The Northwest History Network presents a free presentation and discussion:

From Black Power to Green Jobs: Civil Rights, Trade Unions & Urban Renewal in Portland & Seattle, 1960s to the present

Thursday, October 28, 7-8:30 p.m.

Sunnyside Environmental School Auditorium, 3421 SE Salmon St. (near SE 34th and Belmont)

In the 1960s and 1970s, civil rights groups advocated for desegregation of federal and city-funded construction projects across northern cities. This talk will look at the history of this struggle in the context of urban renewal projects in Portland and Seattle, and bring the conversation to the present by considering the impact of federally funded “green” projects on access to living-wage jobs for women and minorities.

Scholars Trevor Griffey (Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project, University of Washington) and Felicia Williams (PDX Civil Rights Project, Portland State University) will be joined by Portland labor leader Keith Edwards (International Representative, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers).

Trevor is also co-editor of and contributor to Black Power at Work: Community Control, Affirmative Action, and the Construction Industry (Cornell University Press, 2010). This book examines community activism and direct action by civil rights groups to advocate desegregation of federal and city-funded construction projects across northern cities in the 1960s and 1970s.

This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information visit northwesthistory.org, send an email to info@northwesthistory.org, or call Mary-Margaret Wheeler-Weber at 503-240-3344.

The Northwest History Network is a non-profit consortium of history professionals committed to expanding understanding of history and culture through collaboration, professional development and support, and public engagement. For more information, visit northwesthistory.org

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