We are thrilled to offer a new way of learning about the transformative history of Vanport!  Vanport.  A Story Lived. A Story Told traveling exhibit  tells the story of the temporary city of Vanport and the vibrant community that called it home. Through archival material and oral history, it explores this chapter of history and its enduring impact. It is an essential and often forgotten story of migration, housing, displacement, and perseverance.

This is Vanport Mosaic first "Out Of The Box" exhibit, designed to travel to schools, churches, community groups and wherever there is an interest for this important history. Please come and see it, and drop us a line at greta@vanportmosaic.org to explore how to bring it your community!

CALENDAR:

2017

• May 26-29: Vanport Mosaic Festival 2017
• August 5th: Vanport Jazz Festival
• September 28-October 5th: Oregon Historical Society 
• October 15th: Portland State University/Portland State Of Mind in conjunction with Lost City, Living Memories oral histories screenings. Info here
• November 8-10: Lewis&Clark College/14th Annual Ray Warren Symposium on Race and Ethnic Studies. Info

2018

• February 8th: Fair Housing Fair
• February 20-March 1: Oregon Episcopal School
• March 3 - 25: Oregon Children Theater
• May 25-28: Vanport Mosaic Festival 2018

Our deepest gratitude to all the former Vanport residents who have shared their memories with us for the past three years, and informed this exhibit with their riveting stories. And to all the Vanport Mosaic oral historians who helped us capture, honore, and preserve these precious voices.

Special thanks to: Oregon Historical Society, City of Portland Archives, Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center, Multnomah County Archives, Portland State University Special Collections and University Archives, Kaiser Permanente Heritage Resources, Oregon Black Pioneers, Kim Moreland, James Stanley Harrison, Zita Podany, Thomas Robinson, Terry Baxter, Tanya Gossard, Norman Gholston, Jim Burke, Susan Barthel, Will Bennett, and Peter Marsh.

Made possible by the generous support of:
The Oregon Community Foundation, Oregon Arts Commission, Portland State University and the Division of Global Diversity and Inclusion, Oregon Historical Society, The City of Portland, Prosper Portland.

CURATED BY: Laura Lo Forti, Greta Smith, A Fourth Act
DESIGNED BY: Paste In Place/www.pasteinplace.com
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2018 marks the 70th Anniversary of The Vanport Flood. From now until the Vanport Mosaic Festival 2018 (May 25-28), we invite you to join our memory activism campaign to keep this important history alive.

Thanks to all of you who joined us in our advocacy effort in the past three years, Governor Kate Brown, Senator Jackie Winters, House Speaker Tina Kotek, and Portland Mayors Charles Hales and Ted Wheeler, have proclaimed a Vanport Day of Remembrance on the anniversary of the flood. It is time for a permanent memorialization of Oregon's second largest city and its multi-racial and multi-cultural community!

"Make history" with us by sharing your thoughts on WHY we should remember, and ideas on HOW we can honor and preserve this important chapter of our past for generations to come.

Here how you can participate the collective conversation:

• Leave your thoughts here in the comment section.
• Take a photo of yourself in front of our traveling exhibit Vanport: A Story Lived. A Story Told and tag it #IRememberVanport. Share on social media or sending to us at info@vanportmosaic.org. Don't forget to add your thoughts with it!
• Create something to commemorate this history in whatever art-form you like. Share on social media with #IRememberVanport, or sending to us at info@vanportmosaic.org.
• Join at any of our events and share your ideas in person and/or on the form available at the event itself.

We will collect all the contributions and share them with you all as they come, and they will be part of the celebrations during the Festival 2018. 

Thanks for keep supporting this "history from the bottom up" effort!