Multnomah County County

"Portland, Oregon, 1988. The brutal murder of Ethiopian immigrant Mulugeta Seraw by racist skinheads shocked the city. In response disparate groups quickly came together to organize against white nationalist violence and right wing organizing throughout the Rose City and the Pacific Northwest. It Did Happen Here compiles interviews with dozens of people who worked together during the waning decades of the 20th century to reveal an inspiring collaboration between groups of immigrants, civil rights activists, militant youth, and queer organizers. This oral history focuses on participants in three core groups: the Portland chapters of Anti Racist Action and Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice, and the Coalition for Human Dignity. Using a diversity of tactics-from out-and-out brawls on the streets and at punk shows, to behind-the-scenes intelligence gathering-brave antiracists unified on their home ground over and over, directly attacking right wing fascists and exposing white nationalist organizations and neo-Nazi skinheads. Embattled by police and unsupported by the city, these citizen activists eventually drove the boneheads out of the music scene and off the streets of Portland. This book shares their stories about what worked, what didn't, and ideas on how to continue the fight"-- Provided by publisher

xiii, 282 pages : illustrations, map ; 23 cm

The extraordinary story of one of the keystones of victory in WW2. Churchill famously claimed that the only thing that had really frightened him during the war was the Battle of the Atlantic. Keeping open the lifeline between the US “arsenal of democracy” and the UK was essential to preparations for the invasion of Europe and in the final analysis this came down to building merchant ships faster than German U-boats could sink them. Crucial to this achievement was the British-designed “Liberty Ship,” a simple cargo ship that could be built rapidly, combined with the untapped industrial potential of the U.S. that could build them in vast numbers. Undoubtedly the most important individual in the rapid expansion of U.S. wartime shipyard capacity was Henry Kaiser, a man with no previous shipbuilding experience but an entrepreneur of vision and drive. This book tells the story of how he established huge new yards using novel mass-production techniques in the most surprising location―Oregon, one of the least industrially developed areas of the US and one without an existing pool of skilled labor to draw on.

256 pages : illustrations, maps ; 27 cm

"The definitive biography of America's best-known and least understood food personality, and the modern culinary landscape he shaped. After World War II, a newly affluent United States reached for its own gourmet culture, one at ease with the French international style of Escoffier, but also distinctly American. Enter James Beard, authority on cooking and eating, his larger-than-life presence and collection of whimsical bow ties synonymous with the nation's food for decades, even after his death in 1985. In the first biography of Beard in twenty-five years, acclaimed writer John Birdsall argues that Beard's struggles as a closeted gay man directly influenced his creation of an American cuisine. Starting in the 1920s, Beard escaped loneliness and banishment by traveling abroad to places where people ate for pleasure, not utility, and found acceptance at home by crafting an American ethos of food likewise built on passion and delight. Informed by never-before-tapped correspondence and lush with details of a golden age of home cooking, The Man Who Ate Too Much is a commanding portrait of a towering figure who still represents the best in food"-- Provided by publisher

xiv, 449 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations ; 25 cm

Summary: In 150 inforgraphic maps, two leading geographers explore Portland, Oregon, through unexpected topics such as city chickens, wild coyote encounters, food-truck trends, and coffee culture. Each map starts with the gathering of at least one data set about a given topic, then translating that into visual form which blends traditional cartographic skills with modern graphic design

190 pages : illustrations (chiefly color), color maps, color plans ; 26 cm

The second edition of the highly acclaimed Wild in the City brings more than one hundred of the best parks, trails and natural areas to your fingertips. This comprehensive “must-have” reference will be the go-to field guide for hikers, cyclists, paddlers, bird watchers, and nature enthusiasts. This revised and updated edition contains new maps organized according to watershed and includes twenty-eight unique “rambles” that explore multiple sites for recreation, wildlife viewing, or simply contemplating the joys of nature. New natural history essays by Ursula K. Le Guin, Kim Stafford, Robin Cody, Judy BlueHorse Skelton, Robert Michael Pyle, Jonathan Nicholas, and Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods, offer fresh perspectives on the little pockets and expansive corridors of Portland’s wild environs. The book also examines the innovative strategies that cities, agencies, and nonprofits are using to create an ecologically sustainable metropolitan region. This invaluable resource will be an essential guide for educators and parents who want to explore the region’s natural wonders with their students and children. Included are tips on living with wildlife, as well as a new section that provides essential information on how urban living and green spaces intersect.

