Stella Maris House collection

Collection

Identifier: Mss 1585

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

With materials ranging in date from 1940 to 1973, the Stella Maris House collection consists of printed material, correspondence, and administrative, financial, and legal records created and collected by the Portland, Oregon-based social justice group during the course of its work. The collection demonstrates the local evolution of social issues key to the history of the United States during the 1960s. Over a third of the collection's content is dedicated to Oregon's migrant labor rights movement, and it also features records documenting the area's civil rights movement, urban renewal projects, interstate highway infrastructure, and social welfare programs initiated by the Economic Opportunity Act.

The bulk of the collection consists of printed material created by local and national organizations between 1960 and 1972, then collected by the Stella Maris House. This portion of the collection includes programs, reports, studies, surveys, correspondence, brochures, and flyers generated by civil rights, migrant rights, and peace movement groups. Items of note include the Albina Neighborhood Improvement Project's plans for urban redevelopment (Series 2), an African-American employment survey conducted by the Metropolitan Interfaith Commission on Race (Series 5), and records documenting the Housing Authority of Portland (Series 9). The collection also features printed material created by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (Series 5), the Valley Migrant League (Series 10), and the United Farm Workers (Series 10). Newspaper clippings that document events important to social justice movements also constitute a substantial part of the collection.

A small but significant portion of the collection was created by the staff members of the Stella Maris House; this includes notes by staff documenting the meetings of local groups. These meeting notes often provide candid insights into the workings of area groups. Stella Maris House staff members also contributed group and program histories to the collection.

Dates

1940-1973
Majority of material found within 1960-1972

Creator

Stella Maris House (Portland, Or.) (Compiler, Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.

Administrative history

The Stella Maris House, a lay Roman Catholic social justice group based in Portland, Oregon, was founded in 1951. Funded by charitable donations, the group maintained a small staff that included director Mary C. Rowland, Irene Chavin, and Jim Guinan. The group sought to enact change through close community involvement; consequently, it established headquarters inside neighborhoods it wished to serve. The group's Portland headquarters were located at 208 NE Weidler until the mid-1960s, when they moved to 3106 NE 11th.

The storefront facility soon branched out from the work of the Catholic Interracial Apostolate to include many educational and social causes, such as education and child care, urban renewal, and housing and employment equality. In cooperation with the Valley Migrant League, the Stella Maris House became particularly involved with improving the living conditions of migrant workers during the 1960s. The group worked with numerous additional organizations, including the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Albina Citizens War on Poverty Committee (ACWOPC), the Metropolitan Interfaith Commission on Race (MICOR), the Albina Neighborhood Council, the U.S. Office for Economic Opportunity (OEO), the National Urban League, and dozens of small, locally based groups.

The Stella Maris House closed in the early 1970s.

Extent

10.98 Cubic Feet (31 document cases)

Language of Materials

English

Spanish; Castilian

Additional Description

Abstract

The collection consists of printed material, correspondence, and administrative, financial, and legal records created and collected by the Stella Maris House, a Portland, Oregon-based social justice group, during the course of its work. The collection demonstrates the local evolution of issues key to the history of the United States during the 1960s. Over a third of the collection is dedicated to Oregon's migrant labor rights movement; it also features materials documenting the area's civil rights movement, urban renewal projects, interstate highway infrastructure, and social welfare programs initiated by the Economic Opportunity Act.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged alphabetically in 12 series:

Series 1: ADC Association, 1961-1970
Series 2: Albina, 1948-1973
Series 3: Church-Community Action Program (C-CAP), 1965-1970
Series 4: Civic groups, 1958-1970
Series 5: Civil rights groups, 1940-1970
Series 6: Education, 1946-1969
Series 7: Employment, 1949-1968
Series 8: Freeway relocation, 1958-1967
Series 9: Housing, 1947-1970
Series 10: Migrants, 1951-1971
Series 11: Poverty, 1964-1970
Series 12: Publications, 1957-1971

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Stella Maris House, April 1971 (Lib. Acc. 11918).

Existence and Location of Copies

Five documents by the Urban League of Portland and the Portland NAACP are viewable online in OHS Digital Collections.

Related Materials

Related collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library include the Valley Migrant League photographs, Org. Lot 74, and the Valley Migrant League records, Coll 30.

Processing Information

During processing, original series titles and folder names were maintained with few exceptions. A small series of items documenting the Model Cities program was integrated into the larger housing series, and a scrapbook prepared by staff at the Stella Maris House was moved into the freeway relocation series. The original order has also largely been maintained. However, within the series, folders containing large numbers of records from other social justice groups have been separated into smaller groupings by organization.

In March 2024, minor revisions were made to the collection guide to conform to current standard.