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Mill Diversification:
Affirmative Action and Executive Orders Spur Change

The contractor will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The contractor will take affirmative action to ensure that applicants are employed, and that employees are treated during employment, without regard to their race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Such action shall include, but not be limited to the following: employment, upgrading, demotion, or transfer; recruitment or recruitment advertising; layoff or termination; rates of pay or other forms of compensation; and selection for training, including apprenticeship. ... -- Selection from President Lyndon B. Johnson's 1965 Executive Order 11246

Jana Moon, now Jana Holcomb, was the first woman shift supervisor at the mill in 1973. She retired from the mill in the late 1970s, and now lives in Arizona with her husband Jim Holcomb. Courtesy of The Camas-Washougal Post Record Andrew Davis in 1974. Davis began working at the mill in 1957. He retired in 1995 and now lives in Vancouver, Washington. Courtesy of The Camas-Washougal Post Record

The Crown Zellerbach Corporation began to racially diversify the Camas mill in the 1950s when it hired several black employees. The mill expanded efforts to recruit minorities and women in the 1960s in response to new federal requirements. In 1961 President John F. Kennedy issued Executive Order 10952, which created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The government directed contractors to hire employees "... without regard to race, creed, color or national origin." In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson's Executive Order 11246 gave the Department of Labor oversight and enforcement over compliance for federal contractors.

The government required federal contractors, including the Crown Zellerbach Corporation, to submit affirmative action plans that analyzed the demographics of their region's work force and incorporated a plan to hire and train minority workers. The Georgia Pacific Corporation is also regulated by the Department of Labor under Executive Order 11246.

Minorities working at the Fort James mill in 2000:
Hourly
Salaried
African American
31
2
Hispanic
22
2
American Indian
12
1
Asian/Pacific Islander
21
2
*Not all mill employees indicated their ethnicity.
The Camas mill employs 1650 people.

Executive Order 11246

Newspaper article: "Woman easily adjusts to supervisor position"

Newspaper article: "Full Utilization Employment Attitudes Important"

Newspaper article: "Full Utilization of Women, Minorities Required"

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