This study will be a look at housing for Portland's Burnside population with special emphasis on the Foster hotel public housing project. Before housing or any other aspect of Burnside can be intelligently discussed, it is important to have a realistic historical and contemporary understanding of the Burnside community. The second chapter of this study is designed to provide that understanding. The third chapter surveys the ways that other American cities have dealt with their skid row communities. Cities roughly the same size as Portland were chosen. Their efforts will be compared to Portland's plans for and actions toward its Burnside area -- the subject of Chapter IV. In this chapter, a critical analysis of the social policy recommendations made by the Human Resources Bureau for the downtown urban renewal area is offered as this is the official public social policy for the area. The next chapter of this study presents a survey done of the roster hotel to determine whether or not it is meeting the needs of the community. When the roster was initially planned, certain promises were made about who would be housed there and how it would serve Burnside. The questionnaire given to the Foster residents was designed to see if those promises were kept and to gauge the overall satisfaction the residents have with the hotel. It is hoped that with the background material provided in the first chapter of this study, a context will be established within which the reader can understand housing as it relates to this community.

xvi, 206 p. A print copy of this title is available through the UO Libraries under the call number: KNIGHT HV4504.K56 1982 / This study will focus on changes that skid row is experiencing. Following an introductory statement which defines skid row and reviews the area historically, an examination of skid row evolution on a national basis is presented. Specifically, this involves a comparative analysis of thirty-one skid rows representing all regions of the United States. Each skid row is examined as to its 1950, 1968, and 1979 size. and location. Much of the information for this analysis is based on responses to questionnaires and census data. With few exceptions, skid rows have changed substantially from 1950 to 1979. Most have declined significantly in size or relocated to new sites in the central business district. Almost all the cities surveyed have retained a skid row, in some form, over the thirty years studied. A closer view of skid row evolution and change is presented utilizing a case study of Portland, Oregon. Portland was selected for study because it is fairly representative of skid rows in general. It has had a skid row for approximately a century and its process of establishment, growth, and decline through the years has followed a pattern which is typical of other skid rows studies throughout the United States. For example, the current "0ld Town" trend occurring in some skid rows is also happening to Portland1s skid row. Sanborn Maps, city directories, field observations, and census tract reports provide land use data for Portland. Despite the efforts of planners and others to remove skid row from the landscape, with rare exceptions it has existed as an urban phenomenon for at least a century to the present day. / Adviser: Everett Smith

Generally, Oregon historians begin Portland Civil Rights history with the development of Vanport and move quickly through the passage of the state's public accommodations law before addressing the 1960s and 70s. Although these eras are ripe with sources and contentious experiences, 1945 to 1953 provide a complex struggle for civil rights in Portland, Oregon. This time period demonstrates the rise of local leaders, wartime racial tensions, and organizational efforts used to combat inequality. 1945 marked a watershed moment in Portland Civil Rights history exhibiting intergroup collaboration and interracial cooperation converging to eventually provide needed legislation. Although discrimination continued after 1953, the era between 1945 and 1953 provided an era of change upon which subsequent movements in Portland were based. My thesis uses material from various collections to piece together the early struggle for civil rights in Portland, and more broadly, Oregon. These documents show that the local struggle started before the classical phase of the Civil Rights Movement, usually defined as Brown v. Board of Education to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. By focusing on the classical phase of civil rights, historians miss the building of a strong foundation for Portland's Civil Rights history. My research proves the existing nuances of the fight for equality by looking at local movements rather than the national struggle. This study demonstrates the nuances by focusing on rising racial tension, the efforts to document them, and the strategies used to combat discrimination.