xx, 427 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

Gordon B. Dodds, Craig Wollner, and Marshall M. Lee’s The silicon forest: High Tech in the Portland Area 1945-1986 documents the dramatic economic and demographic transformation of the lower Willamette Valley as it evolved from traditional resource extraction into a prominent technology hub. Centering on the rapid suburban expansion across Washington County—particularly within the emerging tech corridors of Beaverton and Hillsboro—the narrative traces how a post-war influx of engineers and their families established new, enduring neighborhoods alongside sprawling corporate campuses. By exploring the closely knit professional networks and foundational companies that spawned generations of spin-off enterprises, the authors illustrate how this modern pioneer workforce collaboratively built a highly interconnected and lasting industrial community in the Pacific Northwest.

xi, 226 pages ; 23 cm

Eugene E. Snyder’s We claimed this land: Portland's pioneer settlers examines the rapid urban and agricultural development at the strategic confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the shadow of the Tualatin Mountains. Set against the dense timberlands and fertile floodplains of the lower Willamette Valley, the narrative details how early land claimants and pioneering families navigated geographic isolation by forming tight-knit merchant and agrarian networks. By chronicling the clearing of the rugged West Hills and the establishment of early riverside commerce, the text reveals how these initially scattered homesteads cooperatively transitioned into a thriving deep-water port through shared labor and enduring family alliances. Ultimately, this historical account demonstrates how collaboratively taming this vital river corridor successfully transformed a remote forested frontier into a cohesive, enduring urban community that anchored the pioneer expansion of the Pacific Northwest.

A collection of biographical sketches profiling the 212 pioneers who settled the land that is now Portland, Oregon

xxv, 289 pages : maps, portraits ; 23 cm

"Vanport City, Oregon, was conceived in 1942 as a temporary housing project for the families of men and women who came to the Pacific Northwest to work in the Kaiser shipyards and further the war effort (World War II). Situated on a flood plain between Vancouver, Washington, and Portland, Oregon, the Columbia River reclaimed the city for its own in a flood on Memorial Day, 1948. In its brief but vital lifetime, Vanport pushed the Portland area into a new era of change and development, leaving a legacy that is felt even today. During its time, Vanport was the largest housing project in the United States, (perhaps the world) and the second largest city in Oregon"--Cover

xiv, 151 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Island Origins: Trappers, Traders & Settlers by J. D. Cleaver is a 1986 regional history, published by the Oregon Historical Society Press as the inaugural volume of the Sauvie Island Heritage Series. The book meticulously examines the early history and geological formation of this significant river island—located at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers near Portland—during the initial stages of Euro-American contact and settlement from 1792 to 1865. Cleaver chronicles the era of early maritime explorers, the establishment of the region's lucrative fur trade, and the arrival of the first pioneer homesteaders who began transforming the landscape. Ultimately, it serves as a foundational and highly focused resource for understanding the complex ecological and colonial forces that shaped one of Oregon's most historically vital trading and agricultural hubs.

vii, 40 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.

