Category: History

Food and Drink, History

Possibly Montavilla’s Last Farm

In the days before Montavilla became a popular suburb in the early 1900s, it was largely farmland. Gradually, fruit, vegetables, nuts, and other crops were displaced by houses and commercial buildings. But as late as the 1920s, there were still pockets of arable land in sections of northeastern and southeastern Montavilla. I recently learned about the Newell and Matsen cut-flower farm on NE 87th Avenue that may deserve the distinction of being Montavilla’s last farm.

Three men stand in front of a building after a snowstorm, holding shovels. In the background, greenhouses are visible, and there is a large accumulation of snow around them.
The Newell and Matsen floral nursery after a snowstorm with owners Harry Newell (left) and Hank Matsen (right) and long-term employee Mel Wilkinson (center). Photo courtesy of the Matsen Family Photo Archive

Harry L. Newell (1891-1976) and Hank F. Matsen (1894-1962) established the business in 1922. Hank’s son, Kenneth H. Matsen (1921-2024), continued it until 1973.

I learned about this business from two of Kenneth Matsen’s daughters, Nancy Palomino and Marje Rhine. They suggested that I speak with their mother, 100-year-old Janice Urquhart Matsen, who knew a great deal about it. So, I interviewed Janice, and she generously shared her memories and allowed me to use photos from the extensive family collection. 

Janice Urquhart and Kenneth Matsen in a Newell and Matsen greenhouse shortly before their marriage in 1946.

Janice has a remarkable memory. She has stories to share about her life in Montavilla and about the flower business. She lived in Montavilla for most of her life, and her memories go back to her earliest years. She remembers, for example, entering Vestal School‘s first kindergarten class in 1930. In the 1930s, she walked to school along Glisan Street, and she can tell you stories about nearly every business on her route. She also told me about a Depression-era “shanty town” just west of NE 67th Avenue and how her father gave food to the men who knocked at the back door of their nearby home.

Janice’s memories of the Newell-Matsen flower farm date back to her marriage to Ken Matsen in 1946. At that time, he worked on the farm, and for a time, the newlyweds lived in his parents’ house located on the farm property. Ken worked on the farm until it closed in 1973. So even though Janice did not work in the business—although she lent a hand from time to time—she was in a position to know how it operated.

The business was founded by two young men, Harry Newell and Hank Matsen, just after their service in World War I. The two men had known each other for several years, and Newell married Matsen’s sister Rose in 1920. Newell had been employed in the floral business for several years, but Matsen had established himself as a dentist after the war. Somehow, Newell convinced his new brother-in-law that a flower business was worth trying.

Newell knew there was money to be made in this trade. He had worked for Rahn and Herbert, one of the largest nurseries in Oregon, with greenhouses in Clackamas. The flower trade was growing, according to the 1920 U.S. census. So, Matsen gave up his dental practice and purchased a large plot of land on 87th Avenue, just north of Glisan from his mother Christina Matsen Tranberg (1852-1934).

Historic photograph of a early 20th-century house with two people standing on the porch, surrounded by a fenced yard and landscape.
Christina Matsen Tranberg’s house and property before the Newell-Matsen greenhouses were built. Photo courtesy of the Matsen Family Photo Archive
Construction site of Newell and Matsen glass greenhouses with scattered building materials and trees.
Newell and Matsen glass greenhouses under construction. Photo courtesy of the Matsen Family Photo Archive
A plumbing permit dated September 18, 1922, for the Newell-Matsen greenhouses located at 750 NE 87th Avenue, detailing its construction and plumbing specifications.
This 1922 plumbing permit establishes a beginning date for the Newell-Matsen business. It shows that the dry well and rain drains needed for the greenhouses had been approved on September 30, 1922. Source: Portlandmaps

The 1928 Sanborn map below indicates the location and scale of the Newell and Matsen greenhouses. It was opposite another farm, the Benedict Nursery, which grew shrubs and trees. The Benedict Nursery, by the way, is now the eastern portion of the Multnomah University campus.

  • The 1928 Sanborn map above shows the Newell and Matsen Nursery in the upper right
  • Detail of the 1928 Sanborn map 

The Newell and Matsen nursery sold its flowers in a variety of ways. They supplied local florist shops. They did wholesale business through the Oregon Flower Growers Association warehouse on Grand Avenue. Some flowers were shipped by train to other locales. And they also created funeral sprays.

Ken Matsen continued working in the business after his father died in 1962, and he became the sole proprietor when Newell retired in 1967. He renamed the business Matsen Greenhouses.

The interior of a greenhouse filled with yellow snapdragons and pink carnations.
Newell and Matsen grew yearly crops. In this photo, the crops are carnations (left) and snapdragons (right). Photo courtesy of the Matsen Family Photo Archive

In the early 1970s, Ken faced at least two significant challenges. One was the deadly tornado that swept through Portland and Vancouver on April 5, 1972. Vancouver suffered greater losses — in both lives and property — but the Matsen greenhouses were among Portland’s few damaged properties. When the Portland tornado touched down on his property, it struck the greenhouses, breaking so much glass that it took months to repair, and lifted a tree into the air.

Newspaper clipping titled 'Portland Riverfront Hit Hard By Storm' describing the damage caused by a freak wind in Portland.
The Oregon Journal, April 6, 1972, page 6

Janice told me about another challenge to the Matsen business: the increasing competition from California flower growers, who did not have the expense of oil heating required during Oregon’s colder winters. By 1973, petroleum prices had skyrocketed due to OPEC’s oil embargo against the U.S. Consequently, California growers could ship flowers by rail and undercut Oregon prices. 

Ken Matsen closed the nursery business in 1973, but he stayed in the flower trade, working for flower wholesalers on Swan Island.

An elderly man resting in a wheelbarrow, wearing a blue hat and a blue t-shirt, with a garden in the background.
Kenneth Matsen resting from greenhouse work. Photo courtesy of the Matsen Family Photo Archive

If you want to see a remnant of the Newell and Matsen flower farm, you can find the remodeled 1908 Matsen farmhouse at 750 NE 87th Avenue. Now it’s surrounded by mostly single and multifamily housing. But a bit of the more open, rural land is preserved in Montavilla Park and the Multnomah University campus.

The remodeled Matsen home at 750 NE 87th Avenue, featuring a green-trimmed gabled roof, surrounded by well-maintained landscaping and flower pots.
The remodeled Matsen home at 750 NE 87th Avenue today. Photo by Thomas Tilton

Note:

Some of you may remember when Montavilla still had open spaces other than parks and school playgrounds. Please feel free to share your memories about remnants of Montavilla’s rural past. You can email them to me at history@montavilla.net.

Acknowledgements:

Much of the information in this story was generously supplied by Matsen family members. I want to thank Janice and her daughters for their help. Janice shared her invaluable memories with me in two interviews. Her daughter Marie Matsen sorted through thousands of family photos and selected most of the ones appearing in this article; she also provided additional details about the Newell-Matsen business. Janice’s daughters, Marje Rhine and Nancy Palomino, brought my attention to the Newell and Matsen flower business, setting me on this quest.

by

Patricia Sanders

Correction: An earlier version of this article had Janice Urquhart Matsen’s first name typed at Joyce in several locations and Marje Rhine’s first name spelled as Marjae. The text is now corrected and Montavilla News regrets this error.

Community, Food and Drink, History

Behind the Wok a Restaurant History Archive

On May 30th, APANO launched its online archive titled Behind the Wok: A Tribute to Iconic Chinese American Restaurants in Portland’s Jade District. This digital collection documents the shift in Chinese American dining toward East Portland. This online repository focuses on six restaurants that represent the phases of Portland’s Asian community’s eastward move from Old Town Chinatown. The work preserves stories from the families behind some of 82nd Avenue’s most iconic restaurants, attempting to create a record of these community cornerstones that are often missing from traditional archives.

Promotional materials for APANO's online archive, including a card reading 'Behind the Wok: Honoring Chinese American Restaurants in Jade District,' coasters, buttons, and a matchbook featuring iconic restaurant illustrations.
Behind the Wok promotional items including tote bag, matches, pins, and coaster

The inaugural cohort of restaurants includes Hung Far Low, Canton Grill, Chinese Village, New Cathay, Legin, and Wong’s King. However, the project aims to expand the digital archive over time, documenting the history of these foundational restaurants and their enduring cultural impact on the East Portland Chinese American community. The early evening launch party included several family representatives who came of age in and around the restaurants preserved in the archive. Their recollection and photos of these gathering places represent some of the only records of what they symbolized to the region beyond their decades of food service.

Aerial view of a neighborhood layout with labeled blocks and streets in East Portland, highlighting areas for development and existing infrastructure.
Guide map, copyright 1933 by Terry Tebault Inc. with Behind the Wok notations Courtesy APANO

Conversations following the presentation continued to reveal more history and a deeper understanding of the role these Chinese American staples represented for the community, supporting the need for such an archive. Without the historical seedwork released last month, these accounts would fade, and other untold stories would remain unknown to a community built on that history. The group working on Behind the Wok noted how difficult it was to obtain information, partially because news articles often failed to document changes that impacted this community and how people’s cultural humility kept them from lauding their accomplishments. However, in terms of storytelling and praising others, participants and attendees expanded the group’s understanding of their shared history.

