Growing Up African American in Wallowa County, Oregon

Abstract

In this Oregon Voices piece, Pearl Alice Marsh reflects on growing up African American in eastern Oregon — recalling childhood memories she describes as “warm and delicious,” but also included “hurtful encounters with racism.” Marsh's parents moved to Wallowa County in 1939 when her father sought work cutting timber for one of the region's lumber companies. Many of her childhood remembrances told in this essay include her experience in a lumber town and the interactions between white and African American families. Marsh attributes her strength and character to her mother and father “who challenged racial barriers that might have impeded [her] way.” Her story is an important part of Oregon's contentions history with African Americans and part of a “national story of growing up African American outside the Jim Crow South.”