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The Golden West
The Golden West Hotel, located at NW Broadway and Everett Streets in Portland, was the 1st hotel in the city to accommodate African American patrons. For 25 years, 1906-1931, it was a social center and a focal point of the black community, a place for African Americans of all ages to gather and socialize in a segregated and largely unfriendly city. On the lower floors of the hotel, there were several black-owned businesses- a bar, a barbershop, an ice cream parlor, and an athletic club. -
Growth
Portland's black population grew from 2000-20,000 due to the shipbuilding industry of WW2. The majority of the Black community had settled near industrial areas, to the Broadway-Steel Bridge area along Williams Avenue.
They gradually moved into the Albina area, which had been recently occupied by white working class members and previously denied to blacks. -
Jimmy Blanton visits the Clover Club
Jimmy Blanton, bass player of the Woody Hite band, visited the Clover Club (923 S.W. Taylor) after his performance with Duke Ellington at the Civic Auditorium. -
Kaiser shipyards
During WW2, industrialist Henry J. Kaiser established three shipyards in the Pacific Northwest, two in Portland and one in Vancouver. Kaiser’s NW shipyards produced 752 ships during the war years. At their peak at the end of 1942, the shipyards in the Northwest employed 97,000 workers, including many migrating from outside the region. The shipyard boom played a major role in reshaping the social, political, and economic history of Portland, which had a pre-war population of 340,000 residents. -
Pearl Harbor
The Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, and we are in the war. -
"Flying Home" Illinois Jacquet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dio0JOoB0c
In 1942, Lionel Hampton let Illinois Jacquet loose on the 78 rmp Decca record called “Flyin Home.” The music world hasn't been the same since. -
The Dude Ranch becomes the Acme
When the Dude Ranch closed it became the Acme Club “the house that bop built” and opened its doors with acts such as Carl Thomas (Portland’s version of Charlie Parker) and Leo “Dark Eyes” Amadee who came from New Orleans as a boogie-woogie mastermind. -
The Dude Ranch closes.
A shooting, maybe the gambling or mixing of races on the dance floor prompted city authorities to close the club a few months later. It reopened a short distance away but was never the same. Most of the aging structures in the North Williams neighborhood fell victim to late twentieth-century urban renewal, but the brick building that housed the original Dude Ranch at 240 North Broadway still stands, now part of the Leftbank Project, offering community office space, a cafe, and a brewery. -
End of the shipyards.
Kaiser’s operations quickly ended after the war. By the end of 1945, only about 10,000 men and 2,000 women worked in the 3 Northwest yards. Operations soon ceased completely. Shipyard and industrial workers had made a significant contribution to the war effort, but many later suffered from severe health problems due to their exposure to asbestos. Scrap metal company Zidell Exploration purchased 187 decommissioned Liberty ships in the 20 years after the war and converted them to scrap metal. T -
Bop rebellion
By now, there are hundreds of Swing bands, but the Bop rebellion is beginning because many excellent young black players are getting irritated that the whites are making most of the money in Jazz. -
The Dude Ranch opens.
The Dude Ranch Club opened its doors to the sounds of Al Pierre and his band, which had a bluesy, Kansas City beat. -
Joe Crane, Big Dave Henderson, and the Frantic Five
In 1945, the night of Halloween, the crowd at the ranch wouldn't let Joe Crane, Big Dave Henderson, and the rest of the Frantic Five off stage. After their one hour rendition of St Louis Blues, their loyal fans were yelling for one more encore. -
The greatest night at the Dude Ranch.
Lively as the Dude Ranch was, no night equaled December 5, 1945, when Norman Granz brought his touring jam session, Jazz at the Philharmonic, to town and played there. That night, legendary saxophonist Coleman Hawkins led a group that included trumpeter Roy “Little Jazz” Eldridge, bassist Al McKibbon, and a young pianist Thelonious Monk. “Never before in the history of the northwest has there been as much jazz music played per square minute by any group,” Bill McClendon wrote in The Observer. -
The Medley
The Medley was a hotel on Interstate and Albina. The first floor was called the Blue Room, drapes and luxurious furniture decorated the room. Featuring hundreds of bands including Dizzy Gillespie. -
Billy Eckstine opens for Billie Holiday
In 1949, vocalist and band leader Billy Eckstine opened up for Billie Holiday at the Civic Auditorium and sang one of his all time greats “Everything I have is yours.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZZSirka0-U -
Population growth 1940-1950
An influx of people into Portland increased population to 373,628 people. Portland's Black population increased tenfold from approximately 2,000 to 20,000. Portland's established black community was slowly recovering from the Depression, but it would never be the same. -
Mrs. Marie Smith, human rights activist
She was named Portland's First Negro Citizen of the Year in 1950.
First woman president of the Portland Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in 1949-1950. -
Immanuel Baptist Church
1953 - The Immanuel Baptist Church (former Second German Baptist Church) relocates to 8311 NE Prescott St. -
Charlie Parker
Charlie Parker played at McElroy's Ballroom (now where the Portland Building sits today) in 1954 as Stan Kenton's guest soloist -
Charlie Parker
Bebop phenom Charlie Parker performed at McElroy's Ballroom (now Portland Building) in 1954 as one of Stan Kenton's guest soloist. -
Rose Festival Queen
Jan Markstaller from Washington High School (no longer open) is elected the Rose Festival Queen. -
Population growth
According to the census report, in 1960, Blacks made up 2% of the population in Oregon. -
Construction of Interstate 5.
Construction of the I5 freeway occurs in Portland, and through imminent domain hundreds of homes and buildings are destroyed, forcing families to relocate to other parts of the city. -
Cotton Club
By 1968, the Cotton Club loses business due to social unrest taking place in Portland -
Neighborhood Development Program
Portland applies for the Neighborhood Development Program funding to make physical improvements to the Model Cities neighborhoods. This rehabbed 1600 housing units through loans and grants, planted 600 street trees, created more than 7 acres of parks at 3 sites, and 8 neighborhood policy plans were developed but not adopted by the City. -
Black Panther Party of Portland
Better policing practices were, from the beginning, a central concern for the Black Panther Party. On February 15, 1970, about fifty demonstrators, half of them white, marched from Portland State University to the Federal Courthouse in support of community-controlled policing. (Oregon Historical Society) -
Emanuel Hospital expands, razing 300 homes and businesses in Albina.
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Neighborhood Development Program Ends
The NDP was terminated in 1974, spending a total of 18.5 million dollars spent in 5 years of the Model Cities Program. One successful result of the program was the construction of the median strip with landscaping on Union Avenue (now MLK Blvd.)