A hand holding a commemorative button for the Behind the Wok Digital Archive Launch on May 30, 2025, featuring an illustration and the event name.
Behind the Wok promotional pin commemorating the launch date

That night’s brief open conversation revealed how many more details could end up in the digital archive. APANO is working to preserve the memory of the Chinese American restaurant as a community meeting place and support system for immigrants settling in Portland. The nonprofit purchased the Canton Grill property in 2022 for future housing development and named one of its other housing projects after Legin restaurant as a way to enshrine those shuttered establishments in the community’s consciousness. The project team invites people to visit the Behind the Wok digital archive regularly for in-depth information about their contributions to East Portland. APANO will host a celebration of the Canton Grill on June 27th from 4 to 9 p.m. at 8188 SE Division Street. That event will focus on the Canton Grill Memorial Project and further inform the cultural preservation efforts.

Article and photo’s by

Jacob Loeb

Disclosure: Attendees of this event, including the author, received free food and promotional items related to the project.

Community, Entertainment, Event, History

Archaeology Roadshow Moving to East Portland on May 31

After a 12-year run downtown, the annual Archaeology Roadshow will move its 2025 educational and interactive showcase across the river to East Portland on May 31st, taking over the grassy field in Gateway Discovery Park at 10520 NE Halsey Street. Historians, members from universities, Tribes, government agencies, museums, and nonprofit cultural organizations will operate booths at this free event from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., sharing presentations and answering questions from inquisitive attendees. People can drop in anytime during the four-hour un-ticketed event. However, some presentations occur at specific times, including an open welcome song and prayer performed by Sam Robinson of the Chinook Indian Nation.

This year’s Portland show features exhibits and hands-on activities demonstrating how arts and crafts reflect the human experience through the items people make and the traditions passed down through generations.

A group of people engaging at an Archaeology Roadshow booth, examining ancient fishing tools and displays about net weight technology, with a banner in the background.
Student exhibitors Phil Daily and Dianna Wilson 2017, courtesy Archaeology Roadshow (Photo Corey James)

Virginia Butler, with the Archaeology Roadshow, explained that the name is an homage to the PBS series Antiques Roadshow, which has people bring items for expert evaluation. Students working on the inaugural Portland event wanted people to make the connection to the TV show because the Archaeology Roadshow similarly allows attendees to bring up to three objects for expert examination, and those people will attempt to determine the object’s age and possible function. Unlike the TV show, volunteers at this event do not offer appraisal but help people connect to the history contained within those objects. Presentations cover the whole of human existence in the region, and organizers try not to put date limits on what constitutes archaeology. “Science can tell us people have probably been in this area for over 15,000 years. But the Indigenous perspective suggests you can’t really put a time on it because some of their origin stories say they’ve been here forever,” said Butler. “There will be perspectives from tribes from the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, the Chinook Indian Nation, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, and the Klamath Tribes. Their presence will provide those perspectives that go back to ancient times but continue today—since all of these people are part of our world, and they are continuing to educate their people and others about ongoing traditions. Then, we move to more Euro-American settlements with their arrival in the early 19th century. We have several historical societies present. We also have multiple museums and cultural organizations that tell the story of more recent migrations and ongoing immigrant stories. The Portland Chinatown Museum will host a [calligraphy] exhibit, and The Japanese American Museum will host an exhibit,” explained Butler.

The Archaeology Roadshow embraces all phases of human settlement in the region and tries to present people with an experience that entertains and informs visitors about that shared history through activities and face-to-face engagement. Participants can throw an atlatl—a throwing spear—at a target as people have done for thousands of years to take down game. The Hellenic-American Cultural Center & Museum intends to perform a dance representing the Greek American experience in Oregon and SW Washington. Gresham Historical Society will present a musical-focused exhibit that explores the music history in Gresham titled Dance Halls to Divas, Gresham’s Musical Heritage. They will have some instruments at their booth for people to practice and explore their musical expressions. The Rocky Butte Preservation Society will showcase stone masons and metal workers’ craftmanship used while creating the viewing area on top of an ancient cinder cone.

Two children working together on a woodworking project on the ground, using tools to shape a piece of wood.
Two children starting a fire 2016, courtesy Archaeology Roadshow (Photo Kendal McDonald)

Although people from universities, nonprofits, government agencies, and cultural organizations will staff most of the booths, Butler explained that several private companies in town carry out projects related to archaeology and history, supporting legal policy structures that help preserve and protect the past. One company sharing the exhibit Art and Craft of Mourning and Remembrance, an archaeology of memorialization, will look at the human experience engaged by memorializing people’s passing and how that occurs across the human experience. “So it’s not specific to the region. That’s one of the things that we hope visitors will get from this. There are important specific things that happened in our area, but it’s also important to know that we share a lot of common ground, at some scales, with how we approach the passing of loved ones, how we approach creating containers to store food, and make pottery. These things bring us together and are distinctive across our cultures,” said Butler.

The Archaeology Roadshow began in 2012 out of the Portland State University’s desire to expose students to public outreach practices in a campus event. The yearly event grew beyond Portland in 2017 when the roadshow opened in Harney County, with shows in Burns and Hines featuring specific regional exhibitors and historical societies. Post-pandemic, they have continued to expand into places like the Dalles and Bend. Growing beyond the Portland Metro area gave event organizers more opportunities to work with U.S. Government agencies that operate in those areas. “Federal agencies have carried out a lot of cultural resources work supporting archaeology and cultural preservation as part of their own mandates. You have to have a timber sale with the U.S. Forest Service. The consequence of that is you may potentially disturb archaeology and local history. And ahead of those big timber sales, you document what those impacts might be and then try to mitigate them ahead of the potential disturbance or destruction. So all of our federal agencies have mandates to protect and support archaeology,” explained Butler. “Organizations like the National Park Service will often attend more than one event. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will be in Portland, they’ll be in Bend, and they’ll probably be in Harney County.”

A young girl and an adult man are engaging in an interactive activity outdoors, with trees in the background. The girl appears to be smiling as she focuses on a task involving sticks, while the man, wearing an orange shirt, assists her.
Child with helper preparing to throw spear, courtesy Archaeology Roadshow (Photo Greg Shine)

Butler noted that the Archaeology Roadshow is more than an informative event. It is a valuable tool in connecting organizations and municipalities to understand the importance of historical preservation as communities grow. “This kind of work is really about relationships. The Archaeology Roadshow builds relationships at different levels between the organizations doing this work. Every time you start digging in the ground, you might open up and identify some archaeology. There’s a lot of effort to ensure that we don’t lose historical knowledge as we go forth with development.” The organizing group wants to convey the ethics and legal aspects of artifact collecting in context to its importance to people and not just as a regulation. “We want to emphasize that when you simply dig into what may seem to be an archaeological site and remove objects, you’re losing the context. We lose our ability to understand broader meanings of what those artifacts mean relative to each other. We’re also harming descendant communities that might have special connections to those places. So we convey some of the ethics and the legal aspects of collecting,” said Butler.

Overall, the roadshow project intends to expand people’s understanding of archaeology, a practice often formed through movies and school field trips. “I think most people think that archaeology is exciting; there’s an adventure and an explorer level to it. The Indiana Jones image is about finding things, and a lot of people think archaeology is a treasure hunt. I hope people come and realize it’s so much more than that. Archaeology is everywhere. History is happening everywhere. We are so much richer if we understand it, and we feel much more connected to a place if we understand its history,” said Butler. “People will walk in with one concept of archaeology, and then it’s going to get a lot bigger because of the cultural connections.”

Virginia Butler and the other event organizers hope moving to East Portland after more than a decade will open this event to more organizations and residents who do not always have an opportunity to engage with history in a hands-on and dynamic environment. Within the over thirty-five pop-up exhibits, guests will find people demonstrating skills such as weaving cloth or fibers, tool making, and building baskets, with the option for visitors to participate. Anyone interested in history will also find booths filled with people offering a museum’s worth of information, Including Montavilla News contributor Patricia Sanders, who will join Paul Leistner from Mt. Tabor in sharing neighborhood history. Gateway Discovery Park is a fully accessible facility, and the event staff will have translators for Russian, Cantonese, and Spanish speakers available throughout the event so more people can participate in this community-enriching event. The event is free and open to the public thanks to financial support from East Portland Action Plan, Portland State University, and other sponsors.

By

Jacob Loeb

History

Montavilla History Questions Answered: Notable Residents Pt3

Q – Have any notable people lived in Montavilla?

A – Yes. Movie Star Jewel Carmen.

In the era of silent films, a beautiful face and expressive gestures could turn you into a matinee idol: enter Jewel Carmen. A 1916 edition of Moving Picture World magazine called her “a queen of blonds” and “the girl who photographs like a million dollars.” A year later, The Oregon Journal pronounced her “the belle of Montavilla.”

