Flood of Change: the Vanport Flood and Race Relations in Portland, Oregon

This thesis examines race relations amid dramatic social changes caused by the migration of African Americans and other Southerners into Portland, Oregon during World War II. The migrants lived in a housing project named Vanport and an exploration behind Portlanders’ negative opinion of newcomers will be undertaken. A history of African Americans in Oregon will open the paper and the analysis of events leading up to a 1948 flood that destroyed the housing project and resulted in a refugee and housing crisis will comprise the middle of the paper. Lastly, an examination of whether or not an improvement in race relations occurred following the community’s response in aiding flood victims will close the paper. The paper also addresses larger regional context such as the effects of World War II in the western United States and the Second Great Migration.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

History

Year dc:date.available

2017

Author dc:creator

• Hamberg, Michael James

Contributors dc:contributor

• Stephen Moore
• Daniel Herman
• Brian Carroll

• Race relations
• flood
• Portland
• Oregon
• public housing
• World War II
• African American
• African American Studies
• Human Geography
• Politics and Social Change
• Social History
• United States History

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/689

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.cwu.edu:etd-1687