William McClendon was a writer, journalist, intellectual, activist, and jazz musician who was a prominent member of Portland’s civil rights community from 1938 until …

Oregon Encyclopedia

Although he hailed from the State of Washington, William O. Douglas represented the greater Pacific Northwest on the national stage as a U.S. Supreme Court …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William P. Overton was in Oregon fewer than three years, yet he made a mark on Oregon history. In May 1841, Overton and others from …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William Henderson Packwood was the youngest delegate to Oregon's Constitutional Convention in 1857 and became a versatile entrepreneur in the new state. A soldier, miner, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William Patton, the first general manager and executive director of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) in Ashland, believed that art is connective—that is, that …

Oregon Encyclopedia

At age twenty-seven, William Sargent Ladd was the youngest mayor to ever serve in Portland. Ladd is best known, however, for his business acumen, …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William S. U’Ren wielded enormous influence on American politics and played a major role in the formation of governmental policies in Oregon. A quiet and …

Oregon Encyclopedia

A brash, opportunistic cavalry officer with an explosive temper and a vindictive predilection for conflict with Indians, fellow officers, and foreign powers, Gen. William Selby …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William Stafford, one of America’s most widely read poets, was born in Hutchinson, Kansas, in 1914 to Ruby and Earl Ingersoll Stafford, the first of …

Oregon Encyclopedia

William “Bill” Naito was born in Portland in 1925. His parents, Hide and Fukiye, had emigrated in the 1910s from Japan, and Hide ran a …

Oregon Encyclopedia