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Portland Reporter photographs collection, 1960-1964

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Portland Reporter Publishing Co., Inc.
Title
Portland Reporter photographs collection
Dates
1960-1964 (inclusive)
Quantity
49.37 cubic feet, (127 boxes, 1 oversize box and 21 oversize folders)
Collection Number
Org. Lot 62
Summary
The photograph morgue of a newspaper published from 1960-1964 by unions that struck the two primary Portland newspapers, the Oregon Journal and the Oregonian.
Repository
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org
Access Restrictions

The collection is open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Funding for preparing this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
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Historical Note

The Portland Reporter newspaper was born out of a long and bitter strike by union workers against the Samuel Newhouse-owned Oregonian, a morning paper, and the Oregon Journal, an afternoon newspaper controlled by trustees of the founding Jackson Family. The striked started in November 1959, and the unions launched the Portland Reporter as a weekly on Feb. 11, 1960. It went semi-weekly April 12, 1960, and daily (except Sunday) on Feb. 11, 1961. At its height, circulation reached 78,000 in spite of the fact that the two dailies continued to publish using non-union labor. In August 1961, Newhouse bought the Oregon Journal and moved it into his Oregonian plant. The Portland Reporter generated national attention for its challenge to Portland's newspaper monopoly until it folded in October 1964. Strikers continued to picket the dailies until April 4, 1965, but the Newhouse monopoly had essentially broken the strike long before.

A few months after the Portland Reporter started publishing, it moved into an old brick building at 1714 NW Overton Street after the labor unions refurbished it for their newspaper's new home. The building still stands in Northwest Portland as of 2004.

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Content Description

The Portland Reporter photograph morgue contains photographs taken for and published in the newspaper that depict events of local, national, and international importance from 1960-1964. Subjects include images of the important people and events on local, national, and international scenes, including Portland and Oregon politics; the tsunami that hit the Oregon coast in 1964; the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson years; John F. Kennedy's assassination; the space race; the Vietnam War; and the Cold War, among many other subjects. Other images document daily life and incidents in Portland and surrounding communities. The local materials were produced primarily by Portland Reporter staff photographers, and some images were obtained from other local sources. National and international images are primarily from the Associated Press wire service. The collection also includes a small quantity of negatives, mostly from non-staff photographers, and some art work and printed materials, most notably a series of Bill Mauldin syndicated cartoons.

All of the photographs in this collection are black-and-white. Most images that appeared in the newspaper are date stamped and have newsprint clippings of captions or brief articles glued to the verso.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society is the owner of the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the Research Library prior to any reproduction use. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

The Oregon Historical Society owns copyright to all images produced by the staff of the Portland Reporter. Use of Associated Press images and artoons requires additional permission from copyright holders.

Preferred Citation

Portland Reporter photographs collection, Org. Lot 62, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into three series that generally follow the original order:

  • Series A: Subject Files, 1960-1964
  • Series B: People Files, 1960-1964
  • Series C: Bill Maldin Cartoons and Other Printed Material, 1960-1964

Bibliography

Guimary, Donald Lee. The Decline and Death of the Portland Daily Reporter. Master's thesis. Eugene, OR: University of Oregon, 1966.

Hoffard, Allen Edward. An Experiment in Publishing: The Portland Daily Reporter. Master's thesis. Washington, D.C.: American University, 1964.

Meeker, Richard H. S.I. Newhouse and the Business of News. New Haven and New York: Ticknor & Fields, 1983.

Related Materials

The Oregon Historical Society Research Library has a partial run of the Portland Reporter on microfilm (Feb. 11, 1960-June 19, 1962). The University of Oregon Library has a full run on microfilm. The Oregon Historical Society Sound Recording Collection includes a news commentary by Edward P. Morgon on the newspaper and labor issues, May 1961 (SR 9008).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Finding aid prepared by Sharon M. Howe and Geoffrey Wexler
2004

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