71st OREGON LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY--2001 Regular Session
 
NOTE:  Matter within  { +  braces and plus signs + } in an
amended section is new. Matter within  { -  braces and minus
signs - } is existing law to be omitted. New sections are within
 { +  braces and plus signs + } .
 
 LC 2723
 
                           A-Engrossed
 
                 Senate Concurrent Resolution 4
                 Ordered by the Senate March 30
           Including Senate Amendments dated March 30
 
Sponsored by Senator GORDLY
 
 
                             SUMMARY
 
The following summary is not prepared by the sponsors of the
measure and is not a part of the body thereof subject to
consideration by the Legislative Assembly. It is an editor's
brief statement of the essential features of the measure.
 
  In memoriam: Otto Goodwin Rutherford, 1911-2000 { + , and
Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford, 1913-2001 + }.
 
                      CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
  Whereas Otto G. Rutherford was an organizer and community
leader in the tradition of A. Philip Randolph and Ida
B. Wells-Barnett; and
  Whereas Otto G. Rutherford was the oldest Oregon-born African
American at the time of his death and labored throughout his life
to advance civil rights in the State of Oregon; and
  Whereas Otto G. Rutherford provided leadership for the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People when a landmark
civil rights bill was passed by the Oregon legislature in 1953
and when he and his wife, Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford, housed
the NAACP Federal Credit Union in their home; and
  Whereas Otto G. Rutherford was a pioneer in the struggle for
industrial labor rights, organized workers at the Dehen Knitting
Company to establish Local 901 of the Amalgamated Clothing
Worker's Union and, as the first black employee at the company,
secured benefits and safety standards for all workers; and
  Whereas Otto G. Rutherford was also a champion for the needs of
elders, serving as the first executive director of the Urban
League's Senior Adult Service Center, now known as the Northeast
Multicultural Senior Center; and
  Whereas Otto G. Rutherford served in many capacities in
community organizations, serving as Exalted Ruler of the Billy
Webb Lodge, as a 32nd degree Mason of the Prince Hall
Affiliation, as a charter member and president of North Central
YMCA and as a lifelong member of Bethel African Methodist
Episcopal Church; and
  Whereas Otto G. Rutherford was described by former Oregon
Senator Mark O. Hatfield as 'gentle as a dove for peace, fierce
as a warrior for justice'; and
  Whereas Otto G. Rutherford's significant role in the history of
Oregon is acknowledged and he was featured in 'Local Color, ' an
Oregon Public Broadcasting program about the history of African
Americans in Portland; and
 
  Whereas Otto G. Rutherford was a progressive thinker and always
an outspoken proponent of equal rights and social justice; and
  Whereas Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford (born Annie Florence V.
Burdine) was born in Wainwright, Oklahoma, on January 1, 1913;
and
  Whereas Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford's family, resolving to
move as far west as possible after a tornado destroyed their
home, moved to Bend, Oregon, when Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford
was nine months old, to obtain land under the Homestead Act; and
  Whereas upon discovering after their arrival in Bend that
African Americans were prohibited from receiving land under the
Act, the family settled in Marshfield, Oregon, now known as Coos
Bay, for seven years; and
  Whereas Verdell and Otto's romance lasted a lifetime--they were
seven and nine years old, respectively, when they met in
Portland, they married on Easter Sunday, April 12, 1936, in
Oakland, California, and they later returned to Portland to start
their family; and
  Whereas Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford lived an active
community life and volunteered her time freely and often; and
  Whereas Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford was a lifelong member of
the NAACP and served as Secretary of the Portland Branch from the
late 1940s to 1962; and
  Whereas Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford produced thousands of
leaflets and flyers that helped to ensure the passage of landmark
civil rights legislation in 1953; and
  Whereas Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford was elected secretary
and treasurer of the newly formed NAACP Federal Credit Union in
1957; and
  Whereas Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford was the first secretary
of the Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1959 to
1962; and
  Whereas Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford was a member of the
Northeast Portland YMCA board, the Parent Teacher Association,
the Urban League and the Oregon Association of Colored Women's
Clubs; and
  Whereas Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford was recognized as the
Woman of the Year in 1958 by the Oregon Association of Colored
Women's Clubs, an affiliate of the National Association of
Colored Women's Clubs; and
  Whereas Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford considered herself a
local historian and her greatest interest was her collection of
newspaper and magazine articles chronicling the stories of people
of African descent, which have been displayed at local and
national events; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of
  Oregon:
  That we, the members of the Seventy-first Legislative Assembly,
honor the memory of Otto G. and Verdell Ann Burdine Rutherford,
we gratefully acknowledge their devotion to social justice in
Oregon and we express our appreciation for the rich legacy they
leave to the state; and be it further
  Resolved, That a copy of this resolution shall be presented to
Charlotte Rutherford, their daughter.
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