Terence O'Donnell and Thomas Vaughan’s Portland: An Informal History & Guide chronicles the rapid municipal transformation of "The Clearing" into the Pacific Northwest’s preeminent deep-water river port on the lower Willamette. The narrative documents the systematic superimposition of an orthogonal street grid, timber wharves, and early commercial storefronts directly over the riparian bottomlands and sloughs stewarded by Upper Chinookan communities, including the Multnomah and Clackamas peoples. By cutting plank roads through the rugged Tualatin Mountains and capitalizing on the natural head of deep-draft navigation, early entrepreneurs engineered a vital transshipment hub linking interior agricultural valleys to Pacific maritime routes. Ultimately, the work captures how municipal expansion and commercial capital permanently restructured an ancient Indigenous riverine crossroads into an American mercantile center.

x, 211 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

A history of the towns and landings on the Willamette River that were serviced by steamboats prior to the advent of railroads. Includes an index of almost 200 landings, as compiled by Capt. Arthur Riggs in 1940. Howard McKinley Corning (1896-1977) was a poet and historian. During the 1930s he served as an editor and supervisor for the Oregon Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration, the work for which led to his writing of both this book (1947) and A Dictionary of Oregon History (1956).

vi, 224 pages illustrations 23 cm

Early Portland stump-town triumphant; rival towns on the Willamette, 1831-1854 examines the fierce urban competition and rapid mercantile expansion situated along the deep-water, heavily timbered corridors of the lower Willamette River. Snyder details how the region's formidable riparian macro-geography—specifically the deep-water navigational limits for ocean-going sailing vessels, the steep, densely forested barricade of the Tualatin Mountains, and the muddy, flood-prone alluvial terraces of the riverbank—strictly dictated the margins of strategic townsite placement, aggressive old-growth timber clearing, and the intense rivalry to control agricultural trade routes. By mapping Portland's ultimate triumph over neighboring settlements like Oregon City and Milwaukie—achieved by strategically leveraging its position as the furthest inland deep-water anchorage and physically carving a precarious plank road through the western hills to siphon the Tualatin Valley's lucrative agrarian wealth—the narrative highlights how this specific riverine and topographical geography anchored a profoundly competitive, mercantile-driven urban hub. Ultimately, this urban and civic record serves as a localized spatial history, demonstrating how the severe riparian constraints, immense botanical density, and critical deep-water access of this Pacific Northwest landscape fundamentally shaped the highly strategic, commercially aggressive character of early Portland's founding.

vii, 182 pages illustrations, maps, portraits 23 cm

Laurence Pratt’s I Remember Portland chronicles the rapid urban and industrial maturation of Oregon's primary metropolis at the dawn of the twentieth century. The narrative maps the strategic riverine geography of the lower Willamette River, positioned just before its confluence with the Columbia, which served as the vital deep-water maritime port anchoring the Willamette Valley's expansive agricultural and timber hinterlands. By detailing the city's physical expansion from the dense, muddy commercial hub clustered beneath the steep, forested slopes of the West Hills, outward across the newly bridged river to the sprawling, flatter residential grids of the Eastside, the book illustrates how early mechanized infrastructure—such as steel bridges and electric streetcars—allowed residents to conquer the formidable aquatic barrier that had historically divided the settlement. Ultimately, the text captures the evolving urban geography of the Pacific Northwest, demonstrating how Portland leveraged its essential riverine highway and adapted to its constraining topography to transition from a rugged pioneer river town into a modernized, interconnected metropolitan hub.

91 pages ; 21 cm

in connection with the antecedent explorations, discoveries, and movements of the pioneers that selected the site for the great city of the Pacific

3 volumes : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 27 cm

Published in 1890 and compiled by Harvey W. Scott, the formidable long-time editor of The Oregonian, History of Portland, Oregon offers a sweeping civic chronicle of the city's rise from a muddy clearing on the Willamette River to the dominant commercial metropolis of the Pacific Northwest. The exhaustive volume details early municipal struggles, infrastructural triumphs, and the fiercely competitive navigation of regional river trade, culminating in extensive biographical sketches of the city's pioneer elites. A keen insight drawn from the text is how Scott leverages his dual authority as a historian and the region's most powerful journalist to actively manufacture, rather than merely record, Portland's civic mythology. By inextricably linking the city's economic progress to the moral and financial virtues of its conservative merchant class, the book functions as a sophisticated ideological tool designed to cement the hegemony of the local business establishment while deliberately marginalizing labor movements and competing frontier narratives.

651 pages, 69 unnumbered leaves of plates : illustrations, portraits ; 26 cm