Looking Back At Portland , Oregon from 1870-1880 And a Growing Anti-Semitism and Racial Segregation Developing

 Nadene Goldfoot                                      

A cartoon of a giant figure named 'Panic' clearing garbage on Wall Street, 1873 (Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division, LC-DIG-ds-04513)

The early Pioneer Jews  tended to be a different kind of person—independent-minded, ready to leave the community they knew, more connected to natural beauty than, say, the Jews who declined to leave urban centers of Philadelphia and New York;  for an unknown life among the evergreens and people who at the time were called Indians.                                     

                                       Aaron Meier

Meier & Frank: Founded earlier in 1857 by Aaron Meier, the firm expanded significantly during the 1870s, officially adopting the name Meier & Frank Co. in 1873 when Emil Frank joined as a partner. He hired Emil Frank (1845–1898) in 1870 and Emil's younger brother Sigmund Frank (1850–1910) in 1872. A year later, Emil Frank became Meier's partner, and the store became known as "Meier & Frank". In 1878, the great Portland fire destroyed 20 downtown blocks, including the store, which was immediately rebuilt.

The Great Fire of 1873 was a major fire which swept through the downtown of Portland, Oregon on August 2, 1873, destroying twenty-two blocks on the west side of the Willamette River, including along Yamhill and Morrison Streets. A mix of mansions, tenements, and commercial property was destroyed. Many businesses were not insured, and many others were only partially insured.

The city "shunned" financial aid offered from San Francisco and the East Coast, and instead used local resources. Rebuilding was delayed by the Panic of 1873, then was in "full swing" by 1878.

The Panic of 1873 struck Portland, Oregon, during a vulnerable period, compounding the devastation of the Great Fire of August 2, 1873. The national economic collapse halted regional railroad expansion, ruined local magnate Ben Holladay, delayed downtown rebuilding for years, and intensified anti-Chinese social tensions.  The economic collapse of 1873, known as the Panic of 1873, was a severe financial crisis that triggered a multi-year global depression. It began on September 18, 1873, when the prominent investment banking firm Jay Cooke & Company went bankrupt due to overextended investments in railroad construction. The collapse led to a 10-day shutdown of the New York Stock Exchange and a wave of bank runs nationwide.

In 1869, a splinter group of Prussian immigrant Jews established the more conservative congregation Avahai Shalom in Portland, contrasting with the established Beth Israel, which developed into a reform congregation. During those days, ,the congregation rented spaces (such as rooms on SW Sixth Street between Oak and Pine) rather than constructing a dedicated brick building.New Immigrant Tides: During the 1870s, an influx of Polish and Prussian Jews arrived, bringing more traditional or Orthodox practices to the established Reform Jewish community community.  

                            

 Bernard Goldsmith, a Bavarian Jewish immigrant to Oregon who fought as a cavalry lieutenant in the state's Indian Wars, was elected as the 19th mayor of Portland, serving from 1869 until 1871. Prior to his political involvement, Goldsmith had operated a dry good store with his brothers, and became one of Portland's financial elite; he was involved in local wheat shipping business, railroads, and the construction of the locks at Willamette Falls in Oregon City.

His accomplishments include adding downtown park blocks and public squares to the city's domain, and in 1871, purchasing 40 wooded acres in the hills above downtown Portland, which would become the nucleus of what is now Washington Park. The $32,000 price drew considerable criticism. Goldsmith was the driving force behind the building of locks to navigate around the Willamette River falls across from Oregon City, which allowed boats to travel from the Pacific Ocean to Eugene, Oregon, cutting the cost of shipping Willamette Valley goods to Portland by half. Goldsmith and his associates obtained a $200,000 legislative grant from the state of Oregon for the project; when cost estimates more than doubled, Goldsmith paid an additional $200,000 out of his pocket.  He was 68 years old at the time of his death in 1901.

                 faces of emancipation:  1860-1880

State Exclusion Laws: Oregon's state constitution explicitly banned Black individuals from residing in or holding property in the state upon admission in 1859, a racist clause left in the text until 1927. Voting Rights Conflict: While the ratification of the 15th Amendment granted Black men the right to vote nationally in 1870, Oregon voters had rejected the amendment, and the state refused to officially ratify it for nearly another century. Delayed Acceptance: Local governance and societal norms treated Black arrivals as unwelcome interlopers despite federal overrides. Segregated Schools: Public education was heavily segregated; Portland routinely assigned Black and mixed-race children to separate, underfunded educational facilities. Social Isolation: Institutionalized prejudice limited Black residents from full participation in civic, social, and political life outside of their concentrated enclaves. Economic and Labor Constraints.  Job Channeling: Black workers were systematically excluded from professional, managerial, and skilled trades, restricted instead to low-wage service, domestic, or manual labor.  Railroad and Hospitality Work: As transcontinental rail lines and large commercial spaces expanded toward the 1880s, Black labor was funneled into visible service roles (such as waiters and porters) that offered little upward mobility. 

Anxiety Over Assimilation: Established Jewish community leaders sometimes worried that the distinct Old World customs of newer immigrants might provoke external prejudices;  though overt, organized local anti-Semitism had not yet taken root in public Portland life during this era.  It have have well been the start.  

Mutual Aid: Organizations like the Hebrew Benevolent Association and the First Hebrew Ladies Benevolent Society formed to care for community members.  

Between 1870 and 1880, Portland's Chinese population grew rapidly from roughly 700 to 2,500 residents. Centered near the Willamette River waterfront, the community expanded its economic footprint and transitioned from a transient bachelor society into a more permanent urban enclave despite rising regional labor hostility.  The railroads provided especially important benefits for the Chinese in the American West, giving them a source of income and directing Chinese migration throughout the region. The era of transcontinental railroad construction, from 1865 through the 1880s, also stimulated the building of regional spurs. In this way, Cantonese-Chinese not only worked their way across the land, but they also were introduced to new destinations.

In Oregon, Cantonese-Chinese migrated to and settled in eastern Oregon, on the Oregon Coast, and in the Willamette Valley. Commercial agriculture, lumbering, fisheries, and canneries provided jobs for many. Other employment opportunities in white American society included jobs in domestic service (e.g., as cooks, gardeners, houseboys, and nannies), light manufacturing, truck gardening, hand laundries, cafes and restaurants, and nurseries.

The number of Chinese in Oregon grew dramatically after the mid-1860s. By 1870, their numbers were distributed unevenly across southwest Oregon, especially in Josephine and Jackson Counties; the central Willamette Valley, in Lane, Benton, Linn, and Marion Counties and some in Polk and Yamhill Counties; the northern Willamette Valley, in Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington.