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
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 LC 3045
 
                           A-Engrossed
 
                 Senate Concurrent Resolution 5
                 Ordered by the Senate March 20
           Including Senate Amendments dated March 20
 
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.
 
  Honors Robert Ford for his dedication to educating Oregon's
students.
 
                      CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
  Whereas Robert Ford was born on August 17, 1906, in Oklahoma to
parents who were born into slavery; and
  Whereas Robert Ford finished high school in 1926 and decided to
become a teacher; and
  Whereas, after working for five years in New York City to earn
money for college, Robert Ford attended and graduated cum laude
from Morgan College, now known as Morgan State University; and
  Whereas Robert Ford moved to Vanport, Oregon, in 1942 after a
student told him about the high pay for wartime shipyard workers;
and
  Whereas Robert Ford, after working as a welder in the Kaiser
shipyards in Vancouver, Washington, until they closed, was hired
in 1945 by the Portland School District as its first African
American teacher and was assigned to the former Eliot Elementary
School; and
  Whereas Robert Ford became the first African American high
school teacher in the district when he transferred to Roosevelt
High School in 1952; and
  Whereas, during his public school teaching career, Robert Ford
wrote several plays, offering many students their first
theatrical opportunities and coaching a racially integrated drama
group at Knott Street Center; and
  Whereas Robert Ford taught for 27 years and was honored as
Teacher of the Year by the Portland Association of Teachers in
1970; and
  Whereas a wing of the King Neighborhood Facility in Portland,
Oregon, was dedicated to Robert Ford in 1985; and
  Whereas Robert Ford was honored as an Oregon Northwest Black
Pioneer in 1994 for his dedication to African American students;
and
  Whereas the African American community and all Oregonians lost
a teacher, mentor and pioneer when Robert Ford passed away on
February 13, 2001; and
 
  Whereas Robert Ford is survived by his stepdaughter, Bobbie
Jean Nunn; and
  Whereas Robert Ford's impact on Oregon will continue for future
decades thanks to his training of at least 25 students who became
teachers; 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 Robert Ford's legacy and celebrate his inspiration,
commitment to the education of Oregon's young people and
betterment of the State of Oregon.
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