HST 403: Recording Portland’s Civil Rights History



UNST 421-542: PDX Civil Rights Project

MW 4:00-5:50 pm

Shattuck Hall 249

Instructor: Felicia Williams Email: fwilliam@pdx.edu

Office Hours: By appointment

Course Description:

The Civil Rights movement changed the way people thought about race and equal opportunity in America. This course will examine how the movement happened in Portland as students record oral histories from people who fought for civil rights in Oregon. There will be a total of three interviews: one unrecorded pre-interview, one two-hour interview, and one follow up one-hour interview. The interviews will then be transcribed, indexed, and archived and copies of all materials provided to the narrators. A website is being developed for the PDX Civil Rights Project and the transcripts and finding aids will be publicly available on this website. All materials will also be archived at the Portland State University Library.

Community Partner:

The Center for Columbia River History is helping develop the PDX Civil Rights Project website. The narrators for the project will come from a variety of sources, including the Knott Street Boxing Club.

Course Goals and Objectives:

-Become familiar with the basic principles and practices of oral history fieldwork, as well as learning the strengths and limitations of oral histories

-Learn about the ethical responsibilities researchers have when working with people who are still alive and the impact their research can have

-Learn how to do primary source research and the importance of oral histories in scholarly work

-Gain practical experience in recording oral histories and making them archive ready, as well as learning ways in which oral histories can be used

-Work collaboratively in creating an historical resource that can be used in a wide range of settings and by a variety of people.

-Learn the importance of ethnic minorities in shaping both local and national history through the fight for Civil Rights

Academic Research/Reading List: Check Your Email!

City Club of Portland Report. “Portland's Civil Rights Ordinance.” Walter B. Moore, Chair.

31,no. 20 (1950): 5 pages. (email)

___. “The Negro in Portland: A Progress Report 1945-57.” E. Kimbark MacColl, Chair. 37, no.

46 (1957): 16 pages.

___. “Problems of Racial Justice in Portland.” Richard W. Nahstoll, Chair. 49, no. 2 (1968): 63

pages.

Gibson, Karen. “Bleeding Albina: A History of Community Disinvestment, 1940 -2001.”

Transforming Anthropology 15, no. 1 (2007): 3-25

Haggerty, Ancer L. Interviewed by Clark Hansen for the US District Court Historical Society.

Archived at the Oregon Historical Society. (2005-06): 89 pages.

Johnson, Ethan and Felicia Williams. “Desegregation and Multiculturalism in the Portland

Public Schools.” Oregon Historical Quarterly. (2010): 6-37.

Katz, Michael B., Mark J. Stern, and Jamie J. Fader. "The New African American Inequality."

Journal of American History 92, no. 1, (2005): 75-108.

McElderry, Stuart, "Building a West Coast Ghetto: African American Housing in Portland,

1910-1960." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 92, no. 3 (2001): 137-148.

Roosevelt, Robinson. Interviewed by Clark Hansen for the US District Court Historical Society.

Archived at the Oregon Historical Society. (2004): 129 pages. SR 1285.1

Guide to Oral History

Methods of Assessment:

Students will be graded on their completion of the assigned tasks, including reading summaries, completing the oral history interview and making it archive ready, and writing a thank you letter for narrator. There is one midterm to ensure that students have the historical knowledge necessary for the main interview.

Archive Ready Interview, including interview file notes: 45%

Weekly Reading Summaries 30%

Midterm Exam 10%

Attendance and Participation: 5%

Practice Interview 10%

Attendance:

Attendance in this course is integral to completing the capstone in the limited time we have. If you have to be absent for any reason, please contact me immediately.

Students with Disabilities:

If you need physical or other accommodations, please see me.

Reading Assignments:

Every article requires a one-page written analysis. In the analysis identify when the article was produced, who produced it, the purpose of the document, and who the intended audience is. Using the information in the article, briefly summarize the main points about Portland’s housing, education, employment, and political situation for local African Americans. If the article is not about Portland specifically, describe how the information in it can be applied to Portland, especially with regard to how it can be used in an oral history interview. At the end of each summary list two questions inspired by the reading that you could ask during your oral history interviews. These summaries are due at the end of class every Wednesday.

Week 1:

March 29: Introduction to the course.

Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project website

March 31: Film in class: Local Color

City Club of Portland Report. “Portland's Civil Rights Ordinance.” Walter B. Moore, Chair.

31,no. 20 (1950): 5 pages. (email)

City Club of Portland Report. “The Negro in Portland: A Progress Report 1945-57.” E. Kimbark

MacColl, Chair. 37, no. 46 (1957): 16 pages. (email)

Week 2:

April 5: Film in class: PDX Civil Rights Project: Perspectives on Portland

McElderry, Stuart, "Building a West Coast Ghetto: African American Housing in Portland,

1910-1960." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 92, no. 3 (2001): 137 - 148.

City Club of Portland Report. “Problems of Racial Justice in Portland.” Richard W. Nahstoll, Chair. 49, no. 2

(1968): 63 pages.

April 7: Johnson, Ethan and Felicia Williams. “Desegregation and Multiculturalism in the Portland

Public Schools.” Oregon Historical Quarterly. (2010): 6-37. Possible Guest Speaker (TBD)

Week 3:

April 12: Gibson, Karen. “Bleeding Albina: A History of Community Disinvestment, 1940 -2001.”

Transforming Anthropology 15, no. 1 (2007): 3-25.

Film in class: NE Passage

April 14: Katz, Michael B., Mark J. Stern, and Jamie J. Fader. "The New African American Inequality."

Journal of American History 92, no. 1, (2005): 75-108. (History Cooperative)

Guide to Oral History

Week 4:

April 19: Guide to Oral History

Haggerty, Ancer L. Interviewed by Clark Hansen for the US District Court Historical Society.

Archived at the Oregon Historical Society. (2005-06): 89 pages. (transcript/finding aid by email)

Roosevelt, Robinson. Interviewed by Clark Hansen for the US District Court Historical Society.

Archived at the Oregon Historical Society. (2004): 129 pages SR 1285.1 (Tapes at OHS and transcript/finding aid by email)

April 21: Practice interviews.

Week 5: Begin Interviews

April 26 and April 28: Practice interviews and interview questions.

Week 6:

May 3 and May 5: Interviews. Transcribing, editing and indexing (Guide to Oral History).

Week 7:

May 10 and May 12: Interviews. Transcribing, editing, and indexing

Week 8: Finish Interviews this week.

May 17 and May 19: Interviews. Transcribing, editing, and indexing

Week 9:

May 24 and May 26: Transcribing, editing, and indexing

Week 10:

May 31: Memorial Day NO CLASS

June 2: Turn in transcripts and finding aids. Send narrators copy of transcript, finding aid, and thank you letter. End of term celebration TBD.

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