Oregon Black Pioneers is a non-profit historical society focused on Black Oregonians, based in Salem, Oregon, United States.
The organization was founded as “Northwest Black Pioneers” by Carole Davis, an educator from Seattle, and Oregon State Senator Jackie Winters in 1993. The group drew inspiration from the Northwest Black Pioneers in Seattle. [1] The group later operated under the name “Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers” before officially settling on the name “Oregon Black Pioneers” in 2004. [1]
The organization’s early projects mainly focused on Black history education and presentations to Salem-area schools. After a few years of work, the volunteer group became mostly inactive. [2] In 2004, Willie Richardson, a Salem business owner, school board member, and community advocate, gained support from other members to revitalize the group. [1] Richardson served as the group's board president since then. In 2020, Executive Director Zachary Stocks became the organization's first paid staff member. [3]
In 2007, Oregon Black Pioneers dedicated a granite marker to 43 Black people buried at the Salem Pioneer Cemetery. [3] [4]
Salem is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood of West Salem is in Polk County. Salem was founded in 1842, became the capital of the Oregon Territory in 1851, and was incorporated in 1857.
The Pioneer was an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that ran between Seattle and Chicago via Portland, Boise, Salt Lake City, and Denver. Operating from 1977 to 1997, the Pioneer was the last passenger rail route to serve Wyoming, Southern Idaho, or Eastern Oregon.
Danny Richardson Young is an American former professional basketball player. A 6' 3" guard who attended Wake Forest University, he played ten seasons in the NBA, spending time with the Seattle SuperSonics, Portland Trail Blazers, Los Angeles Clippers, Detroit Pistons, and Milwaukee Bucks. Young was a key reserve on the 1990 Blazers team that reached the NBA Finals, and he retired with 2,622 NBA career points and 1,674 assists.
Silver Falls State Park is a state park in the U.S. state of Oregon, located near Silverton, about 20 miles (32 km) east-southeast of Salem. It is the largest state park in Oregon with an area of more than 9,000 acres (36 km2), and it includes more than 24 miles (39 km) of walking trails, 14 miles (23 km) of horse trails, and a 4-mile (6.4 km) bike path. Its 8.7-mile (14.0 km) Canyon Trail/Trail of Ten Falls runs along the banks of Silver Creek and by ten waterfalls, from which the park received its name. Four of the ten falls have an amphitheater-like surrounding that allows the trail to pass behind the flow of the falls. The Silver Falls State Park Concession Building Area and the Silver Creek Youth Camp-Silver Falls State Park are separately listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places.
The Hallie Ford Museum of Art (HFMA) is the museum of Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, United States. It is the third largest art museum in Oregon. Opened in 1998, the facility is across the street from the Oregon State Capital in downtown Salem, on the western edge of the school campus. Hallie Ford exhibits collections of both art and historical artifacts with a focus on Oregon related pieces of art and artists in the 27,000 square feet (2,500 m2) facility. The museum also hosts various traveling exhibits in two of its six galleries.
Yaquina Bay, like Coos Bay, is a shallow coastal bay on the Oregon Coast in the Pacific Northwest of North America. The principal town on Yaquina Bay is Newport, Oregon. The Yaquina River flows into the bay. Until modern roads reached Newport in the late 1920s, the principal transportation method to and from Newport was by ship or boat.
Charles Bruce Moores was an American businessman and politician in the state of Oregon. A native of Missouri, he came from a family of politicians including his father John H. Moores, his grandfather Isaac R. Moores, and uncle Isaac R. Moores, Jr. who all served in the Oregon Legislature. A Republican, he served as the Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives during his sole term in the House in 1895.
Waconda is a historic unincorporated community in Marion County, Oregon, United States, near the crossroads of River Road and Waconda Road. Waconda was once a station on the Oregon Electric Railway and formerly had a post office by the same name.
For a useful starting point goto Oregon Encyclopedia of History and Culture (2022). Not yet in print format; it is [online here with 2000 articles].
Lucile Saunders McDonald was an American journalist, historian, and author of children's books from the Pacific Northwest. The Seattle Times described her as "... the first woman news reporter in all of South America; first woman copy editor in the Pacific Northwest; first woman telegraph editor, courthouse reporter and general news reporter in Oregon; first woman overseas correspondent for a U.S. trade newspaper; first woman on a New York City rewrite desk; second woman journalist in Alaska; and second woman to be a correspondent abroad for The Associated Press". With Zola Helen Ross, she co-founded the Pacific Northwest Writers Association.
James Burton Norman Jr. is an American photographer, author, and cultural historian.
Carrie Halsell Ward (1903–1989) was Oregon State University's first African-American graduate. She graduated in 1926, with a Bachelor of Science in Commerce.
Journalism in the U.S. state of Oregon had its origins from the American settlers of the Oregon Country in the 1840s. This was decades after explorers like Robert Gray and Lewis and Clark first arrived in the region, several months before the first newspaper was issued in neighboring California, and several years before the United States formally asserted control of the region by establishing the Oregon Territory.
Relief was a stern-wheel steamboat that operated on the Columbia and Willamette rivers and their tributaries from 1906 to 1931. Relief had been originally built in 1902, on the Columbia at Blalock, Oregon, in Gilliam County, and launched and operated as Columbia, a much smaller vessel. Relief was used primarily as a freight carrier, first for about ten years in the Inland Empire region of Oregon and Washington, hauling wheat and fruit, and after that was operated on the lower Columbia river.
Obed Dickinson was an American pioneer, abolitionist, minister, and business owner in Oregon. Born in Massachusetts, he eventually settled in Salem, Oregon, where he ministered and started a seed business.
Ira Francis Marion Butler was an American politician who served in the Oregon Territorial House of Representatives and the Oregon House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party. He served as Speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives from 1857 to 1858, which was the last session before Oregon's statehood. Before immigrating to Oregon, Butler served as sheriff of Warren County, Illinois, and was circuit court clerk for Stephen A. Douglas when he was an Illinois judge. After moving to Oregon in 1853, he operated a farm in Polk County and was later the county’s judge.
Blacks likely began arriving in Oregon in the 1500s as free and enslaved passengers of English and Spanish ships. The first confirmed presence of a person of African descent in Oregon is Marcus Lopius, a crew member from Cabo Verde aboard the American ship Lady Washington that reached Oregon in 1788. An enslaved man known as York came to Oregon in 1803 as part of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Other early Black explorers came overland to Oregon as free trappers or as laborers for John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company and the British Hudson Bay Company.
Willie Bell Richardson was an American civil rights activist and community advocate who was president of Oregon Black Pioneers. She was a long-time resident of Salem, Oregon.