UNST 421-542: PDX Civil Rights Project
CRN: 63860
MW 4:00-5:50 pm
Cramer Hall 382
Instructor: Felicia WilliamsEmail:
Office Hours: By appointment
Course Description:
The Civil Rights Movement changed the way people thought about race and equal opportunity in America. This course will examine how the movement happened in Portland as students record oral histories from people who fought for civil rights in Oregon. There will be a total of three interviews: one unrecorded pre-interview, one two-hour interview, and one follow up one-hour interview. The interviews will then be transcribed, indexed, and archived and copies of all materials provided to the narrators. The primary project for this term will be creating a book manuscript from the oral histories we have collected and supporting primary source documentation from local archives. The manuscript will be submitted for publication this year. All oral history materials will be archived at the Portland State University Library.
Community Partner:
The Center for Columbia River History helped develop the PDX Civil Rights Project. The narrators for the project will come from a variety of sources. Archival research at the Portland City Archives on the PSU campus, at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library, and the Multnomah County Central Library will also be expected both during class periods and outside of regularly scheduled class periods.
Course Goals and Objectives:
-Become familiar with the basic principles and practices of oral history fieldwork, as well as learning the strengths and limitations of oral histories
-Learn about the ethical responsibilities researchers have when working with people who are still alive and the impact their research can have
-Learn how to do primary source research and the importance of oral histories in scholarly work
-Gain practical experience in recording oral histories and making them archive ready, as well as learning ways in which oral histories can be used
-Learning the fundamentals of archival research and how to find photos and other ephemera that help document the local civil rights movement
-Work collaboratively in creating an historical resource that can be used in a wide range of settings and by a variety of people.
-Learn the importance of racial minorities in shaping both local and national history through the fight for Civil Rights
Academic Research/Reading List: Check Your Email!
City Club of Portland Report. “Portland's Civil Rights Ordinance.” Walter B. Moore, Chair.
31,no. 20 (1950): 5 pages. (email)
___. “The Negro in Portland: A Progress Report 1945-57.” E. Kimbark MacColl, Chair. 37, no.
46 (1957): 16 pages.
___. “Problems of Racial Justice in Portland.” Richard W. Nahstoll, Chair. 49, no. 2 (1968): 63
pages.
Gibson, Karen. “Bleeding Albina: A History of Community Disinvestment, 1940 -2001.”
Transforming Anthropology 15, no. 1 (2007): 3-25
Haggerty, Ancer L. Interviewed by Clark Hansen for the US District Court Historical Society.
Archived at the Oregon Historical Society. (2005-06): 89 pages.
Johnson, Ethan and Felicia Williams. “Desegregation and Multiculturalism in the Portland
Public Schools.” Oregon Historical Quarterly. (2010): 6-37.
Katz, Michael B., Mark J. Stern, and Jamie J. Fader. "The New African American Inequality."
Journal of American History 92, no. 1, (2005): 75-108.
McElderry, Stuart, "Building a West Coast Ghetto: African American Housing in Portland,
1910-1960." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 92, no. 3 (2001): 137-148.
Roosevelt, Robinson. Interviewed by Clark Hansen for the US District Court Historical Society.
Archived at the Oregon Historical Society. (2004): 129 pages. SR 1285.1
Guide to Oral History
Methods of Assessment:
Students will be graded on their completion of the assigned tasks, including reading summaries, completing the oral history interview and making it archive ready, and writing a thank you letter for narrator or creating a chapter of the manuscript. There is one midterm to ensure that students have the historical knowledge necessary for this project.
Archive Ready Interview, including interview file notes or creation of a book chapter:45%
Weekly Reading Summaries30%
Midterm Exam10%
Attendance and Participation: 5%
Practice Interview10%
Attendance:
Attendance in this course is integral to completing the capstone in the limited time we have. If you have to be absent for any reason, please contact me immediately.
Students with Disabilities:
If you need physical or other accommodations, please see me.
Reading Assignments:
Every article requires a one-page written analysis. In the analysis identify when the article was produced, who produced it, the purpose of the document, and who the intended audience is. Using the information in the article, briefly summarize the main points about Portland’s housing, education, employment, and political situation for local African Americans. If the article is not about Portland specifically, describe how the information in it can be applied to Portland, especially with regard to how it can be used in an oral history interview. At the end of each summary list two questions inspired by the reading that you could ask during your oral history interviews. These summaries are due at the end of class every Wednesday.
Week 1:
March 28: Introduction to the course. Oregonian, September 30, 1942 “Court Action Voted to Block Housing Plan for Negroes”
Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project website http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/
March 30: Film in class: Local Color (1991)
City Club of Portland Report. “Portland's Civil Rights Ordinance.” Walter B. Moore, Chair.
31,no. 20 (1950): 5 pages.
City Club of Portland Report. “The Negro in Portland: A Progress Report 1945-57.” E. Kimbark
MacColl, Chair. 37, no. 46 (1957): 16 pages.
Week 2:
April 4: Film in class: Albina: Portland’s Ghetto of the Mind (1967)
McElderry, Stuart, "Building a West Coast Ghetto: African American Housing in Portland,
1910-1960." Pacific Northwest Quarterly 92, no. 3 (2001): 137 - 148.
City Club of Portland Report. “Problems of Racial Justice in Portland.” Richard W. Nahstoll, Chair. 49, no. 2
(1968): 63 pages.
April 6: Johnson, Ethan and Felicia Williams. “Desegregation and Multiculturalism in the Portland
Public Schools.” Oregon Historical Quarterly. (2010): 6-37.
Week 3:
April 11: Film in class: Albina with Lew Frederick (1980)
Gibson, Karen. “Bleeding Albina: A History of Community Disinvestment, 1940 -2001.”
Transforming Anthropology 15, no. 1 (2007): 3-25.
April 13: Film in class: NorthEast Passage: The Inner City and the American Dream (2002)
Katz, Michael B., Mark J. Stern, and Jamie J. Fader. "The New African American Inequality."
Journal of American History 92, no. 1, (2005): 75-108.
Guide to Oral History
Week 4:
April 18: Guide to Oral History
Haggerty, Ancer L. Interviewed by Clark Hansen for the US District Court Historical Society.
Archived at the Oregon Historical Society. (2005-06): 89 pages.
Roosevelt, Robinson. Interviewed by Clark Hansen for the US District Court Historical Society.
Archived at the Oregon Historical Society. (2004): 129 pages SR 1285.1
April 20: MIDTERM
Week 5: Begin Interviews and Manuscript
April 25 and April 27: Practice interviews and interview questions. Introduction to archival research.
Week 6:
May 2 and May 4: Interviews. Transcribing, editing and indexing (Guide to Oral History). Archival research.
Week 7: NO CLASS MEETINGS THIS WEEK
May 9 and May 11: Interviews. Transcribing, editing, and indexing. Archival research.
Week 8: Finish Interviews this week.
May 16 and May 18: Interviews. Transcribing, editing, and indexing. Archival research.
Week 9:
May 23 and May 25: Transcribing, editing, and indexing. Manuscript preparation.
Week 10:
May 30: Memorial Day – NO CLASS
June 1: Transcribing, editing, and indexing. Manuscript preparation.
Week 11: FINALS WEEK
June 6: Turn in transcripts and finding aids. Send narrators copy of transcript, finding aid, and thank you letter. Turn in manuscript chapter. Graduate and celebrate!
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