Collection is open for research.
Gift of the Oregon Multicultural Education Association, March 1994 (Lib. Acc. 22176).
The Oregon Multicultural Education Association was founded in 1984 by Portland State University education professor Ronald G. Petrie and Metropolitan Human Relations Commission member Dapo Sobomehin. The association sought to promote multicultural education to school boards, school administrators, teachers, and prospective teachers in Oregon, and to teach approaches to multicultural education. The purpose of a multicultural approach, as described by Petrie, was to help eliminate prejudice in U.S. society and foster an appreciation of pluralism.
Source: Article in the Oregonian, "Group promotes multicultural education," November 11, 1985, page C2.
Oregon Multicultural Education Association records, Coll 1084, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Other records of the Oregon Multicultural Education Association are in the Jean Childs Young papers, Auburn Avenue Research Library on African-American Culture and History, Atlanta, Georgia.
The collection consists of records of the Oregon Multicultural Education Association from the 1980s and 1990s. A significant portion of these records relate to conferences, and include programs for the 1990 and 1993 conferences; packets for the 1990 conference; evaluation forms for the 1990 conference; and a list of the themes for each annual conference from 1985 to 1992. Other records in the collection consist of bylaws; a 1988 report on multicultural and multiethnic education in Portland Public Schools; a membership directory for 1992-1993; a brochure about the association; and a letter from association President Dapo Sobomehin about the effects of educational budget cuts following the passage of property tax relief Measure 5. Also included are a photocopy of a newspaper article about the association, and a press release about Jack Bierwirth's appointment as superintendent of Portland Public Schools.
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.