William Craib Curtin (1942- ) was a Catholic priest in the Albina community of north/northeast Portland, Oregon from the late 1960s to 1981. He grew up in Portland and received his training at the Suplican Seminary of the Northwest. He was inspired by his father's work as a police officer serving the Albina community and the respect his father held for the African American community, as well as by the work of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the civil rights movement. As a priest, Curtin worked closely with the African-American community and was involved in civil rights issues and community organizing. He served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Portland from 1968-1981, first at St. Charles Parish and then, from 1971-1981, at Immaculate Heart. His activism focused on the Albina neighborhood when the city rezoned a third of the parish for commercial use to make way for the expansion of Emanuel Hospital, disrupting the community and leaving blocks of abandoned housing. Curtin's work also extended to police-community relations and alcohol and drug recovery programs. Curtin later worked in the security field, directing campus safety at Reed College and Lewis and Clark College. He retired in 2006, but continued to do consulting work with colleges and universities in the Northwest and across the country as of 2019.
The collection consists of photographs, papers, and newspaper clippings pertaining to Father Bill Curtin's career as a priest for Immaculate Heart Catholic Church in the Albina neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. The photographs, both original and reproduced, depict Curtin performing his duties as priest. The newspaper clippings concern Curtin's work with Fair Share Oregon and the funeral of police officer David Crowther, whose last rites Curtin administered. Some of the reproduced photographs and clippings contain additional writing that identifies people shown or provides contextual information. Other items in the collection include: A 1978 end-of-year letter from Curtin addressed to Immaculate Heart parishoners; a drawing by and quotes from children attending Curtin's Sunday School; the funeral program for Immaculate Hear parishoner Harry Lee Watson.
Collection is open for research.
Bill Curtin papers, Coll 809, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
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.
Gift of Bill Curtin, February 2019 (RL2019-021)
Oral history of Bill Curtin is designated SR 3992, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.