Burnside Community Council records

Collection

Identifier: Mss 6038

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

Unprocessed collection consisting of miscellaneous records of the Burnside Community Council, which provided services to unhoused and low-income people in Portland, Oregon, and operated a shelter called Baloney Joe's. The collection includes photographs and negatives that depict services and activities of the organization; people served by the organization and people living on the streets; and facilities and staff of Baloney Joe's. Materials also include issues of the publications Pipeline, Hobo News, and These Homeless Times, as well as notes and correspondence related to those publications.

Dates

Creation: 1969-1992
Creation: Majority of material found within 1972-1990

Creator

Burnside Community Council (Portland, Or.) (Organization)

Conditions Governing Access

Selected Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA) and workers' compensation records are restricted until 2040. All other materials are 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.

Adminstrative history

The Burnside Community Council was founded in 1972 in Portland, Oregon. The council acted as an agency serving people experiencing homelessness in Portland. It operated three shelters: Baloney Joe's; the West Women's Hotel and Emergency Shelter (later called the West Women's and Children's Shelter); and Ma's Community Inn. Baloney Joe's was established in 1978 by Michael Stoops (1950-2017), who had come to Portland in 1976 and became a leading member of the council's board. The council also ran a job placement program and a medical clinic. Starting in 1981, it ran the annual Hobo Parade (later renamed Parade for the Homeless) to bring awareness to the issue of homelessness in Portland.

In November 1987, the newspaper Willamette Week ran an article accusing Stoops of having had sex with teenage boys who were served by Baloney Joe's. Stoops denied any wrongdoing; three months later, he resigned from the council and left Portland. Facing financial difficulties, the council transferred management of its shelters to the Salvation Army in 1990 and subsequently dissolved.

Sources: Articles in the Oregonian: "Homeless Remain as BCC Sinks in Ocean of Troubles," July 1, 1990, page C8; "Sign Marks Changes at Burnside Shelter," December 14, 1990, page F1; obituary for Michael Stoops, May 2, 2017, page 3.

Extent

16 Cubic Feet (16 record cartons)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of the Burnside Community Council, care of Chuck Currie, November 1990 (Lib. Acc. 20265); gifts of Chuck Currie, July 2009 and May 2018 (Lib. Acc. 26796; Lib. Acc. 29280).

Related Materials

Additional issues of Hobo News and These Homeless Times are also held in periodicals collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.

Separated Materials

A commemorative brick and a racing baton were transferred to the Oregon Historical Society Museum Collections.

Materials from Lib. Acc. 26796 and Lib. Acc. 29280 that postdate the Burnside Community Council's dissolution or were wholly unrelated to the council were processed as the Chuck Currie papers, Coll 1090.

Processing Information

Collection was initially rehoused in archival folders before 2011, most likely in the early 1990s. Additions from Lib. Acc. 26796 were processed circa 2009. Entire collection, including additions donated in 2018, was processed and arranged by Jeffrey Hayes in 2025. Processing included rehousing papers into new folders. During processing, documents showing Social Security Numbers were either redacted or marked for restriction.