75 years after Black neighborhood was destroyed, advocates call for memorial

The Eugene-Springfield NAACP held an event to commemorate Eugene's first Black neighborhood and make the case for a monument honoring it Monday, the week after the 75th anniversary of Lane County commissioners voting to demolish it.

At the event, speakers including representatives of the NAACP and Black Cultural Initiative, elected officials from the Lane County Board of Commissioners, Eugene City Council and Oregon State Senate and descendants of people displaced, shared the story of the neighborhood referred to as both the "Across the Bridge Community" and the "Ferry Street Village."

Oregon banned Black people from living in the state until the 14th Amendment passed in 1866, and Eugene banned Black people from living in the city until 1952. The NAACP said World War II brought thousands of Black people to Oregon, as they were recruited to work in shipyards, lumber supply and transportation.

Black people who settled near Eugene built a neighborhood on the north side of the Willamette River in what is now Alton Baker Park, which was just outside city limits at the time. On July 16, 1949, the Lane County Board of Commissioners voted to demolish the neighborhood, which crews carried on out August 24, 1949, displacing 101 people, 65 of whom were "colored" and 36 of whom were white.

At the time, the commissioners' stated goal was to expand the Ferry Street Bridge. But Talicia Brown-Crowell, founder and executive director of the Black Cultural Initiative said BCI, along with Lane County officials and local historians, are investigating the accusation that commissioners were also motivated by a fear the Black settlers would apply for land ownership under Homestead laws , which granted white Oregon settlers ownership over the land they improved.

"Those pioneering foundational Black families survived in a hostile environment, being not deemed worthy to live within Eugene city limits," Brown-Crowell said. "When their settlement was destroyed, they were relocated to places that had no access to basic public services such as running water. … It is easy to think of the destruction of the first black settlement as a thing of the past. But there are still at least four living survivors from that settlement."

The BCI, NAACP and City of Eugene have been working towards developing a monument at Alton Baker Park describing the neighborhood and its demolition, and speakers at the event advocated for it.

"We see (the monument) as a start to acknowledge the legacy, not only for Bertha and Charlie Johnson but for all the first families of Eugene and the community that they helped build," said Rosita Johnson, whose grandparents Bertha and Charlie were displaced by the demolition.

Local elected officials at the event apologized for their bodies' prior actions.

"This dark chapter in our history is a reminder of the systemic racism and discrimination that African-Americans have faced across the nation and right here in our own backyard— all too often at the hands of the people whose job it is to serve them." County Commissioner Laurie Trieger said. "We recognize that deep injustice was inflicted upon these families and there are long-lasting impacts on them and their descendants."

In April , the commissioners unanimously agreed to pay BCI up to $25,000 for the monument, on top of the $10,000 commissioners approved in June 2020. The total cost of the project is estimated to be between $100,000 and $150,000. BCI has also requested $20,000 from the city, which councilors have not yet voted on.

Alan Torres covers local government for the Register-Guard. He can be reached over email at atorres@registerguard.com or on X @alanfryetorres.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: 75 years after Black neighborhood was destroyed, advocates call for memorial