Category Archives: History

“The Cherokee Word for Water” at North Portland library, 11/11

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cherokee-word-for-water
November 11th JHS Multicultural
Film Festival Movie
—

“The Cherokee Word for Water” and our guest facilitator, David Crawford, November 11th, will be at the North Portland Library, as part of the Jefferson High Multicultural Film Festival.

 

Mr Crawford engaged in life-changing conversations with Chief Wilma Mankiller (the protagonist of our movie) that caused him to apply and become a Cherokee Nation citizen in 1995.  He was honoring his deep Cherokee family’s historical experiences of life in Cherokee country – Coosa River (northeastern Alabama), Cherokee Nation West 1822 (northern Arkansas), the “Trail of Tears” 1837-38 to Indian Territory 1874 (Nowata, Oklahoma), and ultimately the small allotment of land issued (circa 1914) by the United States as it took remaining Cherokee land.

David Crawford, now an Oregon citizen, is founding member of Mt. Hood Cherokees (MHC), a Portland, OR official satellite community of the Cherokee Nation. He has served on MHC’s Council since it’s inception in 2010 and is currently Meeting Facilitator.  David Crawford brings with him JoEllen Marshall, also MHC Council member.

This Multnomah County Library sponsored program presents “The Cherokee Word for Water” for Defy the Inevitable: Harvest Beyond the Brim, our 2014/15 JHS Multicultural Film Festival Program, at no cost to you. it is family friendly and FREE. It will be great to … see YOU at the movie November 11, 6 PM at North Portland Neighborhood Library (512 N. Killingsworth Street, Portland!

Letter in support of preserving the building at 3962 NE MLK.

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July 16, 2014

To: Andre Raiford, Owner of 3962 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard

Mr. Raiford,

The members of the King Neighborhood Association endorse the community undertaking to preserve the building located at 3962 NE Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.  The history of the building itself, as well as its status as a symbol of African-American experience in the Albina area, make it well worth preserving. Preliminary plans to include 3962 NE MLK in an African-American historic resource survey reflect the importance of this site to the community’s memory, as well as its present-day experience. Continue reading →

Good videos, articles and books to learn about our neighborhood history

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NE Union Avenue (Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd) at Alberta ca. 1939

Articles

Albina – A New Home in Portland. The Volga Germans in Portland.

Vanport, Oregon (1942 – 1948). BlackPast.org.

Bleeding Albina: A History of Community Disinvestment, 1940-2000. Dr. Karen Gibson, Portland State University. 2007

Albina Community Plan. Portland Bureau of Planning. 1993.

The History of Portland’s African American Community (1805 to the Present). Portland Bureau of Planning. 1993.

King, Portland, Oregon. A Neighborhood in Transition. Edward J. SanFilippo. University of Pittsburgh. 2011 Continue reading →

Black History Month Day 29

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In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Carter G. Woodson

by Korey Bowers Brown

During the dawning decades of the twentieth century, it was commonly presumed that black people had little history besides the subjugation
of slavery.  Today, it is clear that blacks have significantly impacted the development of the social, political, and economic structures of the United States and the world.  Credit for the evolving awareness of the true place of blacks in history can, in large part, be bestowed on
one man, Carter G. Woodson.  And, his brainchild the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc. is continuing Woodson’s tradition of disseminating information about black life, history and culture to the global community.

Known as the “Father of Black History,” Woodson (1875-1950) was the son of former slaves, and understood how important gaining a proper education is when striving to secure and make the most out of one’s divine right of freedom. Although he did not begin his formal education until he was 20 years old, his dedication to study enabled him to earn a high school diploma in West Virginia and bachelor and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago in just a few years.  In 1912, Woodson became the second African American to earn a PhD at Harvard University.
Continue reading →

Black History Month Day 28

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In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Rebecca J. Cole

(16 March 1846–14 August 1922) was an American physician. In 1867, she became the second African American woman to become a doctor in the United States after Rebecca Crumpler‘s achievement three years earlier.

Cole was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and would overcome racial and gender barriers to medical education by training in all-female institutions run by women who had been part of the first generation of female physicians graduating mid-century. Cole attended the Institute for Colored Youth, graduating in 1863. She then went on to graduate from the <a title="Drexel University College of Medicine" href="http://en.wikipedia.org Continue reading →