Portland, Oregon From 1890-1900: Jews Accepted

 Nadene Goldfoot

In the World:            

During the 1890–1900 decade in Europe, anti-Jewish violence and state-sanctioned persecution were centered heavily in the Russian Empire, driven by harsh imperial policies, economic scapegoating, and forced expulsions. While the massive, bloody wave of 1881–1884 pogroms had slowed, the final decade of the 19th century maintained intense systemic pressure that set the stage for the deadlier 20th-century massacres.  

During the 1890–1900 decade, Portland, Oregon, Jewish residents experienced high levels of social integration and economic success with little overt or violent antisemitism, contrasting with severe anti-Chinese agitation and rising national prejudices. Early Jewish pioneers and incoming Eastern European merchants integrated smoothly into civic life, though subtle social exclusion still existed.

Social Integration and Acceptance in Portland

Civic and Economic Success: Jewish merchants, traders, and civic leaders moved comfortably within Portland society, participating actively in commerce and municipal affairs without facing widespread public hostility. 
Community Growth: The 1890s marked a period of transition with an influx of Eastern European Jewish immigrants joining the already established German and Prussian Jewish communities. 
Internal and External Relations: While prominent gentile social groups like the exclusive Arlington Club barred Jewish members, the broader Jewish community maintained cooperative and close-knit business and social ties with non-Jewish Portlanders.
Broader Context of Prejudice in Portland
Shift in Target: During the 1880s and 1890s, organized labor and nativist movements in Portland channeled their xenophobic and exclusionary energies heavily against Chinese immigrants rather than Jewish residents.
Absence of Organized Pogroms: Unlike parts of Eastern Europe or volatile areas of the eastern United States, Portland did not see organized political antisemitic movements or physical violence targeting its Jewish neighborhoods during this specific decade.
The Pale of Settlement: 
The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum notes that millions of Jews were legally confined to this western region of the Russian Empire, where local economic crises frequently sparked localized riots. 
Expulsion from Moscow (1891): Tsar Alexander III's government systematically expelled all Jewish artisans, small merchants, and lower-class families from Moscow, uprooting tens of thousands of people under strict municipal enforcement. 
The May Laws (1882 continued impact): Throughout the 1890s, restrictive quotas on Jewish education and bans on living in rural areas (shtetls) impoverished Jewish communities and aggravated local hostilities. This is the background for "Fiddler on the Roof".  
Impact and Emigration
Mass Migration: Continuous civil harassment, poverty induced by legal restrictions, and the constant threat of mob violence drove a massive wave of emigration. 
Destination Shift: Between 1890 and 1900, hundreds of thousands of Eastern European Jews fled westward, heading primarily to the United States, Western Europe, and the beginnings of modern Zionist settlement in Ottoman Palestine. 
This decade of structural persecution directly fostered the conditions that erupted into large-scale, lethal pogroms in the early 20th century, most notably the Kishinev Pogrom of 1903.  The Kishinev pogrom or Kishinev massacre was an anti-Jewish riot that took place in Kishinev (modern Chișinău, Moldova), then the capital of the Bessarabia Governorate in the Russian Empire, on 19–21 April [O.S. 6–8 April] 1903. During the pogrom, which began on Easter Day, between 40 and 49 Jews were killed, 92 were gravely injured, over 500 were lightly injured and 1,500 homes were damaged. American Jews began large-scale organized financial help, and assisted in emigration. The incident focused worldwide attention on the persecution of Jews within the Russian Empire and led Theodor Herzl to propose the Uganda Scheme as a temporary refuge for the Jews. A second pogrom erupted in the city in October 1905.
 Portland is a city of immigrants. Jewish people were among the immigrants who settled in Portland starting in 1849. Many were merchants; some became very successful. A few were elected to city and state offices, including governor.
Jews came to Portland via ships.  Jewish immigrants arriving in Portland from Europe did not travel on direct transatlantic ships to Oregon. Instead, they landed at major U.S. or Canadian east coast or mid-Atlantic ports (such as New York, Boston, or Philadelphia) or arrived via California/Seattle, completing their journeys to Portland by train or smaller coastal vessels. 
Samuel Merton Suwol, 1904-1980, was a lawyer and teacher in Portland. He published a pamphlet in 1958 [possibly printed at his law office] called Jewish History of Oregon, in honor of 100 years of Jewish settlement in Oregon. In the Foreword, Suwol described how the pioneers arrived in Oregon. Some came by ship around the Horn, or across the Isthmus [of Panama], then by ship to California, and by ship from California to Oregon. Some came overland on the Oregon Trail in covered wagons. "Among the earliest Jews who followed the Oregon Train by ox team and wagon, braving the desert and mountains, hostile Indians, cholera and the elements were Dr. Israel Moses, Herman Ehrenberg and the brothers Jacob and Louis Fleischner." [Suwol, 1958, Portland, OR, Foreword]

Looking Back At Portland, Oregon's Anti-Semitism From 1940-1950, The War Years

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                   

Halftone reproduction of a photograph taken from a Japanese plane during the torpedo attack on the ships moored on both sides of Ford Island. View looks about southeast, with Honolulu and Diamond Head in the right distance. Torpedoes have just struck USS West Virginia and USS Oklahoma on the far side of Ford Island. On the near side of the island, toward the left, USS Utah and USS Raleigh have already been torpedoed. Fires are burning at the seaplane base, at the right end of Ford Island. Across the channel from the seaplane base, smoke along 1010 Dock indicates that USS Helena has also been torpedoed. Japanese inscriptions at the bottom indicate that this view was published by Osaka University. Photo and Caption: Naval History & Heritage Command.

