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
 
                 Senate Concurrent Resolution 4
 
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 as
introduced.
 
  In memoriam: Otto Goodwin Rutherford, 1911-2000.
 
                      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 NAACP
when a landmark civil rights bill was passed by the Oregon
legislature in 1953 and when he and his wife 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; 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. Rutherford, we gratefully acknowledge
his devotion to social justice in Oregon and we express our
appreciation for the rich legacy he leaves to the state; and be
it further
  Resolved, That a copy of this resolution shall be presented to
Verdell Burdine Rutherford, his wife of 64 years and his partner
in the NAACP's struggle for equal rights.
                         ----------