Emanuel Hospital Relocation Files

Resource
A portion of a map from the Emanuel Hospital Urban Renewal project showing affected homes to be relocated serves as the background for a graphic. Text overlaid reads "Emanuel Hospital Relocation Files" in red and yellow.
The City of Portland Archives has scanned and published all available relocation files from the Emanuel Hospital Urban Renewal project, 1968-1975.

From the 1960s - early 1970s, Emanuel Hospital and the Portland Development Commission (PDC), with funding from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, worked to expand Emanuel Hospital through the heart of Albina - Portland's thriving Black neighborhood. The urban renewal project area encompassed 55.3 acres that included many businesses and nearly 300 homes. The families and businesses were relocated, breaking up a strong Black community and dispersing families. The project area was leveled, but then additional federal funding for the urban renewal project was not received, and the razed property sat vacant for decades. 

The City of Portland Archives has scanned all of PDC's relocation files for the affected families and businesses, and they are now available to download online. Each relocation file contains caseworkers’ interactions with the residents as they attempt to find replacement housing as well as details on assessments for their property. A full directory listing of each relocation file is below, and you can find all of the City Archives' materials related to the project through this link, including additional reports and studies, photographs, maps, and more.

Suggested resources for more information and context for the Emanuel Hospital Urban Renewal project:

City of Portland Archives Relocation Files, listed in alphabetical order:

Residents

Businesses

Statements about individuals, neighborhoods, or the condition of homes were the opinion of the caseworker and may have been motivated by the City of Portland’s goal to relocate or compensate affected residents. Views expressed in these files are not the views of the City of Portland Archives.

In adherence with Oregon Public Records law, the following information has been redacted from the relocation files for the Emanuel Hospital Expansion urban renewal project: social security numbers, juvenile police reports, and medical information made by a health professional (physician, nurse, etc.).

Some files in the Emanuel Hospital Expansion urban renewal project records have been further redacted beyond what is legally required to protect the privacy of affected families, many of whom are still alive and living in Portland today. Because these files are public record, the information redacted due to privacy concerns can still be viewed onsite in the research room at the Portland Archives and Records Center.

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