Live music by Blue Blazes with MC Joe Bean Keller Family-friendly event Raffle prizes from the Nike Community Store on MLK Learn about Eliot’s history and tell us your story – Storytelling booth Covid Vaccine Clinic offered by REACH of Multnomah County Health Department Variety of vendor booths Food options: Food cart Hot Dogs by … Continue reading Dawson Park FREE Concert #3 of 4 this THURSDAY, September 16 5pm
The year was 1912, shortly before World War I, when a new chapter in the Shearer family began. Even though Simon Shearer and his son Fred were plasterers by trade, the family moved from Iowa to Oregon to start a potato farm. They landed in Corbett, Oregon, but as the family story goes, they had … Continue reading Craftsmanship 105 Years and Counting
Live music by The Brotherhood (Funk) with MC Joe Bean Keller Family-friendly event Raffle prizes from the Nike Community Store on MLK Learn about Eliot’s history and tell us your story – Storytelling booth Covid Vaccine Clinic offered by REACH of Multnomah County Health Department Variety of vendor booths Food options: Food cart Hot Dogs … Continue reading Dawson Park FREE Concert #2 of4 THURSDAY, August 26 5pm
Restitution – noun – the restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner. Across the country, movements are underway to give land back to descendants of people who had land taken from them. Urban renewal, freeway construction, and other uses of eminent domain removed people from their property at below-market rates across the … Continue reading Does Portland have an Appetite for Restitution?
By Jimmy Wilson, Co-Chair As I look into the mirror each morning, I ask myself what do I see concerning the City of Portland. Do I see a city that resembles the city I once knew? A city that addresses itself to the needs of its people? As I note the extremely adverse media attention … Continue reading A Letter of Truth
MC is the one and only Joe Bean Keller Live jazz music by the Yugen Music Project Family-friendly event including kids activity area provided by Irvington Co-operative Preschool Raffle prizes from the Nike Community Store on MLK Learn about Eliot’s history and tell us your story – Storytelling booth Give your input for a new … Continue reading NEW Details: Dawson Park FREE Concert this THURSDAY, July 22 5pm
By Julie Doumbia and Sue Stringer It’s been a while since we have had a Within and Beyond the Borders of Eliot column. For this issue, we think it’s time for a sequel to the piece the Eliot News did three years ago. There’s a proliferation of new murals and street art in and around … Continue reading Within and Beyond the Borders of Eliot: Murals and Street Art
Does spring make you want to redecorate your house? Ever want to make your wall space pop with a design that speaks to you and honors the nature surrounding you? Melanie Nead accomplishes that with her company, Lonesome Pictopia. The custom wallpaper company has recently ramped up and the studio is in Lower Albina on … Continue reading Lonesome Pictopia – Modern Wallpaper with Historic, Botanical Flair
By Vicki Guinn HISTORYThe vacant land bordering N. Russell, Williams and Vancouver streets on the Legacy Emanuel campus was once part of a thriving community called Albina that housed most African Americans in Portland and Oregon during the 1940s and 50s. Institutional racism made it illegal and difficult to own land as a minority. With … Continue reading Righting a historical wrong, an update on the Legacy Emanuel property
An abundance of history and personal stories are woven into the fabric of Portland. So, to make sure the stories are not lost as generations of our residents pass on and memories begin to fade, here is one family’s story and a bit of history with links at the end of this article to learn … Continue reading One Street, Five Generations and Infinite Life Lessons
By Ruth Eddy At the busy intersection of Knott and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd, a small semi-circle of grass with a few roses gives a break to the surrounding concrete. At the center of a faded, red brick wall is a portrait of Gladys Sims McCoy etched in stone, with wafted hair and bright … Continue reading Memorial Garden for Oregon’s First Black Politician
The City of Portland uses a foundational document, known as the City Charter, as a guide to how the city should be governed (similarly to the way the US relies on the Constitution). Portland’s charter requires that the document be reviewed and updated at least once per decade. It’s time for just such a review … Continue reading What Do I Need to Know About the Portland City Charter?
Every year at the General Assembly Meeting on the third Monday in October, we have elections for the next year’s Board of Directors for the Eliot Neighborhood Association. The term starts in November and runs through October of the next year. Then, in November, the new board directors elect the officers. According to our bylaws, … Continue reading ENA Board of Directors and Committees: Election Process and Responsibilities
How I-5 was planned and built through Eliot in the 1950s and why we should not widen it At a recent meeting, my Co-chair, Jimmy Wilson, asked me a pertinent question: “Where were white folks standing when Interstate-5 (I-5) was run through North Portland in the 1950’s?” I decided to dig through archives to find … Continue reading We Can’t Stand By While Highways Are Widened
Board Co-Chair Wilson’s heartfelt article in the last issue encouraged me to provide more perspective on his, and our neighborhood’s, experience with gentrification. Docks, railyards, and industries in Lower Eliot (now Lower Albina) provided jobs and Upper Albina (now Eliot’s residential area) provided housing for successions of groups seeking either, or both, refuge and a … Continue reading Origin of Gentrification in Eliot
Eliot Neighborhood 