This piece reflects the views of the author, Tom Wheeler, and not those of Emerald Media Group. It has been edited by the Emerald for grammar and style. Send your columns or submissions about our content or campus issues to [email protected].
An open letter to the Board of Trustees:
As Quintard Taylor writes in “The Oregon Encyclopedia”: “Beatrice Morrow Cannady was the most noted civil rights activist in early 20-century Oregon.” Her husband was the co-founder and publisher of “The Advocate,” the first African American newspaper in Portland. As associate editor (and later editor and owner), Beatrice took over daily management, ran the linotype and wrote news and features.
• “The ambassador of interracial goodwill,”
• one of the first black women to graduate from law school in the United States,
• the first African American to run for elected office in Oregon and a pioneering journalist,
• she wrote editorials, gave hundreds of lectures, hosted tea parties specifically intended to cross color lines,
• organized protests against the screening of “The Birth Of A Nation,”
• co-crafted Oregon’s first civil rights legislation,
• spoke to the Legislature at a time when allowing any African American to appear before that body was controversial,
• and cofounded Portland’s NAACP chapter.
For more information, an excellent OPB video documentary can be found here.
Students, faculty, staff and Oregon citizens could all take pride in being associated
with a campus where such contributions and courage are recognized.
Tom Wheeler
Prof.
School of Journalism and Communication