http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2011/02/north_portland_feb_9_forum_and.html
By Larry Bingham, The Oregonian
Courtesy Thomas Robinson's Historic Photo Archive
Residents of Guild's Lake Courts organized a protest caravan to Salem to demand permanent housing after being set up in temporary quarters after the Vanport City flood.
A first-ever community forum looking at Portland's vanished black neighborhoods is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9 at the Kaiser Town Hall in North Portland.
The City of Portland's Black History Month is sponsoring the event in collaboration with the City African-American Network, the Portland Water Bureau, Kaiser Permanente, Portland State University's Extended Studies Program and the Architectural Heritage Center.
The eve
nt, “Portland's Lost Black Neighborhoods,” will feature a one-time exhibit of historical photos of people and life in communities that were devastated by industrial development, urban renewal and flooding. The exhibits depict Guild's Lake Courts, South Albina, Fairview Homes and Vanport City.
The event is free and open to the public, and children are welcome. The exhibit will be open from 5:30 t0 7:30 p.m., and the program will begin at 6:15, when Mayor Sam Adams introduces Guest Speaker Ed Washington, former Metro Councilor and a resident of both Guild's Lake Courts and Vanport.
“We did a little thing last year about the Vanport legacy, where we invited survivors of Vanport to City Hall, but it was same day a protest march over a shooting went to Portland State, so a lot of people didn't come,” said Tim Hall, chairman of the Network. “One thing I heard was, 'This is great, but you should also know about Guild's Lake Courts and South Albina and Fairview Homes and all these places that were segregated neighborhoods during the war.”
Former residents of the vanished neighborhoods are encouraged to come and briefly share a story.
For more information, contact Hall at 503-381-0056 or Tim.Hall@portlandoregon.gov.
The event is one of many activities scheduled for Black History Month.