Vanport Mosaic

05/29/2026

Tonight!
As part of the 11th Vanport Mosaic Festival
MEMORIES IN THE TAKING

Join us for a staged reading drawn from over 400 walking oral history narratives
on Black life and aging in Portland, by Dr. Raina Croff.

EVENT DETAILS
Date: Friday, May 29, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: Historic Alberta House, 5131 NE 23rd Ave, Portland, OR 97211
Tickets: free/by donation
There is limited space for this event.
RSVP strongly recommended

A staged reading of selected narratives from the SHARP study — Sharing History through Active Reminiscence and Photo-imagery — accompanied by historical neighborhood images and era music. Created by lifelong Portlander Dr. Raina Croff (OHSU), the project engages older Black adults, with and without memory loss, in walking through the Albina district with old photos, prompting conversational reminiscence about living and working there before gentrification. Directed by Raina Croff and Clarice Bailey.
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COME EARLIER TO SEE THE EXHIBITS ON DISPLAY!

The Historic Alberta House will be open 4- 5:30 pm for gallery hours.

Artwork by Henk Pander: “The Climate Refugees of Vanport”
Originally from the Netherlands, Henk Pander was a child during WWII. Since immigrating to the PNW in 1965, he has become one of the most renowned artists. This art giant passed away on April 7th, 2023, but his legacy lives on in his artwork.

Vanport: The Surge of Social Change
A historical photo exhibit documenting the life, destruction, and aftermath of the largest WWII shipbuilding community in the U.S.

05/28/2026

05/27/2026

Lost City, Living Memories
Vanport Through The Voices of Its Residents

Date: Wednesday, May 27, 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Location: Historic Alberta House, 5131 NE 23rd Ave, Portland, OR 97211
Tickets: free/by donation
Bit.ly/VanportFestival2026

A “miracle city.” A “sociological experiment.” A “municipal monstrosity.” A “nasty ghetto.”

During its short life span (1942-1948), Vanport—at its peak Oregon’s second largest city and the nation’s largest public housing project—drew national attention and conflicting opinions. For the over 40,000 people who lived there, Vanport was simply their home.

When the Columbia River flooded in 1948, on Memorial Day, the entire city was erased from the map and much of Portland’s memory in a single day.

Through nearly a decade of collaboration with the Vanport community, Vanport Mosaic has established the largest collection of oral histories about Vanport, ensuring the preservation and honoring of one of Oregon’s most pivotal historical communities.

Through archival footage, historic photographs, and compelling first-person narratives, Lost City, Living Memories creates a rich and elaborate “mosaic” of the vibrant community that made up Vanport, and commemorates the tragedy that displaced it.

NW Freedom Singers are going to take us through Vanport and WWII to Albina and Dawson Park and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s and on to Church and the heartbeat of Portland’s Black Community.

Performing tonight, along with Ron are Vanport descendant, Eldon “T” Jones on Saxophone and vocals, Tim Ribner on keyboard, and Antoinette Saunders, Rosie Lovings, Jeanine Wiggins, Letha McCleod, and Amber Cobb.

05/26/2026

In order to have that joy, we also have to have that collective grieving.” — LaVeta Gilmore Jones

Tomorrow, we gather.

CITY OF PORTLAND VANPORT FLOOD REMEMBRANCE 
Wednesday, May 27 · 9:30–9:45 AM (pre-gavel)
City Hall, Council Chambers, 2nd Floor ·
1221 SW Fourth Ave
A brief public moment of recognition marking the 78th anniversary of the Memorial Day flood that destroyed Vanport in 1948.

🎬 🎶 LOST CITY, LIVING MEMORIES: Vanport Through The Voices of Its Residents 
Wednesday, May 27 · 6:00–8:00 PM
Historic Alberta House · 5131 NE 23rd Ave
A screening of short oral history documentaries from the Vanport Mosaic living archive — the largest collection of personal memories of life in the Miracle City, the flood, and its aftermath. With special guests from the Vanport community, and a music performance by the Northwest Freedom Singers.
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Last year, we were honored to be in conversation with Adam Davis for his Oregon Humanities/Detour podcast to reflect on our decade of memory activism milestone. LaVeta Gilmore Jones, Vanport descendant and Vanport Mosaic pillar, named why our memory work matters:

“In order to have that joy, we also have to have that collective grieving. I don’t know what existed back in the late ‘40s, but I do know that when Vanport Mosaic came on the scene and opened up the space to talk, it gave people a chance to say ‘I remember when’ — people in their 70s and 80s and 90s who had just carried this with them that whole time. It gave them an opportunity to come together and do that collective grieving and recognition that this was a trauma we went through, these are things we did lose. And when you’re able to do that collective grieving, then you’re able to find healing — because then the stories of what it was like before the flood start coming out.”

Join us with your grief and with your joy. Everyone is needed and welcome.

🔗 Full 11th Festival schedule → bit.ly/VanportFestival2026
🎧 LaVeta’s full conversation with Oregon Humanities — link in bio.

📷photos from last Saturday’s Vanport community annual reunion

05/21/2026

The 11th Vanport Mosaic Festival begins Friday. Consider this less an announcement than a whisper.

We have been carrying a lot. So have many of you. The grief of watching the foundations of our democracy erode, of seeing communities targeted, histories threatened, and the hard-won work of generations put at risk.

And yet we keep coming back.

Because when we come together, something shifts. There is belonging, beauty, and the grounding that comes from learning where you stand in a longer story. And there is the specific joy of imagining, together, the future we are trying to build.

This year’s festival is smaller. Quieter. More intimate. And in that simplicity, we hope you will find something essential: the unadorned heart of what this gathering has always been.

We are not pretending everything is fine. We are doing something harder and more honest: showing up together, in joy and vulnerability, because gathering around stories of struggle, resistance, and community care is medicine. And we all need it right now.

Swipe to find what calls to you. ↓

🎶 From Maxville to Vanport — songs and films about two towns that were place of refuge and opportunity for Black Oregonians Fri May 22 · 6:30 PM · Roosevelt High School

🏛️ City of Portland Vanport Day of Remembrance
Wed May 27 · 9:30 AM · City Hall

🎙️ Lost City, Living Memories — oral history films + Northwest Freedom Singers
Wed May 27 · 6 PM · Alberta House

🐦 Presence and Preservation — history walk and birdwatching at Force Lake
Thu May 28 · 6 PM · Force Lake

🎭 Memories in the Taking — staged reading surfacing Black Portlanders’ memories of Albina before gentrification
Fri May 29 · 6 PM · Alberta House

📚 What Vanport Teaches — free educator workshop
Sat May 30 · 9:30 AM · Alberta House

🎉 Festival Closing Celebration —
Sun May 31 · 2 PM · Alberta House

And there is more. Full program (in progress) at vanportmosaic.org (link in bio).

Come. Bring someone you love. Everyone is needed and welcomed.

05/13/2026

Join Vanport Mosaic for a special tour celebrating Malcolm X, led by Mr. Kent Ford, co-founder of Portland’s chapter of the Black Panther Party. Discover how Malcolm X’s determination and grit inspired a generation, including Mr. Ford, to fight for Black liberation and social justice.
Through Mr. Ford’s personal memories of revolutionary activism and community service, be inspired to join today’s fight for change.

May 17 | 11-1 pm
Start: Matt Dishman Community Center
🎟️ limited spots available!
RSVP: bit.ly/MalcolmXTour
Link in bio