Hidden History of Portland, Oregon

Hidden History

by J.D. Chandler

In this engaging narrative, author JD Chandler crafts a people's history of Portland, Oregon, sharing the lesser-known stories of individuals who stood against the tide and fought for liberty and C.E.S. Wood, who documented the conflict between Native Americans and the United States Army; Beatrice Morrow Cannady, founding member of the Portland NAACP and first African American woman to practice law in Oregon; women's rights advocate Dr. Marie Equi, who performed abortions and was an open lesbian; and student athlete Jack Yoshihara, who, in the wake of Pearl Harbor, was barred from participating in the 1942 Rose Bowl. From scandal and oppression to injustice and the brink of revolution, join Chandler as he gives voice to the Rose City's quiet radicals and outspoken activists.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Social Justice

192 pages, Paperback

First published November 5, 2013

About the author

JD “John” Chandler, Portland author, (1961 – 2021).

JD Chandler was a writer and author, as well as a former political/labor activist, military veteran and public historian specializing in the history of crime in Portland, Oregon. He was a fiction and nonfiction writer his whole life, and also a film maker of short documentaries and several inventive “book trailers.” He was the author of seven books, which include two novels, five books of nonfiction, published primarily with The History Press, but also with America Through Time, who published his last book, Portland Rogues Gallery: A Baker's Dozen Arresting Criminals from Portland History.

JD had a popular website, Slabtown Chronicle and was beloved by many Portlanders, and out-of-state fans of his special brand of diverse and informative crime writing profiles.

JD was born in February of 1961, and graduated from Evergreen State College in Olympia Washington with a degree in liberal arts. He lived in various places, from California, to Washington state, all throughout Oregon, including Medford, but settled in Portland where he lived for many years in SE Portland in an airy, charming old 1905 walk-up apartment on Alder Street, just off Hawthorne.

JD worked hard all his life, from working as a newspaper deliverer, busboy, waiter, bellboy, door-to-door salesman, laborer, landscaper, apartment manager, soldier, intelligence analyst, Russian linguist, insurance agent, telephone solicitor, political activist, fundraiser, executive director, in-home caregiver, union organizer, Spanish interpreter, truck driver, account executive, college admissions representative, Podcastor, writing tutor, and finally as a longtime GED Examiner working for Portland Community College.

JD Chandler had many friends, his lifelong friend from childhood, Ken Goldstein, his good friend Thomas Legg, and his many author friends such as, Phil Stanford, Doug Kenck-Crispin, JB Fisher, Don DuPay and Theresa Griffin Kennedy, who wrote the definitive essay about JD and his creative life and tragic death in May of 2021. JD will be remembered as a staunch supporter of other writers, poets, painters and musicians, who often said: “I’d be happy to help!” when his expertise or help was needed in any number of ways.

Reviews

[Graeme Newell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately this was a random collection of stories about Portland Oregon that lacked any kind of narrative theme. It was a collection of a lot of facts and the stories of random people.

The author jumps from time period to time period. It’s very hard to keep track of any sort of story.

He’s not that bad of a writer. When it comes down to it, this was not so much a book, but more a series of long articles.

[Tina Weaver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written. I know both authors and they did due diligence in their research. I enjoyed reading this.

[Marcel Nunez · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a lot of cool stories, especially about the labor and feminist movements. It seems to focus a lot around the era between 1870-1920. It is mostly factual, but has some opinion sprinkled in, which was kind of weird because it is written like a textbook. The other thing that made me cautious is that all the references are relegated to a webpage, rather than being included in a book. I guess that makes the book smaller and cheaper, but that's not the proper way to cite sources. It seems well researched, though. Overall, pretty interesting.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually I am still reading and rereading this. I love the way the author designed the book around communities. Having read the Portland Redbook and a walking tour of Portland, and is a member of the Oregon historical society, I would recommend this as a great read. By setting up the book and following a community through it gave one of very different picture of Portland than any of the other historical books. I got it from the library, And I'm now purchasing a copy.

[Jennifer O'Dell Sample · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a Native Oregonian who has lived in Portland most of my life yet I had no knowledge of Portland history. This book has served as the starting point for my understanding of how Portland became the city it is.

[Frank Irvan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read

Portland Oregon was my hometown I was born there in 1960 and I really enjoyed reading this book it brought back a lot of memories of some of the places Even though the book was more about before my time A very good read

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely recommend this to any Portlander. My favorite bits were the histories of the labor movement, women's history (HERstory as I like to call it), and queer history. And you won't find one mention of the Pittocks in here. As you should. You hear about them enough.

[Tara N.]

A series of stories outlining the early (late Victorian) founding of Portland. Did honest coverage of some of Portland's treatment of POC, which is a dark but important part of our history. I enjoyed this book.

[lara phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

slim volume focusing on women, native and labor history. pretty good but could have been more in depth.

[Jaime · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like a lot of the information. Very interesting. But the writing was severely lacking.

[Edward Weiner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Did not learn much. I already knew the general history. Some interesting details. It is a short read. If you're interested in the history of Portland Oregon, try it.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a born and raised Oregonian -- it was such a pleasure to read about stories and issues (sexism, racism, slavery) that are largely ignored in our K - 12 history in the state.

[Alice Pederkoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting content, very poorly written. Still worth it!

[Bill Winett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Very short chapters on historical figures.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first 1/3 of this book, for the early history of Portland. Which is what I was looking for. The rest I skimmed and didn't get hooked into.

[Emilee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy these more rare insights into places that I live near (or in) and/or travel to. I will know keep an eye out for these on my travels as further insight into the place as well as keepsakes.

[Heather O'Neill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book because I thought it would be interesting to learn about the hidden history of Portland Oregon. I went on a walking tour that talked about Portland's "dark" history (all of the not so great things about it) and it was really interesting and fascinating. I expected this book to be like that, but it wasn't so much. It was a little bit of the dark history of Portland, but I felt like the book skimmed some things and put in some information that was boring. The book read more like a textbook and I would have preferred it to be more story format. I think that if I hadn't gone on the walking tour I would have enjoyed this book a little more.

[Chris Riis]

Very Interesting book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating tidbits about Portland and all of its characters!

[Quai Wentt · Rating 1 out of 5]

No theme or anything to tie facts together

It didn’t seem to have a theme or anything that would make you care about the facts presented. I had a hard time getting through it

[Micah · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's definitely a few new things I wasn't aware of (at one point the Chinese population of Portland made up a quarter of the total?) and some things I wish it had gone more in depth with (where da queer history at? There was more than just Marie), but overall it's a great introduction to some of the lesser known histories of Portland, especially for folks who are new to learning about where Portland came from and how it got to its current status. Highly recommended for newer moves to the city.