Document Type
Thesis
Date of Degree Completion
Spring 2017
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
History
Committee Chair
Stephen Moore
Second Committee Member
Daniel Herman
Third Committee Member
Brian Carroll
Abstract
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.
Recommended Citation
Hamberg, Michael James, "Flood of Change: the Vanport Flood and Race Relations in Portland, Oregon" (2017). All Master's Theses. 689.
https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/etd/689
Language
English
Included in
African American Studies Commons, Human Geography Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Social History Commons, United States History Commons