| 1792 |
Captain Robert Gray discovers
Columbia River. He is accompanied by Marcus Lopez, cabin
boy. |
| 1805 |
Lewis and Clark journey to
the Northwest. They are accompanied by Clark’s slave, York. |
| 1844 |
Slavery in Oregon made illegal.
Free blacks are also prohibited from living in the region,
under penalty of whippings or forced labor. |
| 1848 |
Oregon passes Exclusion Law,
forbidding African Americans from residing in the territory. |
| 1849 |
Federally appointed governor
Joseph Lane takes office in Oregon Territory. |
| 1858 |
Oregon elects docket of pro-slavery
officials to serve as administration of the new state. |
| 1859 |
Oregon admitted to Union, complete
with a unique exclusion law, forbidding
presence of blacks in the state. |
| 1870 |
After the Civil War, Oregon
passes the Thirteenth (ends slavery) and Fourteenth Amendments
(black citizenship), but fails to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment
(right of black men to vote). |
| 1914 |
Portland chapter of NAACP founded.
|
| 1926 |
Oregon repeals exclusion law. |
| 1920-1929 |
Short historical
essay on African American advances in Portland during this
period. |
| 1929-1939 |
Short
historical essay on challenges to the African American community
during this period. |
| 1939-1945 |
Black workers attracted to
Oregon by promise of war production jobs. |
| 1945 |
Creation of Vanport. For a
brief time it was Oregon's second largest city. |
| 1948 |
Flooding of the Columbia River,
completely destroying Vanport. |
| 1959 |
Oregon ratifies Fifteenth Amendment |
