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Selected Books Regarding Oregon's Black History
Oregon Black Pioneers is Oregon’s only historical society dedicated to preserving and presenting the experiences of African Americans statewide. Since 1993, our organization has illuminated the seldom-told history of people of African descent in Oregon. We are inspired by the tenacity of Black Oregonians who have faced discrimination and hardship to make a life for themselves here over the past 400 years. We honor their sacrifices by remembering their stories and by sharing them with the public.
Urban League of Portland Records: The Urban League of Portland (ULPDX) Records document the administration and programs of the League from its founding in Portland, Oregon, in 1945. The Records include correspondence, reports and publications, meeting minutes, financial records, and clippings as well as scrapbooks, photographs, videotapes, and sound recordings. Portions of the collection have been digitized and are available online.
Obo Addy Legacy Project Collection, 1970-2013: This collection consists of records, promotional materials, and various forms of media related to the Homowo African Arts and Cultures organization. Obo Addy’s personal materials include correspondence, promotional materials and photographs. The collection is divided into three sub groups, Obo Addy Materials, Homowo Organizational records and materials, and a separate sub group for the various forms of media. For more information about the work with the collection and the organization, check out the OMA blog posts about the OALP
Oregon African American Railroad Porters Oral History Collection: This collection is made up of thirty individual, multi-part, and group oral history interviews between film maker Michael Grice and African American railroad porters employed in the Portland area. The project website includes brief interviewee biographies and interview summaries, access to the interview audio files, and transcripts of all the interviews.
Harold C. Williams Papers, 1962-2013: The Williams Papers document Williams' community activism, volunteer service, and civic leadership in Portland, Oregon, as well as his immediate and extended family. Harold C. Williams was an activist, volunteer, and leader in the African American community in Portland from the 1960s until his death in 2012. For more information about the work with the collection, check out the MSS Williams OMA blog post
The Max Geier The Color of Night Research Files: This collection includes the materials used by author and history professor Max Geier to write his 2015 book The Color of Night: Race, Railroaders, and Murder in the Wartime West. The book revolves around the 1943 trial of Robert E. Lee Folkes, a young black man and train cook who Geier argues was wrongly accused and convicted of the murder of Martha James, a young white woman, while both were aboard a train traveling near the Willamette Valley town of Albany, Oregon. The collection includes Geier’s research on the history of African Americans in Oregon and California, as well as the history of the Pullman Company; legal documents and other materials related to the Robert E. Lee Folkes case; and The Color of Night manuscript drafts and publication related documents.
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Corvallis Branch Records: This collection documents the early years (1971-1974) of the Corvallis Branch of the NAACP and its activities and programs to address racial discrimination in education, employment, and housing. It includes annual reports, correspondence, resolutions, press releases, and petitions.
Jean Moule Papers, 1984-2011: The Jean Moule Papers document Moule's teaching, research, and writing in the field of multicultural education, especially teacher training. The Papers include publications, course materials, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and photographs. Moule earned a Ph.D. from Oregon State University in 1998 and was a faculty member in the Oregon State University College of Education from 1998 until her retirement in 2011.
Edward and Donna Caldwell Collection: The Edward and Donna Caldwell Collection consists of materials generated and assembled by alumni Edward Caldwell and Donna Drinkard Caldwell documenting their receipt of awards for student scholarship at Oregon State University, and their careers as pharmacists in the Portland area. Edward received his undergraduate degree in pharmacy in 1960, becoming the first African-American to graduate from the OSU School of Pharmacy. Donna graduated in 1963 with a bachelor's degree in pharmacy and later returned to earn a master's degree in 1968.
Hans Plambeck Papers: Research files generated and collected by Sociology Professor Hans Plambeck that primarily reflect his work on a survey of ethnic groups in Oregon, including African Americans. Plambeck taught at Oregon State University from 1946-1976
Urban League of Portland Records: The Urban League of Portland (ULPDX) Records document the administration and programs of the League from its founding in Portland, Oregon, in 1945. The Records include correspondence, reports and publications, meeting minutes, financial records, and clippings as well as scrapbooks, photographs, videotapes, and sound recordings. Portions of the collection have been digitized and are available online.
The St. Philip the Deacon Parish Records: In the Spring of 2012 the OMA began collaborating with the church to process its records. St. Philip was established in 1911 to serve the area's African-American community. An OMA intern blogged about her experiences working with the community and the collection: St. Philip Blog Posts. The collection is held at St. Philips in Portland and is not open to the general public at this time. Notably, oral history interviews were conducted with Rev. Alcena Boozer and Carl Deiz and those are available online.
Black Freedom Struggle in the United States Black Freedom features select primary source documents related to critical people and events in African American history.
