FEATURED COLLECTIONS
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WILSON SMITH III COLLECTION
FILM COLLECTION
16mm footage from the Smith family documenting life in Albina during the 1950s-1960s.
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RON STEEN COLLECTION
MIXED MEDIA
VHS tapes & cassettes documenting Portland’s jazz community during the 1970s-2000s.
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CARLTON JACKSON COLLECTION
MIXED MEDIA
Regional music ephemera documenting drummer & radio host’s vast 1970s-2010s collection.
E And R Fouther Family Collection
The E & R Fouther Family Collection seeks to preserve and share Albina’s Black cultural heritage, including artists and creatives from dispossessed communities across the Diaspora. This photography collection is part of the Culture-Bearers Archives, documenting the past century of Black life in Portland, Oregon.
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Early Black Life in Portland
E & R Fouther Family Collection
This collection of photography and printed ephemera documents early-mid 20th century social and civic life among Black Portlanders including: Urban League Of Portland, Sunshine Division, Kaiser Shipyard, the railroad, and barbershops.
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Sweet Baby James Benton Collection
E & R FOUTHER FAMILY COLLECTION
James Benton was active in Albina’s musician community from the 1950s-2010s. A vocalist and drummer, Benton championed Black musicians and regularly hosted after hours jams at a William’s Avenue club he established out of his home. This collection of mixed media documents Albina’s musician community in mid-late 20th century.
poster ART
Printed ephemera promoting concerts and community events.
archive by decade
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1950s
Explore the heyday of jazz music along Williams Avenue.
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1960s
Trace the emergence of Albina’s soul music throughout the 1960s, derived from the roots of gospel and the blues.
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1970s
The 1970s brought jazz fusion, disco, and a wave of counterculture movements through the Albina neighborhood.
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1980s
Discover the funk and electrified R&B that lit up nightclubs throughout Portland.
Ken Berry Collection
Kenneth W. Berry is a retired teacher, administrator, arts advocate, entrepreneur, mentor, deacon, choir director, disc jockey, and musician. Throughout 48 years of service in Portland Public Schools, Berry has been an enduring presence and earned countless awards. In addition to co-founding the World Arts Foundation, Berry has served on the board of directors for Oregon Education Association, Portland Association of Teachers, Metropolitan Arts Commission, Portland Community Media, and Oregon Alliance of Black School Educators.
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TIME SOUND CONCERT SERIES
KEN BERRY COLLECTION
In 1981, Albina’s musicians assembled TIME SOUND. This concert series exposed audiences to an expanse of Black musical excellence performed in a jazz big band setting. The program evolved throughout the 1980s, with appearances in concert halls, institutions, and venues throughout Oregon.
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Youth Breakdancing
This gallery documents the emergence of breakdancing in the 1980s among Albina’s youth. Working in Portland Public Schools, teacher Ken Berry cultivated this form of Black cultural expression among students. This resulted in performances at school assemblies, clubs, and even a Portland Trail Blazers halftime show.
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Keep Alive The Dream MLK Tribute
This annual tribute to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been recognized as the largest community cultural event of its kind in the State of Oregon. This collection of film documents the origins of Keep Alive The Dream in the 1980s, highlighting Albina’s activists, community leaders, artists, musicians, and youth.
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Baseline Essays
The African-American Baseline Essays are a series of educational materials and film commissioned in 1987 by the Portland Public School district and compiled by Asa Grant Hilliard III, intended to "provide information about the history, culture, and contributions of Africans and African-Americans in the disciplines of Art, Language Arts, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, and Music."
About The Community Archive