THE VANPORT MOSAIC FESTIVAL

MAY 26 – MAY 29, 2017

THE VANPORT MOSAIC FESTIVAL IS A FOUR-DAY EXPLORATION OF THE HISTORY AND LEGACY OF VANPORT, OREGON’S SECOND LARGEST CITY WIPED OUT BY A FLOOD IN 1948.

Through theater, documentaries, historic exhibit, lectures, and tours we honor the experience of those who lived there.

To honor the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the city of Vanport, this year’s festival aims to engage Portlanders in an exploration of community histories around the themes of home, housing, migration, and displacement. Several of the events will consider the rippling effects of gentrification on affordable housing, and how unresolved issues with race-based displacement are addressed today. To understand the role gentrification has played in Portland, we must first understand the history of housing discrimination and displacement. Vanport is a critical chapter in this story.

Vanport brought together a mix of races from across the country to work in Portland’s shipyards and railroads. The Vanport Mosaic initiative aims to honor the legacy of the Vanport community and the 1948 flood. As a platform to preserve and document these stories, Vanport Mosaic offers a central point where the diverse efforts surrounding Vanport can be visible in one place. A deep knowledge of this history and a true understanding of the past helps to shape the community and creates a foundation for the future. Vanport was built in 110 days in 1942, and was meant to be a temporary solution to Portland’s housing shortage during World War II. The city was also home to the many workers who came to Portland to work in Henry Kaiser’s shipyards building ships for the war effort.

At its peak, with a population of 40,000, Vanport was Oregon’s second largest city, complete with schools, stores, and a movie theater. After the war was over, although some people left, many families who had come from all over the country to work, stayed on.

“Depending on who tells the story, the new town built to accommodate migrant workers was either an experiment in racial integration or a nasty, segregated ghetto.”

The city was built on the swampy land where Portland’s racetrack and Heron Lakes Golf Club stand today. The low-lying land was surrounded by dykes, designed to protect the area from the Columbia River. he spring of 1948 was very warm, causing an early snow melt, filling Oregon’s rivers and streams to the bursting point. Vanport’s residents were told that the dykes were safe, to stay put, and that they would be told if they needed to evacuate. On Memorial Day, May 30, one of the dykes surrounding Vanport broke, flooding the city and wiping it out in less than an hour. It is not clear how many people were killed. After the flood, many Vanport residents were displaced and struggled to find housing, especially many of the city’s African American residents, who were not free to live in many Portland neighborhoods.

THE VANPORT MOSAIC

A collective of artists, historians, educators and media makers seeking to engage the public in remembering silenced histories of The Pacific Northwest.
The Vanport Mosaic is a registered non-profit organization co-founded and co-directed by Damaris Webb, Laura Lo Forti, and Renee Mitchell.