Jewel Carmen was one of three professional names adopted by Florence Lavina Quick (1897-1984). She was born on July 13, 1897, in the rural town of Blaine in Tillamook County, Oregon, the seventh child of Amos William Quick (1858-1932) and Minerva Gray Quick (1862-1934). (Sometimes, her birthplace is given incorrectly as Danville, Kentucky, or Portland, Oregon.) By 1901, her parents and siblings lived in Portland, a few blocks from Montavilla’s current western boundary. These boundaries were established in 1974 when the City of Portland created neighborhood associations. In earlier days, Montavilla boundaries were imprecise. So, we can accept the Journal’s designation and claim Jewel Carmen as a Montavilla notable.

A promotional still from the silent film 'A Tale of Two Cities' featuring William Farnum and Jewel Carmen in a dramatic embrace.
William Farnum and Jewel Carmen in A Tale of Two Cities, 1917. Source: Wikimedia

In 1911, Vina completed her eighth-grade education at Mount Tabor School. The same year, her parents separated or divorced. By February 1912, her mother and four of her siblings—Alice, Fred, Vina, and Alberta—had moved to Los Angeles. 

Why Los Angeles? They apparently had no relatives there. Was it the movie industry that drew them? In the 1910s, Los Angeles was the new center of the movie industry. Silent movies were exploding in popularity, drawing actor “wannabes” to southern California. Did Vina and her older sisters dream of getting into pictures? There are reasons to think that might be true.

There is evidence of family interest in the performing arts. Vina’s two older sisters, Alice and Edna, had attended Portland’s Western Academy of Dramatic Art, Elocution and Music. They performed in the Academy’s live productions. Edna may have had connections with the acting community since she married a British actor, William Henry Strong (born c.1870) in November 1911—which, of course, prevented her from going to L. A. in 1912. A few years later, Alice and Edna got acting jobs, but their younger sister, Vina—the one with no performance experience—quickly rose to stardom on the silver screen.

A historical illustration depicting a group of elegantly dressed people exiting an upscale movie theater, showcasing early 20th-century fashion.
Movie fans attending an up-scale movie theater. Source: The Oregonian, November 1, 1908

This era was a time when movies were growing in popularity. Movie theaters were proliferating. They had grown from three in 1907 to 16 by 1908 in Portland alone. Getting to a downtown theater would have been easy for the Quicks. They lived close to the Glisan Street trolley, which could take them downtown, where they could go to a five-cent Nickelodeon or one of the bigger ten-cent theaters. The Quicks also had the option of two new movie theaters in Montavilla: the Scenic Theatre at Stark and SE 79th and the Idle Hour at SE 81st and Stark. (For more on Montavilla’s earliest movie theaters, see Village Portland:Montavilla Memories )

An advertisement for the Majestic Theatre, featuring a special program with the film 'The Golden Wedding', and listings for other performances including 'The Price' and 'The Baseball Bug'.
A Majestic Theatre ad in the Oregon Journal of November 26, 1911

Within months of the Quicks’ arrival in Los Angeles, Vina was making her first movies. While many women stormed movie offices daily looking for work as extras, Vina later related that she was discovered by movie producer Gaston Melies (1852-1915), the brother of the famous French filmmaker George Melies (1861-1938). According to Vina, she was sitting one day in a Los Angeles soda fountain when Gaston Melies approached her and handed her his card. He asked if she would like to be in motion pictures. Despite being under California’s legal adult employment age of 16, she said yes. She turned 15 in July 1912. But her family needed the money, so she accepted his offer of $25 a week.

For the Melies company, she adopted the professional name Florence La Vinci. She made at least two short films for Melies. In both, she played adult romantic roles. Her first Melies film, The Will of Destiny, was released on August 1, 1912. In this film, she plays Alice, who vies with her sister Mary for John’s love. Alice wins but then elopes with a millionaire. With this film, Vina (as Florence La Vinci) drew the attention of the movie press: a mention in The Moving Picture World of August 17, 1912, and a photograph in the August 1912 edition of The Motion Picture Story Magazine.

A historical image featuring two portraits of Evelyn Quick and her professional name Florence La Vinci, surrounded by decorative elements.
Vina Quick as Florence La Vinci (lower right) in the August, 1912 edition of The Motion Picture Story Magazine. Source: Internet Archive

Her work for Melies was short-lived. In July 1912, the Melies film company left California to make movies in the South Pacific. By February 1913, she worked for the new Keystone studio founded by Mack Sennett (1880-1960). Now, Vina has adopted a new professional name: Evelyn Quick. Sennett’s Keystone Studios specialized in comedies, and Evelyn Quick performed in at least eight of them.

Historical photograph of the Keystone Film Company studio with Mack Sennett's portrait, showcasing early American film production.
Panoramic view of the Mack Sennett Keystone studios in Edendale near Los Angeles. Source: Wikipedia

In 1913, actress Evelyn Quick gained a new kind of notoriety when she was called to testify in a “white slavery” lawsuit in Los Angeles. Several wealthy men were accused of contributing to the delinquency of minors, including Quick. She testified under her professional name against William LaCasse (1884-1923) —a wealthy automobile salesman—who she accused of contributing to her delinquency. Newspapers across the country reported on the trial and Quick’s shocking testimony. She was, indeed, underage—15 at the time of the alleged abuse—but the defense attorney falsely claimed she was 23. The jury was deadlocked: two of the twelve voted against conviction. A new trial was set, but charges were later dropped when two witnesses, including Quick, failed to appear.

A newspaper article featuring a portrait of Evelyn Quick, tagged as a victim of white slavers, with an ornate border.
The Shreveport (Louisiana) Times of May 18, 1913 misidentifies Evelyn Quick as an orphan.

Despite the negative publicity of the investigation and the trial, Evelyn Quick continued to play leading roles in several short comedies released by Keystone and then the Nestor Film Company through November 1913. Then, her career seemed to stall. I found no record of her whereabouts or new movies until 1916. Then, her career restarted with Triangle Films. She created a new professional name: Jewel Carmen, the one she used until the end of her career and by which she is best known.

At Triangle, she began to play starring roles with the popular Douglas Fairbanks (1883-1939), including the five-reeler Flirting with Fate (1916) and The Half-Breed, a short comedy based on a Bret Harte story. (As of this writing, The Half-Breed is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_vdJyHZrR4 .)

Douglas Fairbanks and Jewel Carmen in a scene from the silent film 'The Half-Breed.'
Jewel Carmen and Douglas Fairbanks in “The Halfbreed.” Source: Photoplay Magazine, October,1916

In 1917, The Oregonian described Jewel Carmen as “one of the rapidly rising stars of the film firmament.” By this time, she was playing leading roles with super-star William Farnum (1876-1953)—including Manhattan Madness—for Triangle as well as Les Miserables and A Tale of Two Cities for Fox Vaudeville. In 1918, she starred in at least six movies for Fox.

A still image of a woman sitting on a bed, wearing a light-colored outfit with fringe details, conveying an emotional expression. The setting includes a decorative lamp and a mirror in the background.
Jewel Carmen as Alice Carter who is forced to marry a vicious criminal in “The Bride of Fear,” 1918, Fox Films. Source: Wikipedia

In mid-1918–while still under contract with Fox—Jewel signed on with Keeney Pictures, which offered her a much higher salary—$450 a week. When Frank A. Keeney learned about the Fox contracts, he voided his contract with Jewel. In late 1918, she sued Fox in the U. S. District Court of New York for interfering with her ability to find employment. She claimed the Fox contract was not legally binding since she was a minor, i.e., under the adult age of 21 in New York law. The lower court ruled in her favor, but Fox appealed. The litigation dragged on for years and ended in November 1926 with a victory for Carmen. The New York Court of Appeals awarded her $60,682 in lost salary plus interest to be paid by Fox Films.

Jewel may have won in the end, but the litigation hurt her career. She did not act in another movie until 1921. In late 1918, she married director and producer Roland West (1885-1952). She talked about giving up acting for good, but West persuaded her to return to the screen. She made three more movies, all for her husband’s company: The Silver Lining (1921), Nobody (1921), and The Bat (1926); all are suspenseful crime movies and all silent.

A black and white still from a silent film featuring four characters: three women in 1920s attire and a man in a suit with a bowler hat. They are gathered around an empty chair, with expressions of surprise or intrigue.
Jewel Carme (left) with the cast of “The Bat,” her last film. Source: Wikipedia

Jewel never performed in a talkie, although she had a speaking role in a radio play based on West’s 1929 talking picture, Alibi. Sometime between 1930 and 1934, Jewel and Roland separated. For the remainder of the 1930s, they litigated over a settlement agreement. Finally, in December 1939, she was granted alimony of $170 a month and was awarded a $50,000 property settlement a year later. 

The 1940 U.S. Census shows she lived in the Holly-Vista Apartments in Los Angeles. At some point, she moved to El Cajon in San Diego County, where she died in March 1984. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered.

