Author's Note
My name is Jada Krening, and I am the author of Parkrose Community Archive. I was born and raised in Parkrose Heights and attended Russell Elementary, Parkrose Middle School, and Parkrose High School, where I graduated in 2016. My parents, Mark and Jeannie (Dimoff) Krening, are also PHS graduates (class of 1986). They, like me, spent their entire upbringing in Parkrose. Their parents moved to the area before they were born—my grandfather, Larry Krening, grew up in Parkrose and attended Parkrose schools, graduating in 1951, the year the Shaver Street high school opened.
Parkrose Community Archive began as a capstone project for a master’s degree in history at Oregon State University, which I completed in June 2024. Previously, I attended OSU as an undergrad, where I studied political science, sociology, writing, and journalism. The idea for Parkrose Community Archive stemmed partially out of frustration: even as a graduate student, I could not find any substantive examples of Parkrose history anywhere. Not online, not in local archives, not in Portland or Oregon history books. But as someone from Parkrose, I knew a history existed here—I knew community members had materials and sources they’ve held onto that reflect a rich history of the area. The problem was simply that no one had taken the time to organize it, display it, or make it accessible to a general audience. That is how this project began.
I’ve always been conscious of how profoundly Parkrose shaped me—not just my research interests but also my morals, my politics, my worldview, and how I interact with others. This project is ultimately rooted in my experience as an individual from Parkrose. In that sense, Parkrose Community Archive is both by and for the Parkrose community. It’s a collaborative effort to create a collage of life and history in Parkrose and uncover and make accessible the stories and experiences of Parkrose community members.
As Parkrose residents know, the community is incredibly diverse. Parkrose Community Archive is a living project, one that I hope will continue to grow for years to come. As a white woman with a generational background in Parkrose, I am keenly aware of the need for a project like this to include the area’s distinct and diverse voices, including immigrant communities and communities of color. My goal is to continue to partner with Parkrose residents, groups, and organizations to ensure that this project—this community resource—is truly accessible and representative of everyone.
If you have any questions or would like to contribute materials to the Parkrose Community Archive, please contact me at parkrosecommunityarchive@gmail.com.
Acknowledgments
Special thanks to:
-
Marisa Chappell
-
Kelly Bosworth
-
Susan Bernardin
-
Joel Zapata
-
Mark & Jeannie Krening
-
Harrison Edwards
-
Darlene Vinson Curran & Tim Curran
-
Nicole (Seery) Pruitt
-
Nick Foreman, Jake Hamblin, Trina Hogg, Stacey Smith & Nicole von Germeten
-
Sage Krening & Hannah Hamling
-
Dan & Lisa Finkle
-
Connie Dimoff
-
London Hawes, Mya Kraus, Sky Krakos, Lonni Ivey & Jenna Proctor
-
Cecily Evonuk & Grace Knutsen
-
Avery-Kiira Abney, Louisa Alstot, Emiko Bledsoe, Shelby Cornejo, Katie Dong, McKenzie Gray, Lindsay LaMont, & Diana Santiago
Resources & Further Reading
Portland and Oregon History:
-
"Albina area (Portland)," Roy Roos, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, March 11, 2022.
-
A Peculiar Paradise: A History of Blacks in Oregon, 1788-1940, Elizabeth McLagan (Corvallis: Oregon State University Press, 2022).
-
"Black Exclusion Laws in Oregon," Greg Nokes, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, May 17, 2024.
-
"Black People in Oregon," Darrell Millner, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, April 2, 2024.
-
"Bleeding Albina: A History of Community Disinvestment, 1940-2000," Karen J. Gibson, Transforming Anthropology 15, no. 1, 2007.
-
"Bonneville Dam," William F. Willingham, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, February 4, 2021.
-
"Brief History of Urban Renewal in Portland, Oregon," Craig Wollner, John Provo, Julie Schablisky, August 31, 2000.
-
"Celilo Falls," Katrine Barber, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, March 18, 2024.
-
"Columbia River," William L. Lang, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, January 20, 2021.
-
"Columbia River Gorge," Carl Abbott, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, April 24, 2024.
-
"Columbia River Highway," Robert W. Hadlow, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, September 19, 2022.
-
"East Portland Waterfront, 1898," Trudy Flores and Sarah Griffith, Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society, 2002.
