Oregonians

Louis (Lewis) Southworth (1829-1917)

A talented violin player, Southworth earned enough money to purchase his freedom and settled in Oregon in 1858, where he had previously lived while enslaved (after being brought to Oregon from Missouri). He also joined the Oregon militia at this time, its first Black member. By 1870, Southworth ran his own stable and worked as a blacksmith. Taking advantage of the Homestead Act of 1862, Southworth cleared land in the Alsea Valley (near Waldport), opening a mill and operating a ferry. He donated land for a school (and served as its board chairman) and played music at community dances. He retired to Corvallis in 1901. Southworth Creek in Lincoln County is named after him.

Beatrice Morrow Cannady (1890-1974):

Lawyer and civil rights advocate, Cannady was the first Black woman to graduate from law school in Oregon, and also the first Black woman to run for state representative. She led protests against the KKK, advocated for civil rights legislation, and helped desegregate schools.

DeNorval Unthank, Jr (1929-2000):

First Black man to earn an architecture degree from the University of Oregon. In 1951, he had to marry his wife, Doris Burgess, in Washington because interracial marriage remained illegal in Oregon. Unthank designed buildings throughout Oregon, and served as an architecture professor at UO from 1965 to 1980.

Allen Ervin Flowers (1847-1934):

Moved to Portland from Ohio in 1865, and was one of Oregon’s first black landowners. He later became Portland’s first Black land developer when he built a road so his wife could more easily take their children for walks.

DeNorval Unthank (1899-1977):

Unthank received his M.D. in 1926. He moved to Portland in 1929 as a doctor with the Union Pacific Railroad. He was a major civil rights activist, the first Black member of the Portland Club (1943), cofounder of the Portland Urban League (1945), and president of the Portland chapter of the NAACP. He also helped with the passage of Oregon’s Civil Rights Bill in 1953. Additionally, he was named Oregon Doctor of the Year in 1958 and Citizen of the Year in 1962. Several Portland locations, including DeNorval Unthank Park, are named for him.

Kathryn Hall Bogle (1906-2008):

Bogle was the first Black journalist paid for work in The Oregonian. She could not find full time employment due to her race, so she worked as a freelancer, writing for papers across the country. She also worked as a social worker for nearly 20 years. In 1998, she received a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Portland Association of Black Journalists.