Jewel Carmon died in obscurity. I found no obituary honoring the Montavilla belle’s contribution to the world of silent film. However, she lives on in the writings about her and in her surviving films. Some of her films are currently available on YouTube and the Internet Archive.

By

Patricia Sanders

Title image: William Farnum and Jewel Carmen in A Tale of Two Cities, 1917. Source: Wikimedia

This is part of Montavilla History Questions Answered, a series of history related articles. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future post on this page.

History

Montavilla History Questions Answered: Oregon Women’s Suffrage Movement

Q – Did Montavilla help women get the right to vote?

A – Yes, there were both women and men in Montavilla who supported the effort to give women the right to vote. However, they entered the decades-long women’s suffrage campaign near its end. The battle commenced at the first American women’s rights convention in 1848. Oregon suffragists joined the effort in 1870. The first Montavilla suffrage group met for the first time in 1905. By then, an Oregon suffrage measure had been on the ballot in 1884 and 1900. It lost both times, although in 1900, by a mere 2,000 votes. Women could already vote in Wyoming, Utah, and Colorado by this time. Western states were leading the way! Hopes were high that equal suffrage would succeed in the 1906 Oregon election.

In this hopeful moment, a group of Montavilla women came together in March 1905 to create a local chapter of the Equal Suffrage Association. They elected Rachel C. Ring (1850-1932), a seamstress and former teacher, as their president.

The Oregon Journal of April 18, 1905 announces the recent formation of a Montavilla Equal Suffrage group.

The events and strategies leading up to the 1906 ballot were described by Abigail Scott Duniway (1834-1915) in her autobiography, Path Breaking (1914). She founded the Oregon Equal Suffrage Association in 1873 and published the New Northwest newspaper from 1871 to 1887 to champion the cause. Ironically, Duniway’s brother Harvey W. Scott (1838-1910), the editor of The Oregonian, was an opponent of women’s suffrage.

Abigail Scott Duniway, President of the Oregon Equal Suffrage Association. Source: Wikipedia

In 1904, the Oregon Equal Suffrage Association (OESA) was already strategizing about how to win on the 1906 ballot. Its leaders saw an opportunity to promote the suffrage cause during the Lewis and Clark Exposition in 1905, where a huge crowd was expected—in fact, it drew over 2.5 million people. At first, they had just planned to have space in the YMCA building. Then they had a more ambitious idea: why not invite the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) to hold its annual convention in Portland during the Fair? They asked, and the NAWSA agreed.

Entrance gate to the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition, held from June 1 to October 15, 1905. Source: Wikimedia.

Before the Fair opened in June, the Oregon Equal Suffrage Association was devising ways to draw attention to their cause. On May 27, 1905, the OESA decorating committee reported that Portland’s large stores would decorate their windows with the suffrage color–yellow–during the suffragist convention. Two representatives of the Montavilla suffrage group–Rachel Ring, president, and Maud C. Gilman (1866-1957), treasurer, attended. Perhaps the Montavilla group could persuade Montavilla business owners to do the same. Perhaps their own member, Winnifred Burdett King (1857-1918), who operated a grocery store on Stark Street with her husband, Francis, would display the suffrage color. And maybe Olive Tolls (1863-1934) would persuade her husband to decorate their shoe store. Perhaps other businesses would follow suit. Unfortunately, if there was such an effort, it was not mentioned in the press.

It’s also unknown whether members of the Montavilla suffrage club attended the national suffragist convention held in Portland from June 28 to July 5 at the First Congregational Church, just a short streetcar ride away. Perhaps they stood in the long reception line to shake hands with the famous suffragist, 85-year-old Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906), or maybe they attended some of the rousing speeches by notable suffragists.

Susan B. Anthony. Source: Wikipedia

Suffragist leaders at the convention were pleasantly surprised by how warmly they were received by politicians and clerics, which was so different from past “welcomes.” Oregon’s Governor, George E. Chamberlain (1854-1928), spoke at the convention and declared himself an advocate of equal suffrage. Portland’s Mayor, Harry Lane (1855-1917), was also in favor.

After their convention, NAWSA organizers stayed on to take charge of the Oregon suffrage campaign for the 1906 ballot, much to the chagrin of Duniway, who resigned as president of the Oregon Equal Suffrage Association in protest but was soon re-elected to that post.

One member of the NAWSA who remained in Oregon to help with the 1906 ballot campaign was Laura Clay (1840-1941), president of the Kentucky Equal Rights Association. She was the daughter of Cassius Marcellus Clay (1810-1903), a Kentucky abolitionist and Abraham Lincoln’s ambassador to Russia during the Civil War. In 1905 and 1906, Laura traveled around Oregon promoting yes-votes for the suffrage ballot issue. The Montavilla suffrage group was lucky to be addressed by this speaker who was described by the press as gifted, logical, and brilliant. She spoke to the Montavilla suffrage group at Grace Baptist Church on December 2, 1905.

Photograph of Laura Clay by the Gerhard Sisters, 1916. Source: Wikipedia
Oregon Journal, January 18, 1906

Miss Clay spoke to the Montavilla suffrage group at Grace Baptist Church on December 2, 1905. I wonder if she shared her belief that someday a woman might occupy the White House?

After the December 2, 1905 meeting, I found no further mention in the press of additional activities of the Montavilla suffrage group. Did they disband? Did more exciting issues attract the press?

Despite intensive campaigning, equal suffrage lost again on the 1906 Oregon ballot. It captured only 43.9% of the vote. The no-vote dropped even lower—38.6%– in 1908 (only 38.6%) and slightly lower still in 1910 (37.4%). Abigail Scott Duniway blamed the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union–which supported women’s suffrage but also wanted prohibition–for the losses. Duniway long thought that the two issues—prohibition and suffrage—should be kept separate in order to win the suffrage vote. She believed that alcohol consumption was up to the individual. The fear of potential women voters favoring a prohibition law was, in fact, one argument that deterred some men from voting for equal suffrage.

If the Montavilla suffrage group did cease to exist, that does not mean the issue lost support in that community. Several Montavillans were members of the nearby Russellville Grange, a farming and social organization open to men and women. There, the woman’s vote was a frequent topic.

Furthermore, The Beaver State Herald, a Montavilla and Gresham newspaper, kept its readers apprised of the current status of the woman’s vote in the U.S. and abroad. Harper’s Magazine’s “Woman-Suffrage Map of the World” in its April 25, 1908 issue graphically shows explicitly how slow the international pace of equal suffrage was.

Harper’s Magazine, April 25, 1908 Source: Wikimedia

Despite the losing campaign of 1910 and the slow rate of global progress, Oregon’s suffragists did not give up. So high was their enthusiasm on the eve of the 1912 ballot that a throng turned out on August 11 for a College Equal Suffrage League event in Oaks Amusement Park. Newspaper estimates of attendance ranged from 10,000 to 25,000. Surely at least some Montavilla suffragists were among these numbers. The event was just a short streetcar ride away. The women and men who attended heard impassioned speeches and stirring anthems. The suffrage color, yellow, appeared everywhere: in bouquets, decorations, banners, and campaign cards. 

Suffragist gathering in Oaks Amusement Park, August 11, 1912. Source: The Morning Oregonian, August 12, 1912

Perhaps to show their support for women’s rights, the Montavilla Board of Trade opened membership to Montavilla women in August 1912.

On election day, November 5, 1912, it was raining all over Oregon, yet voter turnout was heavy. Multnomah County had the largest number of registered voters in its history. By the time all the votes were counted, it was clear that the suffrage measure had passed. In Montavilla (Precinct 74), 105 men voted yes, and 81 voted no.

In 1920, women’s right to vote became the law of the land with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. However, Native American, Chinese, Japanese, and other Asian men and women had to wait for the repeal of U.S. exclusion laws to gain their right to vote.

Oregon suffragist leader, Abigail Scott Duniway, is the first woman to registers to vote in Multnomah County. Source: Wikimedia

PBS has a documentary on Abigail Scott Duniway available at www.pbs.org.

By

Patricia Sanders

Title image “The Awakening” illustration by Henry Mayer in the Puck Magazine of February 20, 1915 identifies the states that had already legalized women’s right to vote. Source: Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/98502844/

This is an installment of Montavilla History Questions Answered. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future post.

History

Montavilla History Questions Answered: Notable Residents Pt2

Q — Have any notable people lived in Montavilla?

A — Yes. One truly admirable example is the eminent physician and civil rights champion Dr. DeNorval Unthank (1899-1977).

Dr. Unthank lived in Portland from 1930 until his death in 1977. For a short time, in the early 1930s, he and his family made Montavilla their home.

Dr. Unthank with children in Unthank City Park, Portland, Oregon. Photo courtesy of Multnomah County Library

Dr. Unthank was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the son of a railroad and hotel cook and the grandson of North Carolina enslaved people. When his mother died in 1909, he was sent to live with his uncle, Dr. Thomas Unthank (1867-1932), a prominent doctor and civil rights advocate in Kansas City, Missouri. DeNorval would follow in his uncle’s footsteps. He chose a career in medicine and graduated from his uncle’s alma mater, the Howard University School of Medicine. He then set up his own practice in Kansas City in 1927. And in Portland, DeNorval Unthank would also be a major civil rights champion.

