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)