A fascinating new exhibit opens today (January 15) at Oregon Historical Society (OHS). All Aboard! Railroading and Portland’s Black Community, centers around the work and lives of African American railroaders, porters, and the community that grew up around Portland’s Union Station from the late 1800s to the 1940s.

Railroad and hotel workers were essential to forming Portland’s small, thriving African American community, which began to blossom prior to World War II. The exhibit, in partnership with Oregon Black Pioneers, runs until April 21.

Artifacts on display include uniforms and clothing worn by Black railroad workers during the late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century, historical documents about Black-owned businesses, early Black churches and other social institutions during that era.

OHS offers highly interactive components to all their exhibitions, and All Aboard! features video consoles, remnants of Portland’s Black newspapers from as early as 1896, a Pullman Porter and a platform backdrop of the Union Pacific’s Portland Rose.

This exhibit is a must-see for Oregon history buffs, scholars, railroad geeks and individuals and families interested in the African-American story.OHS is a core partner of the Cultural Trust and receives annual funding from the Trust for its educational programming and access for young people.

Oregon Historical Society is one of the Trust’s five statewide partners, receiving an annual grant to support editional programming and access for young people. Over 70 busloads of schoolchildren come to its Portland facility eacy year, where they experience interactive and exciting exhibitions of Northwest history.

Cultural Trust partners Oregon Heritage Commission and Oregon Humanities also provided funding for this exhibit.