Sometime in 1929, the young and newly married Dr. Unthank learned that Portland’s Black community was losing its only physician, Dr. James A. Merriman (1870-1946), who was relocating to Phoenix. So, Dr. Unthank decided to move his practice, his nurse wife, Thelma Shipman (1906-1959), and his two-month-old son, DeNorval Unthank Jr., to Portland. He arrived alone the first week of January 1930, and The Advocate, Portland’s African American weekly newspaper, gave Dr. Unthank a page-one welcome.

The Advocate of January 11, 1930, p. 1. Source: Historic Oregon Newspapers

Before he decided to relocate, Dr. Unthank wanted to know if he would be welcome in Portland. To find out, he wrote to the Portland Chamber of Commerce and was assured he and his family would be welcome. 

While Portland’s Black community was grateful for Dr. Unthank’s presence, the doctor soon found that renting office space was another matter. At first, this seemed assured. Dentist Elbert L. Booker agreed to share offices with him in the Panama Building downtown. Dr. Booker had been a tenant there since 1928. But in 1927, as a Black man seeking office space, it took months to find a landlord willing to rent to him. He was turned down 15 times. Unthank and Booker announced the opening of their shared offices in the February 1, 1930 edition of The Advocate. However, when Panama Building tenants protested, Dr. Unthank had to move out, although Dr. Booker was allowed to return to his previous office suite in the Panama Building. Dr. Unthank moved to the nearby Commonwealth Building, then had to move again twice before settling in the downtown Arata Building in 1931.

Announcement of the opening of offices shared by Dr. E. L. Booker and Dr. DeNorval Unthank in the Panama Building in The Advocate, February 1, 1930, p. 1. Source: Historic Oregon Newspapers

Because of the Depression, at first, Dr. Unthank had few patients, and many of these, he later said, were loggers, who were among the few with paying jobs. Income may have been lean, but that did not slow down Dr. Unthank. Within weeks of stepping foot on Portland soil, he spoke on health topics at the Bethel A. M. E. and the Mount Olivet Baptist churches. Dr. Unthank was committed not just to helping people with ailments, he wanted everyone to be healthier. Besides giving speeches, he began publishing a column in The Advocate called “Keeping Fit” in March 1931. In 1932, he organized a Health Week event.

Dr. Unthank published a column called “Keeping Fit” in The Advocate for several months in 1932. Source: The Advocate, March 14, 1931, page 4

Besides his medical practice and health advocacy, he was soon involved in civil rights efforts. He was elected to the local NAACP chapter board of directors in December 1930, then vice president in November 1931, and finally president in 1940. In 1931, he helped to prevent yet another Portland screening of the racist movie “Birth of the Nation.”

Just after arriving in Portland, the Unthank family lodged with Urskin S. Reed, a railroad mail clerk and NAACP member. By June 1930, the Unthanks had moved to Montavilla.

The Unthanks lived in this 1902 house at 212 NE 76th Avenue in Montavilla for several months in 1930. Photo by Thomas Tilton

Although Montavilla was a mostly White community, there had been a small Black population there since at least 1900. The Unthank home had been owned by a Black couple, Prestin and Laura Claybourne, since at least 1920. There were several Black couples in the immediate neighborhood as well as the majority-Black Shiloh Baptist Church just a block away. Many Portland neighborhoods east of the Willamette had similar communities with just a few Black residents in contrast to the denser population of Albina, as shown in the 1936 map below.

This 1936 Portland map shows the distribution of Black-occupied dwellings. The detail on the right shows the distribution in the Montavilla area. The densest population of Albina is in the center of the large map. Source: Portland City Archives 

The Unthanks did not stay long in their first Montavilla home. In the spring of 1931, they bought a house in Westmoreland. Although this was an all-White neighborhood, their realtor assured them they would be welcome. Instead of a welcome, however, the neighborhood presented the Unthanks with a petition asking them to leave. The Unthanks refused. And when they arrived at their new home, all the windows were broken.

The local press covered the Unthank-Westmoreland story blow-by-blow.

The Advocate expressed outrage:

The Advocate, April 25, 1931, page 1

The Oregon Journal was baffled:

Source: The Oregon Journal, April 26,1931, page 10

Things calmed down for a while in Westmoreland until another window-stoning occurred at the end of June. The Unthanks thought the Jones couple next door was responsible, and a shouting match ensued between the two couples. Mrs. Jones accused Mrs. Unthank of threatening to shoot her. The issue ended up in court on July 17. Mrs. Unthank was acquitted.

But enough of Westmoreland was enough. By August 1931, the Unthanks were living with friends, and Mrs. Unthank left for an extended visit with relatives in the Midwest.

For a little over a year, the Unthank family lived in this 1923 house at 221 NE 76th Avenue in Montavilla. Photo by Thomas Tilton

By August 1932, the Unthanks were back in Montavilla and living in a house just across the street from their previous residence. They lived there until at least September 1933. By March 1934, they lived in a rental house on Division Street.

This detail from Portlandmaps shows the locations of the two Unthank Montavilla residences on NE 76th Avenue, first at 212 and later at 221.

In the 1930s, Dr. Unthank’s practice continued to grow. He was so busy, reported The Northwest Enterprise of December 9, 1938, that he wouldn’t even stop for a sprained ankle. Still, he was blocked from practicing at local hospitals and joining medical societies for many years. He was finally admitted to the Emanuel Hospital staff in 1955 and joined its board of directors in 1971.

Despite his busy practice, he still had time for charitable and civic work. In 1940, he opened a day nursery and health clinic for the children of Black workers in collaboration with the St. Vincent de Paul Society of Portland. From 1970-1976, he was the medical consultant to Oregon’s workmen’s compensation board, commuting daily to Salem even though he had retired from practice.

In the 1940s, Dr. Unthank was a major civil rights advocate, drawing attention to racial discrimination in jobs and housing. As head of the Emergency Advisory Council, he advocated for equal opportunities for wartime employees. As the first Black member of Portland’s City Club in 1943, he drew attention to Portland’s discriminatory practices. He co-founded the Portland Urban League, a civil rights and social services organization, in 1945. In 1953, Unthank played a substantial role in the passage of Oregon’s Civil Rights Bill, overturning the Oregon law banning interracial marriages.

Dr. DeNorval Unthank at the time of his retirement. Source: The Oregonian, November 30, 1970

The Oregonian of July 16, 2018, quoted Dr. Unthank’s personal philosophy: “I have always felt in my life that a person should set his own goals and then head toward them. You may have some bad experiences along the way, but if you’re determined you can make it.”

Some of Dr. Unthank Awards 1945-1975

  • 1945 Progressive Democratic Club’s First Citizen award
  • 1958 Doctor of the Year, Oregon Medical Society
  • 1962 Citizen of the Year, Portland chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews
  • 1969 dedication of Unthank Park
  • 1971 University of Oregon distinguished citizen award; Metropolitan Human Relations Commissions plaque
  • 1973 B’nai B’rith (Portland Chapter) Brotherhood Award
  • 1975 Concordia College Citizenship Award

The extraordinary life of Dr. DeNorval Unthank deserves a book-length biography. But alas, this does not yet exist.

By

Patricia Sanders


Title image: Dr. DeNorval Unthank, 1950. Courtesy OSU Special Collections & Archives Research Center, Oregon State University. “Portrait of DeNorval Unthank” Oregon Digital

This is part of Montavilla History Questions Answered, a series of history related articles. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future post on this page.

Promotion: Montavilla News is supported by contributions from businesses like Greg Beddor – SEO Specialist, an Oregon based digital marketing consultancy. The company markets customer’s websites and provide SEO services to grow their business. We thank them for their support.

History

Montavilla History Questions Answered: Notable Residents Pt 1

Q — Have any notable people lived in Montavilla?

A — Actually, several notable people have lived in Montavilla, and I will introduce them in several articles, beginning with Annie Miner Peterson.

Photo of Annie Miner Peterson. Source: Iola Larson Collection, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

Annie Peterson (1860-1939) is remembered for her contribution to our knowledge of Northwestern indigenous cultures. She was the last living speaker of the Miluk and Hanis languages. She also remembered and shared her memories of tribal history and lore of the indigenous peoples of the southern Oregon coast. Although she lived in the Coos Bay area most of her life, she resided in Montavilla for about a dozen years. Several accounts of her life have been published, most notably Lionel Youst’s 307-page biography. His title, She’s Tricky Like Coyote, is a translation of her Hanis name, ts’mii-xwn. (Luckily, the Multnomah County Library has copies.)

