Portland honors memory of city's first Black elected office holder
Read full article
February 15, 2021, 3:46 PM·8 min read
Feb. 15—Clifford "Kippy" Richardson was always on the move.
As a young boy, he held several jobs as a newspaper carrier, a barbershop cleaner and a shoe-shiner. He was a standout track-and-field athlete at Portland High School in the 1940s. And as an adult, he ran a successful cleaning business with his brother, while being heavily involved in civic groups, whether it was local Little League, track-and-field club, Special Olympics or the Kiwanis club.
In 1971, Richardson became the first Black person elected to a municipal office in Portland, serving two terms on the school committee before being elected to the City Council and then re-elected to the school board.