Importance of Celebration
Celebration is essential to making a place achieve the feeling and reality of inclusion. A celebration can build connections among diverse people and cultures by lifting up and understanding our commonalities and differences.
Through this coming, the Wilsonville Alliances will facilitate the growth of our community’s connections by highlighting celebrations of diverse perspectives and cultures in Wilsonville. Black History Month is our start, but please email us if you would like to raise awareness about your diverse perspective or culture.
History of Black History Month
The month of February has been designated as Black History Month. In September 1915, Dr. Carter G. Woodson and minister Jesse E. Moorland established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, which is known today as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). It was dedicated to researching and promoting the achievements of Black Americans and other peoples of African descent.
From this organization, Negro History Week was established in 1926 during the second week of February. This week was chosen to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. As the civil rights era took hold in the late 1960s, Negro History Week evolved into Black History Month. It was President Gerald Ford who in 1976 officially established Black History Month.
However, it should be noted that Dr. Woodson did not confine his life’s work to just one week. Known as “The Father of Black History”, he was a pioneer in publishing information about black life, history, and culture to the global community. Under Dr. Woodson’s leadership, the Association created a publication avenue for Black scholars with the establishment of the Journal of Negro History (1916) and the Negro History Bulletin (1937). A little-known fact is that in recognition of Dr. Woodson’s work, an ornament of Woodson hangs on the White House’s Christmas tree each year. A nice tribute to such a pioneer.
Continue exploring Black History Month through the National Park Service’s website.
Black history in Oregon
Oregon’s Black history is not an inclusive history, sadly. Though a Black man named York was among the first overland American expedition to reach the Pacific in 1805, he did so while enslaved by William Clark, one of the expedition leaders. He was not freed until many years after returning east.
Between 1843 and 1859, Oregon’s government developed from a provisional government (founded at Champoeg in 1843) to full Statehood in the United States. During this time, first in 1843 under the provisional government, then in 1850 under the Donation Land Act while Oregon was a territory, and then finally under the state Constitution adopted in 1859, land and property were reserved for white colonists, and Black people were denied the ability to live or have legal protection in the state of Oregon.
Oregon’s racist language remained in the State constitution, though repealed in 1926, until a ballot measure in 2002 finally struck the language from the text.
In 1942, high demand for industrial workers led to the construction of Vanport to provide housing for those working at the Kaiser shipyards in Portland. This led to significant growth in the Black community in Portland.
In 1948, Vanport was destroyed by a flood, which forced many of its residents to relocate to the Albina district of Portland because support to rebuild housing was never provided. For the next several decades, Black residents in Albina neighborhoods suffered from issues of racism seen across the country, such as redlining, disinvestment, and economic discrimination.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the construction of I-5, I-84, and the convention center area physically displaced a large section of the Albina and Black neighborhoods on Portland’s inner east side.
In the 2000s, gentrification further displaced long-standing Black residents and businesses.
Today, leaders and communities across Oregon are still dealing with the fallout of Oregon’s racist history and making decisions that will impact whether or not Oregon can effectively move towards a future of justice and equity.
For a history of the Civil Rights movement in Oregon, consider visiting the Oregon Historical Society and Oregon Black Pioneers’ joint virtual exhibit.
Continue learning!
Black History is not limited to just one month, or to Black History in America. However, the presence of Black History Month prompts many discussions about United States history and experiences that would otherwise not occur. Below we highlight a few key Black Oregonians and significant days in February. Please check out the following resources for more information:
Walidah Imarisha, Director of the Center for Black Studies at Portland State University, and a local author and poet, will be presenting on Black History in Oregon on February 23 at 6:30pm (link).
Oregon Humanities “A Hidden History” project. This webpage program reveals the stories and struggles of Oregon’s Black/African American communities.
Oregon Black Pioneers is active in research and education on Black History in Oregon. Their website contains exhibits and information on local people, places, and events in Oregon’s history.
Black Oregonians and Northwesterners
Letitia Carson – pioneer and settler. She was the only Black woman to claim acreage under the Homestead acts in Oregon (in 1868), which she did after successfully suing the man who had stolen and auctioned her previous land and property when her husband died in 1852.6
George Hardin – He was appointed as Portland’s first Black police officer in 1895. Though laid off a year later, he was hired as the first Black deputy in Multnomah County, serving with distinction until his death in 1938.
Significant dates for celebration and remembrance
The Greensboro Sit-ins are begun by Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil February 1, 1960, Greensboro, North Carolina
Rosa Parks’ Birthday, February 4, 1913, Tuskegee, Alabama
Frederick Douglass’ Birthday, February 14, 1818 (assumed), Cordova, Maryland
Toni Morrison’s Birthday, February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio
W.E.B. DuBois’ Birthday, February 23, 1868, Great Barrington, Massachusettes
Hiram Revels is sworn in as the first Black United States Senator from Mississippi, by appointment, February 23rd, 1870