Civil Rights and the Black Freedom Struggle (OSU login required) offers the opportunity to study the most well-known and also unheralded events of the Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century from the perspective of the men, women, and sometimes even children who waged one of the most inspiring social movements in American history. This category consists of the NAACP Papers and federal government records, organizational records, and personal papers regarding the Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century. The NAACP Papers collection consists of 6 modules. The NAACP Papers collections contains internal memos, legal briefings, and direct action summaries from national, legal, and branch offices throughout the country. It charts the NAACP's work and delivers a first-hand view into crucial issues. With a timeline that runs from 1909 to 1972, the NAACP Papers document the realities of segregation in the early 20th century to the triumphs of the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and beyond. The Black Freedom Struggle in the 20th Century consists of four modules: two modules of Federal Government Records, and two modules of Organizational Records and Personal Papers, offering unique documentation and a variety of perspectives on the 20th century fight for freedom. Major collections in these modules include Civil Rights records from the Roosevelt, Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, and George H. W. Bush presidencies; the Martin Luther King FBI File and FBI Files on locations of major civil rights demonstrations like Montgomery and Selma, Alabama or St. Augustine, Florida; and the records of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), National Association of Colored Women's Clubs (NACWC), Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)
City of Portland - Guide to Historical City Records Related to African Americans: This guide compiles PARC resources related to the African American community in order to facilitate research. You can search the online catalog and access photos and documents as well.
Green Books (digitized by the New York Public Library): The Green Book, in full The Negro Motorist Green Book, The Negro Travelers’ Green Book, or The Travelers’ Green Book, travel guide published (1936–67) during the segregation era in the United States that identified businesses that would accept African American customers.
Letitia Carson Legacy Project and Letitia Carson Digital History Collection ~ Letitia Carson was one of the first Black women to settle in Oregon. The Letitia Carson Digital History Collection was created by the Letitia Carson Legacy Project to bring together in one online, publicly available place, all the current biographical information, primary documents, photographs, and research being done about this remarkable woman and her story. The Collection also includes a “Digital Exhibits” series about different aspects of Letitia Carson’s life and legacy and ongoing research about her story.
The primary and secondary resources provided in the Oregon Historical Society’s Black History Month Resource Guide are meant to illustrate how the achievements, obstacles, perspectives, and experiences of Black people are vital to the study of Oregon history.
Oregon Multicultural Communities Research Collection (OMCRC):
The OMCRC is an artificial collection containing items of interest about multicultural communities within Oregon State University and to a lesser extent, the city of Corvallis, and the state of Oregon.
African Americans in Oregon: General information on the experience and status of African Americans in our state. Information pertaining to William Tebeau, first known male African American Gradute of OSU. Pendleton Round Up, 1915, African American man Trick-Riding a mule Gerald W. Williams Collection "On-again off again"
Black Cultural Center (Lonnie B. Harris): Articles on the history and events of the Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center.
Black Graduate Student Association: Meeting minutes, events, and documents relevant to the BGSA
Black History Month: Newspaper articles and flyers pertaining to local events surrounding Black History Month. Also includes a student paper, "Historical Perspectives of Blacks in Oregon."
Black Issues Conference: Flyer to a 1991 conference at OSU.
Black Lives Matter Movement at OSU: Newspaper articles and event fliers relevant to the BLM movement at Oregon State
Black Poets Society: Posters of events for the Black Poets Society
Buildings – Carrie Halsell Residence Hall: Contains information on the residence hall named for OSU’s earliest known African-American graduate.
Buildings -- William Tebeau Residence Hall: Information on the residence hall named for the first African-American male to graduate from OSU.
Halsell Ward, Carrie Beatrice: Biographical information on OSU’s first known African American graduate.
King, Martin Luther, Day: Contains information on OSU and Corvallis activities surrounding the celebration of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday.
Miles College – Book Drive. 1963-1964: Contains information on a book drive initiated by OSU students for Miles College in Birmingham, Alabama. See the OMA Blog post here.
Student Protests: Information pertaining to the 1969 Black Student Union Walkout and the 2014 Solidarity March.
Student Unrest: Pertains to the 1969 walkout of the Black Student Union over the treatment of football player Fred Milton by football coach Dee Andros.
Tebeau, William: Biographical and publication information on William Tebeau
United Black Student Association: posters and other information about events sponsored by this student organization, 1989–1991.
Histories of OSU Students of Color Campus Tour Guidebook: The stories selected for this booklet showcase the impact and contributions that students of color have had on the OSU campus.
Minorities in the Barometer Digital Collection, 1960-1989: Articles from The Daily Barometer pertaining to multicultural issues and minorities on campus. All articles are organized in chronological order in full text searchable PDFs. The PDFs are organized by year; each PDF file begins with a Table of Contents listing the article titles and dates for the year.
LONNIE B. HARRIS BLACK CULTURAL CENTER
Lonnie B. Harris Black Cultural Center (BCC) Records, 1966-2011 (RG 244): The BCC was established at OSU in 1975. Four of the BCC albums are available online. The four albums, 1992-2004, are made up of photographs, newspaper clippings, flyers, mission statements, and brochures and they reflect BCC events and members.
