Our Center Is Proud to Share with Our Community an Illustrated Timeline of Oregon's Black History from 1788 to 2012
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An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 Our center is proud to share with our community an illustrated timeline of Oregon’s Black History from 1788 to 2012. Our students and volunteers made selections of historical events that gave shape to the black experience in Oregon. These events contextualize our experiences and continue to have powerful implications into the present of all Oregonians. Source: Rut Martínez-Alicea, Southeast Multicultural Center Coordinator, 2015 An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 http://www.theskanner.com/news/northwest/10353-a-brief-history-of-african-americans-in-portland-2011-05-03 1788 First African man to set foot in Oregon Marcus Lopez, cabin boy of Captain Robert Gray, becomes the first person of African descent known to have set foot on Oregon Soil. Source: Taken from Timeline of Black History in the Pacific Northwest, 1788-1959 An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 www.pdimages.com 1843-1844 A measure is adopted “prohibiting slavery” Slave holders were required to free their slaves with the added requirement that all Blacks and Mulattoes must leave the territory within three years. The infamous lash law was then imposed which required blacks in Oregon — be they free or slaves — be whipped twice a year “until he or she shall quit the territory”. Source: Looking Back In Order to Move Forward An Often Untold History Affecting Oregon’s Past, Present and Future Timeline of Oregon and U.S. Racial, Immigration and Education History An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_K._Polk 1848-1879 Land is granted to “Whites and half-breed Indians” President Polk appointed Joseph Lane as Governor of the new Oregon Territory (raised in North Carolina and held southern Pro-Slavery beliefs). The Cayuse War forced Native American tribes onto and confined in reservations. The Oregon Donation Land Claim Act prevented them from obtaining reservation land west of the cascades. It sanctioned homesteading without regard for the legal obligations to Indian titles to the land. This act granted free land to only “Whites and half-breed Indians” excluding Native Americans and Blacks from owning land. Source: Looking Back In Order to Move Forward An Often Untold History Affecting Oregon’s Past, Present and Future Timeline of Oregon and U.S. Racial, Immigration and Education History An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gpPB_eoNpcE/TbHX7NOMpLI/AAAAAAAAFiE/o13RivHCdgs/s400/oregon4.jpg 1857-1858 Black settlers head north to British Columbia A new exclusion law is added to the constitution’s Bill of Rights. “Honest” John Whiteaker and many others were elected as officials and were well known for their pro-slavery views. Black settlers due to pervasive racism of the west coasts, head north to British Columbia. Source: Looking Back In Order to Move Forward An Often Untold History Affecting Oregon’s Past, Present and Future Timeline of Oregon and U.S. Racial, Immigration and Education History An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 http://wkcurrent.com/clients/wkcurrent/10-29-2007-11-51-31-AM-2223260.web.jpg 1859-1862 Colored residents of Oregon are required to pay $5 annual tax and interracial marriage is banned Oregon is the only state admitted to the Union with an exclusion law written in it’s state’s constitution. Civil War begins in the east. The Knights of the Golden Circle, an anti-Union Pro-slavery group, opens chapters in many Oregon communities. Their goal was to secede from the US and Create a Pacific Coast Republic (where slavery would be legal). Oregon adopted a law requiring all Blacks, Chinese, Hawaiians (Kanakas) and Mulattos residing in Oregon to Pay $5 annual tax. If they could not pay, they could be pressed into service maintaining state roads for $.50 a day. Interracial marriages were banned in Oregon. It was against the law for whites to marry anyone ¼ black or more. Source: Looking Back In Order to Move Forward An Often Untold History Affecting Oregon’s Past, Present and Future Timeline of Oregon and U.S. Racial, Immigration and Education History An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 http://oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/act-to-prohibit-the-intermarriage-of-races-1866/#.VOJwDvnF8Ro 1864-1870 Knights of the Golden Circle Knights of the Golden Circle fall apart when it becomes appar- ent the Union will win the Civil War. Thirteenth Amendment, banning slavery in the United States, passes by referendum in Oregon. Oregon citizens do not pass the fourteenth amendment, granting citizenship to Blacks. The state’s ban on interracial marriages extended to prevent Whites from marrying anyone who is ¼ or more Chinese or Hawaiian, and ½ or more Native American (repealed in 1951). The Fourteenth Amendment passes 2 years later. Despite failing to pass in both Oregon and California, the Fifteenth Amendment, granting Black men the right to vote is added to