Annie was born in 1860 in a traditional village on Coos Bay’s South Slough. Her mother was of Hanis and Miluk (aka Coos) blood. The father Annie never knew was British. As White settlers started moving onto tribal lands, the U. S. government forced local indigenous peoples to relocate to the Yachats and then to the Siletz reservations. This is where Annie spent her early years. Conditions on the reservations were harsh. Many died from starvation and diseases. Annie did not attend school. She never learned to read or write. But she was a gifted linguist, and she picked up additional indigenous languages spoken on the reservation. She also learned many traditional crafts, such as basketry. She acquired survival skills such as foraging for local food. And, unlike many young people, she loved listening to the elders reciting their tribal histories and traditional stories. When she reached adolescence, she was sold, according to tribal custom, to her first husband.

Annie left the Siletz reservation in 1877. In 1880, she began living and working in White communities in the Coos Bay area. After enduring decades of poverty and traumatic marriages, her recently widowed friend Ida Wasson (1870-1966) convinced Annie that they should start anew in Portland. They took the new railroad line to the metropolis and found lodging in a boarding house somewhere in Portland. Annie, who was broke, was able to pay for her food and board by doing laundry for the owner. It was here that she met her fifth and final husband, the kindly Carl Peterson (1871-1939), a naturalized Swede.

Carl worked in a logging camp near Kelso, Washington, during the week, and, like other loggers, he liked to go to Portland on weekends to relax. There, he met Annie, fell in love, and asked her to be his wife. She said yes, but first, she needed to divorce her current husband, Charles Baker. She returned to Coos Bay and began the divorce process. Her ex-husband’s situation probably strengthened her case. He was in jail for smuggling alcohol into Oregon, which was then a dry state. Annie was granted a divorce on the grounds of cruelty. Oregon newspapers had followed the landmark Baker case; The Oregonian even reported the divorce.

The Morning Oregonian, January 7, 1918, page 7. Source: Historic Oregon Newspapers

Annie and Carl married in Vancouver, Washington, on October 15, 1918. Carl had bought a modest house in Montavilla on 74th Street (now 74th Avenue) between Glisan and Everett. The house has been replaced by a modern residence. At this time, Annie had not been discovered by anthropologists, so she and Carl lived a quiet life until at least April 1930, when they appeared in the 1930 census.

What was Annie’s and Carl’s life like in Montavilla? Fortunately, Annie’s granddaughter, Iola Aasen Larsen, lived with the couple from 1921 to 1923, and she described aspects of their lives to Annie’s biographer, Lionel Youst. Carl continued working at the lumber camp during the week and came home on weekends. On weekends, they would go for drives in Carl’s car and to movies, very likely at the Granada Theatre, which was just a block away from their home.

During the week, Annie often occupied herself with traditional skills she’d learned early in life. She was skilled at basketry, beadwork, and sewing. She also applied her foraging knowledge in the new suburban environment, foraging for serviceberries, blackberry shoots, salmonberries, nettles, and wild tubers in nearby Sullivan’s Gulch—where I-84 runs now—and other nearby locations. Her favorite food was fish, a coastal indigenous staple. For this, she had to find a local market. In the 1920s, there were two stores on Glisan Street that offered fish: Rupert’s Grocery Store and the Montavilla Meat Market, both an easy walk from her home. On weekdays Annie and Iola liked to go to vaudeville matinees downtown. Since Annie could not read, Iola said she read her newspapers cover-to-cover, and when attending movies, then still the silent type, Iola whispered the captions in Annie’s ear.

While still living in Montavilla, Annie and Carl liked to spend their brief summer vacations in Charleston on Coos Bay’s South Slough, the area where Annie was born. They moved to Charleston permanently at the beginning of the Great Depression when Carl had lost his job. They sold their Montavilla house and made their summer cabin their new permanent and final home. On the South Slough, Annie could gather seafood galore for free, and Carl found employment as a deep-sea fisherman.

Annie and Carl Peterson beside their Charleston house. Photo source: Iola Larson Collection, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians

On November 11, 1931, Annie testified in hearings held in North Bend regarding reparations for the lands taken from Coos County Indians and given to White settlers in the 1850s. Annie was then the second or third-oldest Coos Native still alive. She testified in the Hanis tongue about the boundaries of the Coos tribal land. She also described the harsh conditions of life on the reservations where she grew up. The food shortages. The public beatings of those who left and were captured. Annie broke down on the stand, and proceedings had to be halted. She did not live to see the partial restoration of Siletz tribal lands in 1980.

Annie’s life changed in the summer of 1933 when Professor Melville Jacobs of the University of Washington came knocking at her door.

Since the early twentieth century, anthropologists had been trying to understand the culture of Oregon’s indigenous peoples. Jacobs himself had been doing field research to document the language, culture, music, and oral traditions of the indigenous tribes of the Pacific Northwest. Unfortunately, there were few people by then who remembered the old ways or the old languages. Professor Jacobs must have been ecstatic when a group of Hanis Natives told him of a Miluk speaker in southern Oregon. He would discover that Annie Peterson, besides speaking Miluk and Hanis, was also a treasure trove of traditional lore.

Article about Annie Petersen in The Kennewick (Washington) Courier-Reporter, October 19, 1933 Source: Chronicling America

In 1933, Jacobs began recording Annie as she sang tribal songs and recited tribal stories she remembered in abundance. In 1934, he returned to Annie’s home in Charleston to continue recording Annie’s recitations, now using the portable electric recorder just invented by two University of Washington colleagues. The new recorder was battery-powered, allowing Jacobs to play back what Annie had just recorded.

Annie Miner Peterson reciting Coos stories for Melville Jacobs in 1934. Source Cascadia Weekly, April 16, 2008

Jacobs published many of the stories and songs in 1939 and 1940. Below is an example.

“Bluejay shaman,” a Coos myth as recited by Annie Peterson. Source: Coos Myth Texts (1940)

Annie Peterson was 73 and 74 when she recited the traditional stories. Because she retained them without the assistance of written records and because she was willing to share them, she saved them for posterity. PSU anthropology professor Douglas Deur called Peterson “the foremost source of ethnographic and linguistic information on the Coos and Coquille tribes” of southern Oregon. Annie had escaped the diseases that took many lives on the reservations, but she died of tuberculosis at age 83 on May 19, 1939, in her Charleston home. She was buried in the white buckskin dress that she had tanned, trimmed, and sewed. Her husband Carl died a few months later, also of tuberculosis.

By

Patricia Sanders

Acknowledgment: I am grateful to Peter Sv-gvs (Black Bear) Hatch, History & Archaeology Specialist, Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians, for sharing information with me about Annie Miner Peterson. The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians website includes a short biography of Annie Miner Peterson.

Note: If you know of other Montavilla notables, please send me an email, and I’ll see what I can discover. ~Patricia Sanders~

Title image digitally enhanced from a Coos County Historical Society sourced photo

Disclaimer: This article includes historical texts with terms for Native people that are considered derogatory. Its use here is necessary to provide the reader direct references and is not indicative of this publications use of language. Please direct any concerns around terms used in an article to editor@montavilla.net.

This is an installment of Montavilla History Questions Answered. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future post.

History

Montavilla History Questions Answered: Christmas Gifts of the Early 1900s

Q – What were some typical Christmas gifts in Montavilla in the early 1900s?

Illustration from The Montavilla Times of December 19, 1929. Source: University of Oregon Knight Library, microfilm

A – With Christmas and Hanukkah just around the corner, the spirit of generosity is in the air, just as it was a hundred or more years ago in Montavilla. But where to find just the right item for the friends and relatives on your gift list? Luckily, Montavilla merchants ran ads in local newspapers with a myriad of suggestions.

In 1906, a shopper could head to Dan McMillan’s dry goods store on SE Stark Street (then Base Line Road) and find a variety of inexpensive gifts for all ages: toys and games for the tots, handkerchiefs, fancy collars, purses, and stationery for the ladies, hats, shirts, ties and suspenders for the gents, and fancy holiday candies and nuts for anyone, just to name a few.

Dan McMillan’s ad in the Beaver State Herald, December 21, 1906. Source: Historical Oregon Newspapers

Stark Street was not the only place to shop for gifts. Merchants on NE Glisan Street also advertised a variety of suggestions. Grocery store owner Frank Sperger, of course, stocked food and confectionaries for holiday meals, but in the 1906 ad below, he boldfaced a Perfection Oil Heater as a useful present. Did this new store owner get a deal on heaters?

Frank Sperger’s ad and a photo of his grocery store appeared in the Beaver State Herald of December 21, 1906. The store was at the corner of NE Glisan Street and NE 79th Avenue (then Villa Avenue and Ebey Street).

In the 1920s, Montavilla merchants advertised a wide array of gift suggestions, from the luxurious to the practical, from high prices to low. They were also recommending products of modern technologies, such as cameras, record players, and radios.

The Dickson drugstore at the corner of Stark and 80th was a Montavilla institution run by members of the Dickson family from 1910 until 2004. In 1920, owner Leland V. Dickson ran a Christmas ad in the Oregon Daily Journal with gift suggestions ranging from perfume to flashlights to Kodak cameras and phonograph records.

Dickson Drug Company ad in The Oregon Daily Journal, December 11, 1920. Source: Historic Oregon Newspapers

For a wide array of inexpensive gifts, Montavilla shoppers could head for Gertrude Hamlin’s Montavilla Variety Store on Glisan Street near 80th. Toys, for example, cost only 5 to 98 cents.

