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NOTICES
OREGON HISTORICAL SOCIETY RESEARCH LIBRARY
recently acquired and processed collections
| Cicero H. Lewis Collection |
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The Oregon Historical Society recently acquired the Cicero H. Lewis (1826–1897) Collection. Cicero H. Lewis, who was born in Cranbury, N.J., arrived in Portland in about 1851. With Lucius H. Allen, he operated a prominent Portland and West Coast wholesale merchant house, Allen & Lewis. Lewis amassed a fortune in wheat speculation and, in the early 1880s, built a thirteen-room house. In 1857, he married Clementine Couch, the daughter of Portland notable Capt. John H. Couch. Lewis was active in numerous civic and promotional enterprises and helped incorporate the Oregon Central Railroad. The collection consists of approximately 137 manuscript letters that were sent by Lewis to his brother David C. Lewis, who lived in New Jersey. They primarily date from 1861 to 1883. The correspondence provides a wealth of information of early Portland from a settler with a pulse on the city's activity and growth. Lewis frequently comments on mining activities, such as West Coast shipments of gold and silver and quartz mining in Boise, as well as on new emigrants, development, and the Civil War.
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| Shepherd Family papers 1931–2002 |
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| Bill and Ann Shepherd became deeply committed to fighting for gay and lesbian civil rights in Portland, Oregon, after their daughter Susie came out to them in 1972. Bill was born July 25, 1913, in Portland, and became a respected general practice lawyer. Ann was born December 30, 1918, in Kansas City, Missouri, and had a background in journalism. Her family moved to Oregon in 1935, and she returned after college in 1940 to work in Oregon. Bill and Ann met in 1937. After rekindling their friendship in 1944, they were married in November 1945. |
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The Shepherds fought all anti-gay ballot measures and candidates in Oregon. In 1976, Bill Shepherd founded the Portland Town Council Legal Resource group, a prelude to the Oregon Gay and Lesbian Law Group, to ensure justice for sexual minorities. Also in 1976, Ann Shepherd was appointed to Oregon Governor Robert Straub's Task Force on Sexual Preference. The Shepherds spoke before church and civic groups to encourage parents and members to love and accept their gay and lesbian children. |
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During the 1960s, Bill wrote and produced award-winning television programs for the Oregon State Bar, and, during the 1980s, he began assisting physically disabled Oregonians in gaining greater independence by founding the Blanche Fischer Foundation. He was also an active member of the First Presbyterian Church, serving as elder, chair of the church's board of trustees, member of the Menucha Commission, and trustee of Holladay Park Plaza. Ann Shepherd was ordained an elder of the First Presbyterian Church in 1982, then deacon in 1995. She served on the board of Young Audiences and on the Community Advisory Committee of the Multnomah County Restitution Center. She was elected vice president in 1995, then president in 1998, of the Blanche Fischer Foundation. She participated in the demonstration at the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 2000. |
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In 1977, the Shepherds, with Charles and Rita Knapp, formed the Portland chapter of Parents of Gays, later affiliated with the national organization Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). Until his death in 1995, Bill Shepherd provided low-cost legal counsel to same-sex partners. Ann Shepherd "mothered" many gays and lesbians who had been rejected by their families and worked with concerned parents to better understand their children. |
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In 1985, the Shepherds received the Lucille Hart Award from the Right to Privacy political action committee. In 1997, Ann received the first Shepherd Award (named for her and her husband) from the Metropolitan Community Church, and Oregon Gay and Lesbian Law Association's Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, the Northwest district of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches awarded Ann its Human Rights Award, and, in December of that year, the Imperial Sovereign Rose Court invested Ann with the title of Immortal Legend of Diversity. In 2001, Ann Shepherd led Portland's Gay Pride Parade as Grand Marshal, and, also that year, she received the Vollum Humanitarian of the Year Award from the Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon. |
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The Shepherd's daughter Susan (Susie) Shepherd was born in 1949. She was educated at the University of Oregon (B.S., 1972) and also attended Portland State University and Stephens College in Columbia, Missouri. She was a volunteer for the V.I.S.T.A. program in Oklahoma in 1973 and 1974, taught school, and worked for various human rights and gay and lesbian organizations, including the Portland Town Council, and as a clerk for Judge Kathleen Nachtigal in Portland. In 1991, she married the artist K.T. Chase. |
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The collection consists of papers created by Bill and Ann Shepherd and their daughter Susan (Susie). There are three main groups of materials: personal correspondence, files from the Portland Town Council (PTC), and research files relating to various aspects of the struggle for lesbian and gay rights. Most materials date from the late 1970s and early 1980s, although there are scattered items from earlier and later periods. |
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Of special interest within the personal papers is correspondence between Susan Shepherd and her parents, including a large file of letters from Bill and Ann Shepherd to their daughter Susan, written while Susan was at college. Among the legislative files are research files and drafts for the Portland Town Council's "Legislative Guide to Gay Rights," produced in the late 1970s. Also included in this series is a fact sheet on homosexuality, texts of pro-gay resolutions, pamphlets for candidates and ballot measures, political articles, and letters to and from various government agencies and officials. The Portland Town Council materials document the group's activities in the late 1970s and include flyers, publications, and organizational files. |
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There are three series containing research and subject files, divided into series devoted to queer/gay related organizations, church and religious related materials, and general clippings. Of particular interest are newsletters of churches and religious groups, all of which document the response to the gay liberation movement by mainstream religious bodies in the U.S. Of interest among the general files are materials relating to the leather community. The collection ends with a small series of photographs, including images of Portland Pride parade of 2001, and a collage of images of Susan Shepherd. |
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