-
Fleeting Opportunities: Women Shipyard Workers in Portland and Vancouver During World War II and Reconversion, Amy Kesselman (Albany: SUNY Press, 1990).
-
"From Maxville to Vanport," Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble.
-
"Gresham," Silvie Andrews, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, May 18, 2023.
-
"Historic Black Newspapers of Portland," Rutherford Family Collection Digital Archive, Portland State University.
-
"Historical Context of Racist Planning: A History of How Planning Segregated Portland," City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability, September 2019.
-
"The History of Portland's African American Community (1805 to the Present)," City of Portland Bureau of Planning, February 1993.
-
"Kaiser Shipyards," Gordon Oliver, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, July 13, 2022.
-
"Kaiser & Oregon Shipyards," Trudy Flores, Sarah Griffith, Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society, 2002.
-
"Ku Klux Klan," Eckard Toy, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, July 21, 2022.
-
"Latinos in Oregon," Jerry Garcia, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, November 8, 2023.
-
"Nightshift Arrives Portland Shipbuilding," Kathy Tucker, Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society, 2002.
-
"Oregon Donation Land Law," William G. Robbins, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, August 17, 2022.
-
The Organic Machine: The Remaking of the Columbia River, Richard White (New York: Hill and Wang, 1996).
-
The Portland Black Panthers: Empowering Albina and Remaking a City, Lucas N.N. Burke and Judson L. Jeffries (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2017).
-
"Pollution in Paradise," Tom McCall/KGW News Documentary, 1962.
-
"Portland," Carl Abbott, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, May 12, 2024.
-
"Portland Railway Light and Power," George Kramer, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, May 19, 2022.
-
"Portland streetcar system," Richard Thompson, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, May 23, 2022.
-
"Redlining and Climate-Related Heat," Jola Ajibade, Sasha Burchuk, Heather Day-Melgar, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, February 21, 2024.
-
"The Vanport Flood," Michael N. McGregor, Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society, 2003.
-
"Vanport: Oregon Experience," Oregon Public Broadcasting, November 14, 2016.
-
"Vanport," Carl Abbott, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society.
-
Vanport, Manly Maben (Portland: Oregon Historical Society Press, 1987).
-
"Vanport Mosaic: The Living Archive," Vanport Mosaic.
-
"Willamette Valley," William G. Robbins, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, July 21, 2023.
Parkrose and East County History:
-
"About the Parkrose School District," Parkrose School District.
-
"Aldo Rossi, Parkrose icon," Mid-County Memo, August 2009.
-
"Booking prisoner at Rocky Butte Jail," Multnomah County Digital Collections, date unknown.
-
"Columbia Pioneer Cemetery," Historic Cemeteries, Metro.
-
"East Portland Historical Overview & Preservation Study," City of Portland Bureau of Planning, December 20, 2007.
-
"First Peoples in the Portland Basin," William Toll, Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society.
-
"The Grotto," Sean Arnold, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, August 25, 2022.
-
"Intended and Unintended Consequences of Two Paradigms of Urban Planning, and Their Social Justice and Human Health Impacts, in Portland, Oregon," Steven A. Kolmes, Environments 9, no. 10, 2022.
-
"Jim Pepper (1941-1992)," Jack Berry, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, October 6, 2023.
-
"Jim Pepper House," National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, 2023.
-
"Jim Pepper Witchitai-To" (1971) and Jim Pepper, "Witchitai-To" (Live at Don Cherry French Magic Circus, July 26, 1980).
-
"Life Story: Aldo Rossi," Joan Harvey, The Oregonian, August 22, 2009.
-
"The lost vision for east Portland's Gateway," Anna Griffin, The Oregonian, July 12, 2013.
-
"Portland International Airport," Carl Abbott, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, May 19, 2022.
-
"Portland Basin Chinookan Villages in the early 1800s," Robert Boyd, Henry Zenk, Oregon Encyclopedia, Oregon Historical Society, December 5, 2022.
-
"Powell Grove Cemetery," Historic Cemeteries, Metro.
-
"Rossi Farms History," Rossi Farms.
-
"Uneven Development of the Sustainable City: Shifting Capital in Portland, Oregon," Erin Goodling, Jamaal Green, Nathan McClintock, Urban Geography 36, no. 4, 2015.
-
"Wiley Family Housing Struggle," Joshua Binus, Oregon History Project, Oregon Historical Society, 2004.
Parkrose and East County Organizations: