Join us for two weeks of memory activism to remember, repair, reclaim, and reimagine our collective story.

Schedule of Events:

May 16, 2025

7:30 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

May 17, 2025

7:30 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

7:30 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

11:00 AM – 1:30 PM - Annual Reunion for Vanport Residents, Flood Survivors & Descendants
Location: Alberta House

Private event by invitation only

May 18, 2025

2:00 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

11:00 AM - Malcolm X Day – Power to the People: Black Panthers Walking Tour

Join Kent Ford, co-founder of Portland’s Black Panther Party, for a powerful walking tour through NE Portland. Listen as he shares personal memories of revolutionary activism and community organizing that continue to inspire today's movements for justice.

Location: Starts in the parking lot of Matt Dishman Community Center

1:00 PM – 3:00 PM - Celebrating 10 Years of Memory Activism – Open House

Join us for an afternoon of storytelling, celebration, and community celebrating a decade of memory activism.

Location: Alberta House

May 20, 2025

8:00 AM – 12:00 PM - Fasten Your Seat Belts... It's Been a Bumpy Ride

Location: Starts/Ends at Alberta House

Learn about Portland housing discrimination history on this popular bus tour by the Fair Housing Council of Oregon.

Vanport: A Surge of Social Change – A curated collection exploring Vanport’s lasting legacy.

The Climate Refugees of Vanport – Paintings by Henk Pander.

Beyond Vanport: Remembering Native North Portland – Artwork by Peggy Ball-Morrill.

Buckman 3rd Grade Posters – Student reflections on Vanport’s history.

Alberta House · Open Gallery Hours

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

May 21, 2025

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM - The Spirit of Vanport

Join the PSU Office of Diversity and Global Inclusion and the Vanport Mosaic for a celebration of Portland State’s origins as Vanport College and its place in the rich history of Vanport, honoring Vanport’s former residents, survivors, and descendants. This is also an opportunity to see the permanent Vanport Mosaic installation in the lobby of the building.

Location: Vanport Building, 1810 SW 5th Ave.

6:00 PM – 7:30 PM - Oregon Racial History

Dr. Raymond Douglas Chong discusses the racial history of Oregon, spanning from its territorial days to statehood and into the early twenty-first century.

Location: Alberta House

May 22, 2025

7:30 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

10:00 AM – 2:00 PM - Global Water Dance Workshop

This participatory workshop introduces the Global Water Dances initiative and teaches choreography for the local performance. The dance honors Vanport’s legacy of resilience and uses movement as a form of memory activism.

Location: PSU Vanport Building, Room 262

May 23, 2025

7:30 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

May 24, 2025

7:30 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

10:00 AM – 3:00 PM - Youth Archivist Program

Led by: Michael Stevenson

The Youth Archivists, a Vanport Mosaic after-school program led by Michael J. Stevenson, invite students, faculty, alumni, and community members to stop by, share memories, and be scanned for the growing Jefferson archive—all while viewing the project’s progress.

Drop-in participation encouraged!

Location: Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA)

10:00 AM – 12:00 PM - Black History Walking Tour

Join Oregon Black Pioneers for a guided walking tour through Portland's historically-Black Albina neighborhood!

Location: Dawson Park

6:00 – 9:00 PM - Lost City, Living Memories: Vanport Through the Voices of Its Residents

Screening of short oral history documentaries from the Vanport Mosaic collection, featuring special guests from the Vanport community. With a live musical performance by the Northwest Freedom Singers.

Location: Alberta House

Learn about Portland housing discrimination history on this popular bus tour by the Fair Housing Council of Oregon.

Vanport: A Surge of Social Change – A curated collection exploring Vanport’s lasting legacy.

The Climate Refugees of Vanport – Paintings by Henk Pander.

Beyond Vanport: Remembering Native North Portland – Artwork by Peggy Ball-Morrill.

Buckman 3rd Grade Posters – Student reflections on Vanport’s history.

Alberta House · Open Gallery Hours

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

May 25, 2025

2:00 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

May 27, 2025

Vanport: A Surge of Social Change – A curated collection exploring Vanport’s lasting legacy.

The Climate Refugees of Vanport – Paintings by Henk Pander.

Beyond Vanport: Remembering Native North Portland – Artwork by Peggy Ball-Morrill.

Buckman 3rd Grade Posters – Student reflections on Vanport’s history.

Alberta House - Open Gallery Hours

3:00 PM – 5:00 PM

May 28, 2025

6:00 – 8:00 PM - "Not a Fad or Frill": A Love Letter to Vanport’s Music Teachers

Public historian and ethnomusicologist Kelly Bosworth shares findings from years of archival research on the music of Vanport, focusing on the groundbreaking contributions of music educators Mrs. Ada Wood and Mrs. Martha Jordan.

Location: Alberta House

May 29, 2025

7:30 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

6:00 PM - Taking Memories

A new staged reading created by Dr. Raina Croff culled from over 400 walking oral history narratives on Black life and aging in Portland, collected through the Sharing History through Active Reminiscence and Photo-imagery study (SHARP)

Location: Alberta House

Vanport: A Surge of Social Change – A curated collection exploring Vanport’s lasting legacy.

The Climate Refugees of Vanport – Paintings by Henk Pander.

Beyond Vanport: Remembering Native North Portland – Artwork by Peggy Ball-Morrill.

Buckman 3rd Grade Posters – Student reflections on Vanport’s history.

Alberta House - Open Gallery Hours

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

May 30, 2025

7:30 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

May 31, 2025

7:30 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

12:00 – 4:00 PM - Vanport Day of Remembrance

The afternoon features walking tours, performances, and pop-up exhibits on the Indigenous land where Vanport once stood and where nearly 4,000 Japanese Americans were unjustly incarcerated.

Location: Delta Park, Expo Center/Assembly Center

June 1, 2025

2:00 PM - Precipice: re-membering, forgetting, and claiming home

A Vanport Mosaic theatrical production conceived and performed by Damaris Webb and presented by Third Rail Repertory Theater. Written by Chris Gonzalez & directed by Olivia Mathews.

Location: CoHo Theatre

3:00 – 6:00 PM - The Portland Assembly Center / We Are Still Here

Resonance Ensemble and Vanport Mosaic present an immersive site-specific performance of music, theatre, and movement, featuring the award-winning voices of Resonance Ensemble, choral music curated and conducted by Shohei Kobayashi, the world premiere of a new work by acclaimed composer Kenji Bunch, and the Portland Assembly Center Project by Chisao Hata, co-directed by Heath Hyun Houghton.

Location: Expo Center / Assembly Center

Date: May 16 - June 1, 2025

Location: Various Venues in Portland, OR

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