OSU Black Cultural Center Historical Records 1974-1984: A digitized version of records which are a combination of a set of documents from the OSU Black Cultural Center 1) a binder with materials dated 1974-1980, and 2) a folder from the Memorial Union Records collection. The original binder and a copy of the binder (a physical display binder accessible to the public) are with the OSU BCC. The original materials within the MU Records, the "Black Cultural Center" folder, is housed in the OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center, MU Records Accession #2015:003.
Student Affairs (RG 102) Records Pertaining to the BCC: Accession 88:3 – Incidents – BCC (Black Cultural Center) cross burning (between 1972 and 1980)
BLACK STUDENT UNION (BSU) WALKOUT OF 1969
"Untold Stories" project: 1969 BSU Walkout
Black Student Union (BSU) Walkout of 1969, Digital Display - In February of 1969 OSU's head football coach Dee Andros told Fred Milton, a black athlete, to shave his facial hair. Milton’s refusal sparked a local controversy and led to the BSU walkout.
Fred Milton Papers - The Fred Milton Papers cover a wide range of topics related to the life of Fred Milton. Fred Milton was an up-and-coming football star at Oregon State University (OSU) in the 1960s. He later left OSU and professional athletics, and led a long career in public service. Topics addressed in this collection include the "Beard Incident" at OSU, where he clashed with his football coach over facial hair rules, the 1969 Black Student Union Walkout, his athletic career, his public service career, and his family. The bulk of the material consists of newspaper clippings and scrapbooks. The entire collection is digital and fully available upon patron request or for use in the SCARC reading room.
The Scab Sheet is a student newspaper published during 1969-1970 in relation to the 1969 Black Student Union Walkout. For more information and a link to the digitized collection, see the "The Scab Sheet: An Underground Newspaper Exposing OSU’s Dark Past" blog post. Also, The Scab Sheet is a part of the Underground Newspapers collection.
Loretta Milton Oral History Interview (Fred Milton's widow and OSU student)
The Pauling Blog: part 1 and part 2
Student Affairs (RG 102) Records Pertaining to the 1969 BSU Walkout
"The Never-Ending Story: An Analysis of Student Activism at Oregon State University" (2017) OSU Honors College Thesis by Lyndi-Rae Petty
1996 STUDENT BOYCOTT AND MARCH
Beaver Yearbook, 1996, Volume 90, pages 50-51
The Daily Barometer, March 1996
1996 Student Boycott and March video
RG 172 Affirmative Action Records: Box 1 Subject Files: Boycott, 1996 AND Box 5: Subject Files: Minority Students: Boycott, 1995-1997
OSU's "Firsts"
Ujima Education Office Records, 1995-2013 (RG 266): These records document the administration, event programming, and student outreach efforts of the Ujima Education Office at Oregon State University. The collection contains documents assembled by Earlean Wilson Huey during her time as coordinator of the Office. Established in 1997 to increase retention and recruitment of African American students at OSU, the office served a mainstay of African American identity and community at Oregon State for nearly two decades.
The Oregon Anti-Apartheid Scrapbook is made up of newspaper clippings assembled by OSU history department faculty member Ed Ferguson. The scrapbook documents the protest and educational campaign led by the OSU African Students Association (ASA) in response to wrestling coach Dale Thomas’ association with the South African wrestling community. The scrapbook is available online: digitized scrapbook
Juneteenth OSU Celebration ~ in 2021, OSU officially recognized Juneteenth as a university holiday; more information is available on the OSU Juneteenth LibGuide.
OSU Men's Basketball Team, Desegregation History
OSU Men's Football Team, Desegregation History:"Football Desegregation Event" blog post
Corvallis College Benefit Broadside – The Corvallis College Benefit Broadside publicizes a program of vaudeville performances, music, and a blackface minstrel act on women’s rights presented on December 31, 1859 as a benefit for Corvallis College.
Associated Students of OSU (ASOSU), 1917–2006 (RG 11) The Associated Students of OSU Records document the administration of student government and its interaction with other campus organizations, offices, and bodies primarily for the 1960s through the 1990s.
Froduald Harelimana Collection, 1994-1997. The Froduald Harelimana Collection consists of materials documenting the campaign to bring Oregon State University doctoral student Froduald Harelimana and his son back to the U.S. after fleeing civil war in their native Rwanda. This collection contains a manuscript describing the campaign by international student advisor Irma Delson, correspondence, newspaper clippings, and a book (and the accompanying manuscript) written by Harelimana. Harelimana graduated with a doctorate in education in 1998
President’s Office (RG 13)
Memorial Union (RG 99)
Student Affairs (RG 102)
University Housing and Dining Services (RG 145)
News and Communication Services Photographs (P 57)
University Publications Photographs (P 94)
Accession 2004:036: (box 1) – Diversity – Images of African American students on campus, sorority and (box 2) – Black cultural center Thanksgiving, Nov. 22, 1987
John Horner Photograph Collection (P 100)
P100:68 & 87 – Louis Southworth, early African American resident of Corvallis. See the "Best of the Archives" digital collection for an online version of P100:87.
Extension and Experiment Station Communications Photographs (P 120)
P120:2594 – African-American group working a bean field near Scappoose, 1947.
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