Mid-Willamette Valley residents are celebrating Juneteenth, commemorating the day when the last enslaved people in the United States learned they were free.
On Juneteenth, Portland will host a new black rodeo charlotteobserver.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from charlotteobserver.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
From fur trappers and explorers to farmers and merchants, African-Americans have helped shape the state, even as white settlers tried to force them out. "Oregon Experience" examines the largely unknown history of Oregon’s black pioneers.