Aletha Chavis Oral History Interview (1 of 2)

Aletha Chavis opens this interview by reflecting on her early childhood and the houses she grew up in. She places particular emphasis on the importance of her neighborhood and her community in how she grew up. She then recalls how her parents came to Oregon from Barbados, and how her parents met. She then goes on to reflect on her experiences in school, and the racism she often faced as the only Black student in her class. Chavis remarks how she was usually untroubled or unaware of other people’s racism, and rarely let it affect her. She then discusses her time at Vanport Junior College and the race relations on campus. She then talks about her time working as a nursing aide for disabled children, and her frustration that no one wanted to help the children become more self-sufficient.

Chavis then reflects on her time at the Oregon College of Education, where she was forced to live off-campus because there were no other people of color on campus to live with her. She then goes on to talk about her experiences student teaching, and early experiences working as a teacher in Portland, particularly the racism she faced as the only Black teacher at her school. She then goes into detail about the social dancing scene in Portland at the time, and how important dances were, as many other forms of entertainment were not open to Black people. She then goes on to talk about her experience moving to and living in Oakland, California.

Chavis takes a brief detour to discuss how her family was the only Black family in her church growing up, and how that affected her relationship with the church. She then recalls in detail her time after she married her husband, and how she spent years moving around constantly due to her husband’s Navy deployments. She particularly focuses on how she experienced race and racism differently in different parts of the county, especially the racism she faced in Beeville, Texas, and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She finishes her first interview by discussing how she moved back to Portland with her three daughters after divorcing her husband, and how teaching in Portland differed from teaching in other parts of the United States.

Aletha Chavis was born in Portland, Oregon in 1931. She grew up in Portland alongside her two brothers. Much of Chavis' working life was spent as a teacher, at one point serving on an advisory committee that worked with teachers and schools throughout Portland to improve educational outcomes for Black students. In 1974, she completed her Master's degree in Administration from the University of Portland, which enabled her to become the Vice Principal of Grant High School, where she worked for nine years. Chavis was then invited by the superintendent of her school district to join the personnel department in the central office, which she did for one year before being promoted to director of the department. After nine years in this role, she retired in 1989. In her retirement, Chavis volunteered for the Oregon Visitor Information Center for 20 years, and also worked as a tour guide for the Portland Tourism Department.