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By The Skanner News | The Skanner News
Published: 05 April 2016

The Skanner News hosted the third showing of The Wake of Vanport at the Oregon Historical Society on April 3, 2016. The oral history documentary has been updated with new stories from survivors who attended the last film showing.

Lee Moore, who was a child of Vanport, gave a personal reflection of the temporary workforce town that washed away on Memorial Day of 1948. He described a town that was progressive for the era. Vanport had integrated grade schools and provided day care for workers.

After the showing of the film, survivors of Vanport were on hand to answer questions and tell their stories. Volunteers offered to write these stories down to add to the oral history collection. The Skanner News plans on adding these new accounts to The Wake of Vanport and showing them in August.

Thank you to our sponsors: the Oregon Lottery, PCRI and the Oregon Historical Society.

To see pictures from the event, check out our slideshow:

 

View Lee Moore's introduction: 

Bernie Foster of The Skanner News received this thank you letter from Aija Kanbergs after the event:

Dear Mr. Foster

Thank you for the informative well-organized “Wake of Vanport” presentation last Sunday. I had heard about Vanport, but seeing the interviews and actual survivors made it much more real and moving.

You and everyone else were very gracious, and I felt welcome even though I had no connection to the events of 1948. ( I was at a refugee camp in Germany that year!)

Thank you again

Sincerely,

Aija Kanbergs

P.S. I’m the person that left early.

P.P.S. The cheesy grits were great!

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