YWCA of Greater Portland is a charitable organization with a mission to eliminate racism, empower women, and promote peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. The organization serves Multnomah County in four major areas of programming including youth services, domestic violence services, senior services, and social change. [1]
The YWCA of Greater Portland was established in 1901 [2] as part of the larger YWCA USA, Young Women's Christian Association, which was founded in New York City in 1858. The "city association" format of the YWCA was organizing structure of the YWCA was racially segregated at the time. [3] The original Portland board consisted of women from prominent white families, including the Corbetts, Failings, Ladds, and Honeymans. Like other "city associations" of the day, the YWCA sought to reach working women in the downtown area. [2] Along with providing lodging and meals to local women, the Portland YWCA also organized programs to address the needs of women workers more broadly. [4] These initiatives included vocational classes to encourage women to improve their economic independence.
Joint fundraising with the Young Men’s Christian Association of Portland provided funds for the construction of a dedicated building in 1908. In 1918 a group of African-American women sought to extend the YWCA to them. [5] The women's organizing was successful, and in 1921 the Williams Avenue Branch was opened in Northeast Portland. [6]
The YWCA's purpose to facilitate fellowship between all females was complicated by the religious requirements for membership in the organization and the barriers between different races caused further issues. [7] This often led to segregated branches in larger cities for African-American women and Asian-American women.
By 1920's, the Portland YWCA had a separate branch for African Americans located on the corner of North Williams and Tillamook Streets. [8] The goal of the branch was to build pride among the women in the surrounding neighborhood. The branch was first established in a portable unit and in 1926 work begun at the site, funded in large part by a $12,000 gift from Mrs. E. S. Collins. [9] The delay was due to conflict in establishing a segregated facility and rumors that the anonymous gift came from the Ku Klux Klan. Further, opposition came to local white Portlanders who did not want black Portlanders to build on the site and worked to prevent the necessary permits.
The building became a hub for community activities. As built, it had a gym with lockers and showers for both boys and girls, an auditorium with a stage, a kitchen, office space, and a lounge. [9] In these spaces, the Williams Branch hosted clubs and classes for school age girls, including sewings, hat making, Bible studies, musical programs, and games. The Branch also hosted events and exhibits featuring black artists and celebrated Negro History Week.
With continued pressure to continue segregating their facilities in the 1940s, the Williams Branch was turned over to the USO to be used by African-American soldiers. [10] The programming for African-American women and girls that had been hosted by the Branch shifted downtown and into the homes of local women. In 1946 the building was returned to the YWCA and reopened as a "Center" with a white woman director. [11]
In 1944, the Portland YWCA restructured and eliminated segregated branches. In 1945 the director of the Portland YWCA was an African American woman, Majorie Jackson, and she noted that, "Because of group and personal insecurity, some of the Caucasian girls refuse to continue in clubs with other racial groups." [8] Jackson made history as first African American to serve as associate executive director of a city YWCA. [7]
The Williams Avenue Branch building was closed in 1959 when it was sold amidst financial difficulties. [7]
The Greater Portland YWCA offers outreach, services, and advocacy related to
YWCA USA (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating racism, empowering women, and promoting peace, justice, freedom, and dignity for all. It is one of the oldest and largest multicultural organizations promoting solutions to enhance the lives of women, girls, and families. They have been at the forefront of the most pressing social movements for 165 years — from voting rights to civil rights, affordable housing to pay equity, and violence prevention to health care reform.
Ida Bell Wells-Barnett was an American investigative journalist, educator, and early leader in the civil rights movement. She was one of the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Wells dedicated her career to combating prejudice and violence, and advocating for African-American equality—especially that of women.
Vanport, sometimes referred to as Vanport City or Kaiserville, was a city of wartime public housing in Multnomah County, Oregon, United States, between the contemporary Portland city boundary and the Columbia River. It was destroyed in the 1948 Columbia River flood and not rebuilt. It sat on what is currently the site of Delta Park and the Portland International Raceway.
The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries.
Avel Louise Gordly is an activist, community organizer, and former politician in the U.S. state of Oregon, who in 1996 became the first African-American woman to be elected to the Oregon State Senate. She served in the Senate from 1997 to 2009. Previously, she served for five years in the Oregon House of Representatives.
Precious Jewel Freeman Graham was an educator, social worker, and attorney. She was professor emeritus of social work and legal studies at Antioch College, Yellow Springs, Ohio. She was the second black woman to serve as president of the World YWCA. She was named to the Ohio Women's Hall of Fame in 2008.
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Eva del Vakia Bowles (1875–1943) was an American teacher and a Young Women's Christian Association organizer in New York City. When she began working at the New York City segregated YWCA in Harlem, she became the first black woman to be a general secretary of the organization. For eighteen years she organized black branches of the YWCA and expanded their services to community members. She received recognition from former president Theodore Roosevelt for her work during World War I on behalf of the segregated Y.
Intisar Abioto is an artist and storyteller currently living and working in Portland Oregon. Working within and between the forms of dance, photography, collaboration, prose, and poetry, Abioto explores the meaning of time, space, and belonging within the construction of who, where, and what composes the African diaspora. Abioto has travelled across North America, Europe, and Africa to tell stories of personal identity and collective belonging. Her work interprets the tradition of Africans who can fly into contemporary and local landscapes, highlighting the fluidity of migration across national and natural boundaries. With the five women artists in her family, she is a cofounder of Studio Abiotto.
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Kathryn Hall Bogle was an American social worker, activist, and freelance journalist in Portland, Oregon. She was the first African American journalist to be paid for an article in The Oregonian of Portland. She was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Portland Association of Black Journalists in 1993.
Marie Smith (1898–1991) was an activist in Portland, Oregon. She was one of the founders of the Oregon Association of Colored Women's Clubs, and was the first female president of the Portland Chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Oregon women achieved the vote in 1912 and throughout the state women in organizations organized around racial groups and ethnicities. Portland had a significant number of African American women’s clubs and organizations, including the Oregon Federation of Colored Women's Clubs.
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Arsania M. Williams was an American educator and clubwoman based in St. Louis, Missouri. She taught for over fifty years in segregated schools, and was president of the Missouri State Association of Negro Teachers, the Missouri Association of Colored Women, and the St. Louis Association of Colored Women. She held national leadership roles in the National Association of Colored Women (NACW).
Louisa Flowers was a civic leader and property owner in Portland, Oregon where she was a resident for 45 years.
The Harlem YWCA in New York, USA, was founded in 1905, moving to its own premises in 1921. It played an important role in developing training and careers for young black women in the early and mid twentieth century, as well as providing safe and respectable accommodation.
African Americans in Oregon or Black Oregonians are residents of the state of Oregon who are of African American ancestry. In 2017, there were an estimated 91,000 African Americans in Oregon.
Margaret Briggs Gregory Hawkins, worked as a schoolteacher and later became known for her activism on behalf of African Americans and women. She was inducted into the Maryland Women's Hall of Fame in 2021.
