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NAACP of Portland, Oregon records, 1942-1989

Overview of the Collection

Creator
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. Portland Branch (Portland, Or.)
Title
NAACP of Portland, Oregon records
Dates
1942-1989 (inclusive)
1959-1989 (bulk)
Quantity
6.21 cubic feet, (10 legal document cases, 1 legal slim document case, 1 oversize flat box (18 x 20))
Collection Number
Mss 2004
Summary
Founded in 1914, the Portland, Oregon, branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) works to empower and engage people of color in the Portland area. The collection demonstrates organizational activities related to important topics in the Portland area, such as housing, education and labor. A majority of the collection consists of publications from 1959 through 1989, with a smaller quantity of topical administrative materials, correspondence, meeting minutes, and documents related to general civil rights activities in Portland.
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

Collection is open for research.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

The Portland Branch (#1120B) of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was established in 1914, in order to uphold civil rights for the African American community and people of color in Portland, Oregon. Dr. J. N. Merriman served as its first president, and Beatrice Morrow Cannady as its secretary. It is one of the oldest chartered branches west of the Mississippi River.

Early in the organization's history, members worked to directly confront the exclusion laws in the Oregon State Constitution, some of which were repealed in 1926 and 1927. Throughout its existence, the Portland branch has continuously worked with labor unions and companies to establish a framework for equal treatment in hiring and pay compensation. Of particular note, when World War II brought thousands of African Americans to work in Oregon's shipyards, the Portland branch of the NAACP helped to abolish the practice of denying promotions to these workers. NAACP members were deeply involved in Oregon's 1953 Public Accommodations Act, a civil rights bill that made discrimination in public places illegal. The branch was also active in working to repeal real estate codes and civic housing policies that restricted African Americans to living in the Albina community.

Bolstered by the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, African American communities throughout the United States began to directly challenge school segregation. In Portland, the NAACP was vocal in calling on Public Portland Schools to end this practice. Dueling reports between the national NAACP and Portland Public Schools found persistent racial discrimination and inequality in Portland, yet offered different approaches to solving the problem. Mayfield Webb, president of the Portland branch from 1963-1964, was a vocal critic of Portland Public Schools' failure to desegregate schools in the 1960s. The branch continued to actively fight segregation in Portland schools into the 1980s and beyond.

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Content Description

Series 1, Administrative, includes materials that document the daily functions of the Portland branch staff, primarily in the 1960s and 1980s. It includes correspondence, articles, pamphlets and ephemera, related to specific NAACP individuals and topics. A small number of materials document membership and financial activities. Lorna Marple, president of the Portland branch (1955-1956) and long-time chairman of the Political Action Committee, is a frequent figure in this series as the collection donar. A majority of the records in the series are organized by topic, and were collected by NAACP individuals in the course of their work for the organization.

There are substantial gaps in the records, with a majority of the branch records being donated to the University of Oregon in 1978 by Lorna Marple.

Series 2, Committees, includes materials related to specific Portland branch committees. Making up a small portion of the collection, the series contains meeting minutes, correspondence, and other working documents related to committee activities primarily from 1964-1967. As the chairman of the Political Action Committee and collection donor, Lorna Marple is again strongly represented in this series.

Series 3, Meetings and conventions, documents NAACP and non-NAACP events. It includes meeting minutes and event materials for the Portland branch, as well as items gathered at national and regional NAACP conventions during the 1960s and in 1985. A significant portion of the series is made up of materials from non-NAACP events, such as schedules, minutes and other ephemera from conventions and formal meetings. These are often from civil rights related organizations.

Series 4, Publications and publicity, includes both NAACP and non-NAACP articles, ephemera, books, and newspaper. Making up a majority of the collection, it includes published materials created by the local and national NAACP, as well as other organizations from the 1960s to 1980s. NAACP materials include Portland branch resolutions, membership brochures, and administrative guides in regard to specific civil rights activities. Non-NAACP materials comprise articles, journals, magazines, books, and newsletters from a wide variety of civil-rights-related organizations. Also included are newspaper clippings from a range of publications. While a majority of the clippings are from local Portland newspapers, some are from national publications.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Preferred Citation

NAACP of Portland, Oregon records, Mss 2004, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into 4 series: Series 1. Administrative, 1942-1989 (bulk 1963-1989). The series is divided into three subseries: Individuals (1.1); Membership and fundraising (1.2); and Subjects (1.3). All subseries are arranged alphabetically.

Series 2. Committees, 1961-1984 (bulk 1964-1967), is arranged alphabetically by committee name.

Series 3. Meetings and conventions, 1963-1989. The series is subdivided into three subseries: Local NAACP meetings and events (3.1); National and regional NAACP conventions (3.2); and Non-NAACP events (3.3). All subseries are arranged chronologically by date.

Series 4, Publications and publicity, 1949-1988 (bulk 1959-1988). The series is subdivided into three subseries: NAACP publications (4.1) organized alphabetically by title; Non-NAACP publications (4.2) arranged alphabetically by author or organization; and newsprint articles (4.3) organized chronologically by year. For subseries 4.2, Non-NAACP publications, author can be an organization or an individual, depending on the publication.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Lorna Marple, 1973 (accession 12586) and circa 1990 (accession 20090).

Related Materials

Other collections at this repository related to the Portland branch NAACP include: Lorna Marple photographic collection, Org. Lot 721; Lorna Marple collection on the Democratic Party of Oregon, Mss 6042; Tom Vickers NAACP of Portland, Oregon records, Coll 815; NAACP Scrapbooks, Coll 816; NAACP of Portland, Oregon records (copy of materials held at Library of Congress), Microfilm 195.

Collections at other repositories related to the Portland branch NAACP include: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Portland Branch records, 1950-1970, Coll 295, University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives; Lorna Marple Papers, 1942-1961, Coll 0411 (Accession No. 0411-001), University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections; Marple family papers, 1783-2002, Coll 5174, University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections; National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Region I, records, 1942-1986 (bulk 1945-1977), BANC MSS 78/180 c, University of California, Berkeley, Bancroft Library.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Lindsey Benjamin
2019

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