the US Constitution which supersedes Oregon State Constitution banning Black suffrage. In 1959 Oregon finally ratified the fifteenth amendment to the U.S constitution. Source: Looking Back In Order to Move Forward An Often Untold History Affecting Oregon’s Past, Present and Future Timeline of Oregon and U.S. Racial, Immigration and Education History An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 http://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/media/uploads/Riley_George_speaker_poster_of_ba019162.jpg 1883-1927 Oregon repealed its Exclusion Law and Oregon State Constitution was amended An attempt is made to amend the Oregon Constitution to remove its ban on Black Suffrage. The effort fails despite the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment. Further attempts to remove the language prohibiting Blacks from voting from Oregon’s Constitution were made in 1895, 1916. In ‘26 Oregon repealed its Exclusion Law, which barred Blacks from the state, by amending the state constitution to remove it from the Bill of Rights. In ‘27 the Oregon State Constitution was finally amended to remove a clause denying Blacks the right to vote and eliminating restrictions that discriminated against Black and Chi- nese voters. Source: Looking Back In Order to Move Forward An Often Untold History Affecting Oregon’s Past, Present and Future Timeline of Oregon and U.S. Racial, Immigration and Education History An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 http://walidah.com/files/hidden%20history%20section%20skin%20OR%20humanities%20magazine.pdf 1800’s Transcontinental railroad brings the first large influx of Black people to Oregon The Completion of the transcontinental railroad brings the first large influx of Black people to Oregon. Willie Richardson, president of the Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers, credits Black railroad workers for building a community in Portland: “Because they stayed, they allowed a whole new generation to come in and succeed.” In 1906 Black businessman W. D. Allen opens the Golden West Hotel, which becomes the center of a thriving Black-owned business district. The hotel is designed primarily to serve Black railway employees, who are denied accommodations in Portland’s white- owned hotels. Source: http://walidah.com/files/hidden%20history%20section%20skin%20OR%20humanities%20magazine.pdf An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=LAH19020919.2.58&srpos=&dliv=none&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN------- 1902 “Quietly and orderly” lynching of a black man due to alleged rape Alonzo Tucker was a Black man who worked as a bootblack and operator of a gym in Marshfield, Oregon (Coos Bay). A white woman alleged that Tucker had raped her. The charges were never substantiated. A mob of 200 armed men marched on the jail, marshal freed Tucker who hid beneath a dock. The next morning he was shot twice and then hanged from the Fourth Street Bridge by a mob that had grown to more than 300. The coroner’s inquest found no fault; the victim, the report said had died of asphyxiation. No indictments were brought. The local paper observed that the lynch mob was “quietly and orderly” and that the vigilante meeting was not an “unnecessary disturbance of the peace” Source: Echoes of Oregon, A Brief History of the Oregon territorial Period An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/01/post_115.html 1903-1914 Weekly newspaper features important and authentic information pertaining to the African American community Beatrice Morrow Cannady (a black woman) was an editor of The Advocate started as a weekly newspaper for the “intelligent discussion and authentic diffusion of matter appertaining to the colored people, especially of Portland and the State of Oregon.” It featured birth and death announcements, society news, and general good news about African Americans. Articles and editorials about segregation, lynching, employment opportunities and other issues helped keep the realities of “Jim Crow laws and the pressing need for civil rights on the local, state and national agenda.” The newspaper challenged attempts to deprive black people of their rights, to deny Blacks their humanity, and to degrade their African cultural heritage. Beatrice was also a co-founder of The Portland Chapter of the NAACP, the oldest continually chartered chapter west of the Mississippi river, is founded. Source: Looking Back In Order to Move Forward An Often Untold History Affecting Oregon’s Past, Present and Future Timeline of Oregon and U.S. Racial, Immigration and Education History and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beatrice_Morrow_Cannady An IllustrAted tImelIne of oregon’s Black History: 1788—2012 http://oregonhistoryproject.org/articles/historical-records/nareb-code-of-ethics/#.VOJjl_nF8Ro 1919 Selling of property to people of color in white neighborhoods is prohibited and then repealed The Portland Board of Realty approved a “Code of Ethics” prohibiting realtors and bankers from selling property in white neighborhoods to people of color or providing mortgages for such purposes.