Montavilla Variety Store ad in The Montavilla Times of December 16, 1926. Source: University of Oregon Knight Library, microfilm

In 1926, Louis H. Balsiger, owner of the Jonesmore Pharmacy at Glisan and 71st, ran a short but eclectic list of gift ideas: stationery, toilet sets, candy, and leather goods.

Jonesmore Pharmacy ad (left) from the December 16, 1926 edition of the Montavilla Times includes toilet sets referring to a popular grooming item. An example of this item appeared in a Klamath Falls Evening Herald ad of December 8, 1938. Sources: University of Oregon Knight Library microfilm and Historic Oregon Newspapers

Balsiger ended his gift suggestions with radios, a new technology in the 1920s. Radio broadcasting had only recently arrived in Portland, with radio stations launched by the Oregonian and the Oregon Journal in 1922. (Earlier radio broadcasts had been available by telephone.) With broadcast radio, owners could listen to news and entertainment on radio sets in their own homes. In 1927, a store specializing in radios opened in Montavilla. There was no guessing about its merchandise since the store took the form of a 1927 radio.

The Hall Spiral Antenna Company radio-shaped store (left) and an ad for a console radio (right) in The Montavilla Times of November 3, 1927. Source: Historic Oregon Newspapers

Telephones, another newish technology, could make a thoughtful gift, according to the Pacific Telephone and Telegraph Company in a 1929 ad.

Pacific Telephone and Telegraph ad in The Montavilla Times of December 5, 1929. Source: University of Oregon Knight Library, microfilm. Montavilla Variety Store ad in The Montavilla Times of December 16, 1926. Source: University of Oregon Knight Library, microfilm

Frederick L. Howard, owner of The Howard Hardware and Paint Company at the corner of 76th and Glisan, thought an Electrical Christmas was perfect. He recommended electrical utensils, which would “save housewives many hours of work.”

Howard Hardware and Paint Company ad in The Montavilla Times of December 16, 1926. Source: University of Oregon Knight Library, microfilm

The Montavilla Times reported in its December 22, 1927 edition that money was tight at that moment, yet Christmas shopping was greater than ever before. Why? Well, there was more advertising. But was it also because that year, every store featured beautiful lights and decorations?

For those who could afford expensive gifts following the stock-market crash of October 28, 1929, jeweler Gottlieb Brugger stocked “gifts that last.” He had one-of-a-kind items—like the $50 watch a customer bought for her husband. But he also offered inexpensive New Haven Alarm Clocks.

Gottlieb Brugger ad in The Montavilla Times of December 19, 1929. Source: University of Oregon Knight Library, microfilm

As the U.S. headed into the Depression, newspaper ads more often highlighted inexpensive gifts, like the items in this 1931 Christmas ad by Leland Dickson. He boldfaced mostly low-cost items and listed “popularly priced” items—such as clocks, watches, and purses—in smaller type at the bottom of the ad.

Dickson Drug Company ad in The Montavilla Times of December 18, 1931. Source: University of Oregon Knight Library, microfilm

Should a husband not know what to give his wife, Santa—or rather Amy Bauer, owner of Bauer’s Beauty Shop at Glisan and 78th— had the answer: a permanent wave, which was quite the rage at this time.

Bauer’s Beauty Shop ad in The Montavilla Times of December 18, 1931 and an example of a popular permed style in a Lipman, Wolfe and Company ad in The Sunday Oregonian of December 4, 1932. Sources: University of Oregon Knight Library microfilm and Historical Oregon Newspapers.

If a $3.95 permanent was too expensive, how about a three-pound box of hand-dipped chocolates offered at the Granada Sweet Shop on Glisan for only $1.00? Or hosiery from Herman R. Rothenberger’s Stark Street shoe store for 50 cents to $1.00.

Shoe store owner H. R. Rothenberger’s ad in the December 18, 1931 edition of The Montavilla Times. Source: University of Oregon Knight Library microfilm

Here ends the story of Montavilla merchants’ suggestions for appropriate gifts between 1906 and 1931. The editions of The Montavilla Times available on the Knight Library microfilm end with the December 25, 1931 publication, even though this newspaper continued until 1937. However, this sampling of Montavilla newspapers’ Christmas ads from 1906 until 1931 shows what local merchants thought would appeal to their customers. By the 1920s, products of recent technologies, like radio, telephone, and electrical kitchen appliances, made it into the Christmas gift mix.

By

Patricia Sanders

This is an installment of Montavilla History Questions Answered. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future post.

Promotion: Saturday, December 21st is the Merry Montavilla Soiree with many holiday shopping options and events. There is still time to find your holiday gifts in a Montavilla shop, no shipping required.

Demolition, History

1890 House Meticulous Deconstructed on NE 78th

Crews working with Meticulous Deconstruction recently completed wood salvage operations on the 1890-era home at 37 NE 78th Avenue. Within the coming weeks, demolition specialists will mechanically remove the remaining masonry and concrete foundation, making way for a new eight-unit townhome development. A series of owners wrapped this original Montavilla home with a century’s worth of remodels and extensions, making it a tricky project for deconstruction manager and company owner Brianna Ivy.

“We kept calling it the onion because of how many layers we kept uncovering, different weird eras of the house. Cool, but not unique necessarily because we’ve come across several of them,” explained Ivy. This crew of deconstruction specialists formed several years ago working for Good Wood‘s salvage team. She worked as the company’s deconstruction manager until the reclaimed lumber business decommissioned that portion of the operation to focus on its core mission. “When they shut down, I got my license and inherited their contracts,” recalled Ivy. The crew began working under the Meticulous Deconstruction title in May 2023. Over the years, the team has encountered a wide range of structures, from layered projects like the home on NE 78th Avenue to all original homes, where nearly every board is knot-free old-growth timber likely harvested within miles of the site.

A 2016 Portland City Ordnance mandates deconstruction for any house or duplex built before 1941. It also extends to some historic resources. Certified Deconstruction Contractors like Meticulous Deconstruction must complete these jobs, and this labor-intensive work can cost $18,000 to $20,000 per house, but it can also cost more for complicated projects. Portland was the first city in the country to implement a policy that ensures crews salvage valuable materials for reuse instead of sending a whole house to the landfill. The city does this because older homes contain unique wood that is no longer available. “Pre-industrial revolution, more or less, the houses were built with trees felled right on the property, milled on the property, and then they just built the house right there,” explained Ivy. Before the Second World War, skilled craftspeople built most houses, and they would only select the best lumber from the plentiful supply in the Pacific Northwest. Homes then had higher 10-foot or 12-foot ceilings, requiring straight, thick, and tall timbers. As the years progressed, lumber became physically smaller and of lower quality. The framing was “literally two by four [inches], and so the house that we’re deconstructing on 78th was old enough to have actual dimensional 2x4s. Some of them are even thicker than two inches, which is beefy. Pretty much every decade, the wood got milled a little bit smaller and then plateaued at today’s standard of 3 1/2 by 1 1/2 inches,” said Ivy.

The 134-year-old home at 37 NE 78th Avenue had more than thick lumber hiding within its walls, complicating the deconstruction. “Instead of using framing for the walls of the house, they use basically 1″ by 12″ flat planks of material that were the full height of the house. I think they would assemble those on the ground with siding on them perpendicular. The 1″ by 12″ material running vertically and then siding horizontally. They build all four walls on the ground, erect them, and connect them to the corners. The only framing is the floor joist and the ceiling. So the walls have no framing,” remarked Ivy. “We had to peel the house away from the outside to expose that original plank-constructed house to salvage it safely.”

Sanborn Map 1909

Brianna Ivy explained that in this type of hand deconstruction, the crew must understand building practices of every age; otherwise, removing side paneling could cause the upper floor to come crashing down because it was hanging from the walls. This home was old enough never to have lath and plaster walls. It went from wood-planked walls to more modern gypsum board, skipping over decades of building trends. The structure also predated the common use of electricity in housing, requiring future owners to install many modern amenities later. The house had several addresses over the years, but in 1909, Sanborn maps referenced the property as 325 East 78th Street. At the time, Daniel N. Hooker and Margaret Hooker lived there with their three daughters. A birthday party for daughter Cora Hooker turned into an “impromptu musical programme,” as recounted in the Sunday Oregonian’s August 11th, 1907, edition. Three years later, Daniel Hooker died in the house at the age of 61. The Hooker family may have been the original owners of the house, based on the timing of the articles and its construction date. However, many other generations of people have lived in the home since.

Sunday Oregonian, August 11, 1907
Morning Oregonian, May 03, 1910

This house’s architectural significance and viability were lost to unconventional remodels and neglect. Saving it was never a practical notion, but thanks to the deconstruction process, the wood that made it a home for many residents will continue on. “We report the wood salvage at the end of the project so the city can keep tabs on the salvage program,” said Ivy. “We salvaged an unbelievable amount of material from this project.” The timbers recovered from the oldest portion of a home rarely end up inside a wall of a newer home. The crew sends newer components from recent remodels to reuse specialty stores like the ReBuilding Center or the Habitat for Humanity ReStore center behind Plaza 205. However, the older wood is valuable to furniture makers and builders who use it for interior finishes. Builders 100 years ago had unlimited access to tight-grained lumber and used it throughout a project. Now, those craftspeople reserve those timbers for display areas in people’s houses.

