between the divide and forced the Vanport segregation line to come to an end.
Portland during the 1900s was a time of growth and great development. Along with the
growth, racial segregation also grew stronger and affected the lives of anyone who was not white
or a longtime resident. It made living in the city hard, especially for African Americans and
showed that those in power could make the lives of blacks extremely difficult. I believe
Americans not just in Portland but all over the country were not ready for change and were afraid
to make the first major steps in creating equality in our country. Whether that means allowing
the same job opportunities for all races, or even letting everyone use the same bathroom, I think
American wasnt mature enough during the early 1900s to let go of the traditional values that
influenced racial segregation. Although many were proud to live in Portland, it was still a
struggle for those of a different race and made life much more difficult. Racial segregation was a

Nelson 5
sad situation but still had an effect on the way Portland was shaped today and was a large part of
our citys history.

Nelson 6
Work Cited:
Mcelderry, Stuart. "Building a West Coast Ghetto: African-American Housing in
Portland, 1910-1960." JSTOR. Journal of American Ethnic History, 1 Jan. 2001. Web. 13 Nov.
2014. <http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/stable/40492659>.
"The Oregonian." Discrimination Charge Made 1 Jan. 1941: 1. Print.
Pearson, Rudy. "A Menace to the Neighborhood": Housing and African Americans in
Portland. No. 2 ed. Vol. 102. Oregon Historical Society, 2001. 158-179. Print
Toll, William. "Black Families and Migration to a Multiracial Society: Portland, Oregon,
1900-1924." JSTOR. Journal of American Ethnic History, 1 Jan. 1998. Web. 13 Nov. 2014.
<http://www.jstor.org.proxy.lib.pdx.edu/stable/27502301?seq=3>.