Vanport Survivors Record Their Stories at the North Portland Multimedia Training Center

The North Portland Multimedia Training Center is recording interviews with Portland residents who were here before and during the Vanport flood. The project aims to preserve the oral history of the WWII-era city, destroyed in 1948 when a dike collapsed and the Columbia River flooded the entire development.  Fifteen people drowned in the flood.

Pictured swapping stories and reminiscing about "Life in Vanport, " were guests: (left to right) Mariah Taylor, LuLa Russell, Sarah Cason, William Woods and Leonard Paden. The Vanport survivors  recalled times as residents or builders of Vanport, Oregon before the flood.  Interviews were filmed by trained HD camera producers for the "Life in Vanport" project of the North Portland Multimedia Training Center (NPMTC) sponsored by The Skanner Foundation and Mt. Hood Cable Regulatory Commission.

If you or a relative have stories about Vanport that you would like to preserve for future generations, email Naomi at npmtc@comcast.net.  To learn more about the project, go to www.npmtc.com.