Brianna Ivy enjoys this work, its environmentally supportive nature, and the community that has grown around her woman-owned business. Through word of mouth, Meticulous Deconstruction’s staff has grown to include mostly non-binary identifying employees. “We are a non-dude crew,” remarked Ivy. “We’ve become a safe haven for people who are not normally treated well in the construction industry.”

Although Portland requires deconstruction for pre-war residential buildings, Meticulous Deconstruction will work on other projects of any age or size. People often hire them to deconstruct detached buildings where the owners do not want heavy equipment disturbing their yards. One client had the crew deconstruct a garage without disturbing a bird’s nest in the tree leaning against the structure. Admittedly, deconstruction costs more than bulldozing, but it can save trees from being cut down for new lumber and provides long-lost wood to craftspeople. Expect to see the remaining foundation and basement at 37 NE 78th Avenue removed in the next two weeks as heavy equipment levels the ground for the new townhomes coming next year.

Article and photos by

Jacob Loeb

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History

Montavilla’s Wild West Past

Q – Was Montavilla ever “a wild west” town?

A – On the eve of Montavilla’s 100-year-anniversary celebration in 1989, Marguerite O’Donnell-Barnes told Oregonian reporter Suzanne Richards that her grandfather said, “No God-fearing man would go to Montavilla on a Saturday night.” It’s true that in Montavilla’s early days, the 1890s and the early 20th century, it may have looked like something from a Wild West movie. It still had dirt roads, plank sidewalks, saloons (until Montavilla finally went dry in 1905), blacksmith shops, and horse-drawn vehicles. But was it as rowdy as the O’Donnell-Barnes statement implies? 

In the early days, Montavillans worked to meet the community’s basic needs, such as a school, community meeting spaces, churches, a steady water supply, and better streetcar service. They also advocated for road and sidewalk upgrades. By 1901, they also sought help maintaining law and order. So, that year, the Montavilla Sub-Board of Trade campaigned for a Justice of the Peace and a Constable. 

What kinds of crimes might have been on their minds? We can get some answers from Portland newspapers since they reported on neighborhood crimes. The Oregonian of August 13, 1896, for example, reported that in Montavilla burglaries were so frequent that residents had to sleep “with one eye open, and a shotgun within easy reach.” The thieves came at night with buggies for the loot. William DeVeny (1852-1918), Montavilla’s Buffalo-Bill-look-alike, was determined to stop the thievery. Although he was just a foot doctor by trade, he billed himself as a law-and-order man. (In his 1915 autobiography, he would describe his earlier peace-keeping efforts in the Midwest.) So, one night, he stood watch and caught a pair of thieves in the act. He let them go with an order to leave Montavilla at once and never come back.

Illustration of William DeVeny (the man with the long hair) apprehending a criminal in Cincinnati, Kansas in 1887 from DeVeny’s autobiography, “The Establishment of Law and Order on the Western Plains.”

Besides thefts, Montavilla also had a counterfeiter. In 1900, fake coins—more valuable back then, of course—were circulating in Montavilla. The Oregonian of April 30, 1901, reported that Secret Service officers had found dies for making fake half-dollars, quarters, and nickels under a loose board in a building on Base Line Road (now Stark Street). The current occupant, H. W. Lang, publisher of the Villa Observer newspaper, said he knew nothing about the equipment, and the Oregonian did not mention an arrest. 

Thefts continued to be reported in the Portland press in 1905 and 1906: J. J. Herman’s stump-removal machine, L. Scott’s Jersey cow, and several house burglaries. Still, Montavilla did not have its own police officer until about 1909, when William W. Post (1867-1948) was appointed. Police Captain Joseph F. Keller (1880-1945) considered the Montavilla beat a dull one, but on June 30, 1912, Officer Post noticed three men holding up automobile passengers at gunpoint and had already shot a woman passenger. Post apprehended one of the three thieves, Don Brundridge, at gunpoint, but the two others fled. They were tracked to downtown Portland and later arrested. Captain Keller recommended that Patrolman Post receive an award for bravery. I found no report on whether he actually received it, but he did get his photo in the Oregonian.

Patrol Officer W. W. Post is recommended for a medal. Source: The Oregonian, July 3, 1912

Of course, having a police officer on duty did not end criminal activity in Montavilla. Portland newspapers continued to report crimes there. Dickson Drug Store, for example, endured periodic merchandise thefts: cameras worth $200 in 1914, 600 cigars in 1918, and copious quantities of tobacco and cigars in 1921. Even the Montavilla School was targeted by thieves who ransacked the building and stole about $10 in change.

Sometimes, criminal activities were thwarted by police or citizens. On April 30, 1917, for example, robbers broke into the West Oregon Lumber Company on Stark Street. When trying to break into a safe, the thieves’ nitroglycerine failed, so they could not open the safe door. When Patrolman Post heard the explosion, he hurried to the scene, but by this time, the burglars had fled.

Another robbery failed again on September 3, 1919. Two armed men entered the Montavilla Savings Bank at the corner of Stark and 80th and demanded cash. The teller and cashier refused. When the bank’s bookkeeper threatened them with a gun, the robbers fled in their getaway car.

Besides thefts, speeding automobiles also aroused Montavilla’s ire as they gradually replaced horses in the early 20th century. In October 1902, for example, a car was clocked at an amazing 40 miles an hour. After speed limits were passed, police officers were sometimes assigned to arrest violators speeding on Base Line Road.

The three Montavilla Savings Bank employees who foiled an attempted robbery. Photo source: The Oregonian, Sept. 4, 1919
Montavilla Savings Bank (now the Ya Hala restaurant). Photo courtesy of the Architectural Heritage Center

Any crime is deplorable, of course, but when Montavilla was just three years old, the community was truly shocked by a murder that took place on a Montavilla street. The victim was the beautiful 18-year-old Birdie Morton, who was shot by her former sweetheart, Martin Burdette Wolfe (often misspelled “Wolf”). The murder set off a manhunt that lasted for nearly 20 years. The deed and the efforts to find Wolfe and bring him to justice were reported in detail in Portland and other Oregon newspapers. 
The deed took place on October 13, 1892. Birdie and her younger sister had just left their family’s home and were walking to a prayer meeting. Burdette, as he was usually called in the press, had learned that Birdie was going out with other men. He approached Birdie and demanded that she walk with him. When she refused, he grabbed her arm, but she pulled back. Enraged, he pulled a revolver from his pocket and shot her in the chest. 

“In Arms Against Autos” proclaimed this headline in the October 6, 1902 The Oregonian.

Seeing what was happening, Birdie’s sister ran back home to get her father. By the time he got to Birdie, she had been shot and was lying on the street. He carried Birdie home and called a doctor. The bullet had just missed Birdie’s heart, and at first, there was hope she might live. Believing this, the Morton family did not intend to press charges. The two families were friends and had approved of the former Birdie-Burdette relationship. On October 21, however, Birdie died of sepsis. Family and friends mourned her death, and she was buried in Montavilla’s Brainard Cemetery. 

The Morton and Wolfe families must have been shocked by the deadly deed. So was attorney Clarence S. Hannum, who until recently had been training Wolfe to be a lawyer. When interviewed by an Oregonian reporter, Hannum described Wolfe as industrious and reliable “with no bad habits of any sort.” At the beginning of 1892, Wolfe was a young man with promise. By October, he was wanted for murder and reportedly on the run.

Portrait of Burdette Wolfe (here spelled Wolf). Source: Oregonian, October 19, 1892

The search for Wolfe lasted nearly 20 years and was tracked in the press. Rewards offered for his capture prompted the continued search. Early on, he was reportedly sighted in the Blue Mountains, then in Klamath County. In March 1893, a search party tracked him near Coos Bay. In 1896, he was reportedly killed by a posse. Then, in 1897, he was spotted alive in Arizona. In 1901, he was supposedly in Peru. The last reported sighting was in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. This report was page-one news in the Oregon Journal of February 25, 1911. The informant was an unnamed man who said he had worked with Wolfe in Brazil and then traveled with him to Calcutta. Portland authorities believed they would be able to extradite Wolfe. I found no articles showing they succeeded. Finally, the search was at an end. 

So, was Montavilla a wild-west town? I guess that depends on your definition.

By

Patricia Sanders

Title Illustration from W. C. Tuttle’s “The Loot of the Lazy A” in Short Stories Magazine, 1926. Source: Wikimedia

This is an installment of Montavilla History Questions Answered. If you have questions about Montavilla’s past that you’d like answered, local historian Patricia Sanders will investigate your question. Please email your questions to history@montavilla.net and we may feature it alongside Patricia Sanders’ research in a future post.