We started the decade with a bang. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, starting at 7:55 a.m. local Hawaiian time World War II: Declared against Japan on December 8, 1941, Germany and Italy on December 11, 1941, and minor Axis nations (Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania) on June 4–5, 1942.                              

The United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan on August 6 and August 9, 1945, striking the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Our librarian, Mrs Carlin, read an adult book to us about the A Bomb and it's affects on the people; I could never forget that.  

In the United States, 18-year-old boys and young men were first made eligible to be called and drafted into military service starting in November 1942, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed legislation lowering the minimum draft age from 21 to 18 during World War II.  

We kids spent our free time collecting old newspapers in our red wagons and taking them to the school gym to get weighed for the war effort and making joke books for soldiers.  My father pulled strings to by me a bicycle for a holiday.  People had books allowing them to have so much sugar per month, ration books.  Things were rationed.   

By 1940, Jews in the USA made up only about 3.7% (specifically 3.63% to 3.68%) of the total national population.  This marked the highest proportional percentage the Jewish population would reach in the United States, not that the Jewish population grew, but that the USA population was less than today, possibly, though Jews like my Uncle Werner were escaping to the states from Germany. Jewish people made up roughly 2% of the total United States population, numbering around 6.3 million people by 2025.   

During the 1940s, anti-Semitism in Portland, Oregon, primarily manifested as social discrimination, housing and neighborhood restrictions, and the lingering legacy of 1930s fringe fascist movements. While the city did not experience major violent anti-Jewish riots during this decade, Jewish residents faced systemic barriers in daily life.

The core of the working-class Jewish community remained closely tied to the self-sufficient enclave of South Portland, partly due to these broader metropolitan housing barriers. Employment Barriers: Corporate and professional hiring discrimination was common, steering Jewish professionals away from certain mainstream local businesses.                              

"A String of Pearls" is a famous swing tune most famously recorded by Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, composed by Jerry Gray. It became a massive hit during the Big Band era of the early 1940s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7meEBKcBrc

Yes, the Jitterbug was very popular in Portland, Oregon during the 1940s and 1950s, alongside other swing and ballroom styles. Local dance spots like the Palais Royale Ballroom featured "modern" dancing, which included the jitterbug, foxtrot, swing, and waltzes.  

The shipyards were busy turning out ships for the war.  My father didn't have to do service being in the wholesale meats business supplying leather for boots for the army; but became a leader at the shipyards dealing with carpenters, etc. so he never slept having 2 jobs.  

 At the same time, Black housing in 1940s and 1950s Portland was defined by severe racial segregation, massive wartime migration, and the sudden displacement of the city's largest Black community. The two primary locations were Vanport and the Albina District.

Housing and Neighborhoods

Covenant Restrictions: Real estate developers in upper-class Portland neighborhoods—such as Eastmoreland, Council Crest, and Grant Park—utilized restrictive racial and religious covenants.  Restrictive racial and religious covenants were binding rules placed in property deeds that banned people of specific races or religions from buying, renting, or living in a home. Real estate developers used them in the 20th century to keep neighborhoods segregated.  These 3 areas are where many of my Jewish friends lived.  Eastmorland teens; had to be for Upper class residents going to Washington High; and Grant High was filled by Jewish students from ??, another Upper class area, I would think.  
How They Worked
Deed Rules: Written into property contracts.
Lasting Control: They "ran with the land," meaning future owners had to follow them.
Targeted Groups: Banned Black, Asian, Indigenous, Jewish, and other minority buyers.
The End of the Practice
Unenforceable (1948): The U.S. Supreme Court ruled courts could not enforce these rules in Shelley v. Kraemer.
Illegal (1968): The federal Fair Housing Act made housing discrimination fully illegal, but it took them 20 years to do this.  
Geographic Concentration: The core of the working-class Jewish community remained closely tied to the self-sufficient enclave of South Portland, partly due to these broader metropolitan housing barriers. My parents moved from South Portland to Ladd's Addition in the late 30's.
Early Residents: Meant for middle-class families seeking single-family detached homes away from industrial districts.  Shifting Demographics: Later grew to accommodate diverse groups, including Italian-American and Asian-American families as the city grew through the 20th century.  For each area, a contract was signed decided by a ceiling on the price of ownership.    
Interfaith and Civil Coalitions: Amid housing shortages and racial tensions in the mid-1940s, local groups like B'nai B'rith joined forces with the Portland Urban League (founded in 1945) to combat broader regional discrimination.   Urban League of Portland is one of Oregon’s oldest civil rights and social service organizations, empowering African-Americans and others to achieve equality in education, employment, health, economic security and quality of life.

Political Climate and Extremism

Pre-War Legacy: Radical right-wing and nativist groups active in Oregon during the 1930s had seeded populist rhetoric blaming Jewish people for economic troubles and national policies. 
Wartime Shift: Following the U.S. entry into World War II in December 1941, overt public fascist organizing lost mainstream traction as isolationist and extremist movements were viewed with public suspicion, though underlying social prejudices persisted into the postwar era. 
Below: Graduating Abernethy Grade School-1947-Principal Mr. Tate, Mrs Jagger,  Fenton Su, Nadine La'Fountain, Nadene Goldfoot, Sue Bricker, Shirley Mason, Louise Martin, Carl Burbano, Ellen Burbano,  (pretty good for a 92 year old)  
Resource:  https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2026/07/looking-back-in-1940s-in-portlands-anti.html