More
See all Show me
Vanport City was born out of WWII as the Oregon Shipbuilding Company rushed to provide housing for the influx of workers in the shipyards. By 1943 it was the second-largest city in Oregon and remains the largest government housing project in U.S. History. In 1948 the Columbia River Dike broke and wiped out the entire city in a massive flood. This film explores the flood and Vanport City and its impact on the city of Portland.

This is the near-final version going to DVD. Those living in Oregon can see it aired on OPB's Independent Lens every now and again. Comments/Suggestions welcome!

Credits

5 Likes

  • Mark Dahl 2 years ago
    Excellent work - I've been wanting to see this for a while, so I'm glad you posted it here.
  •  
  • Chelsea 2 years ago
    NICE! Great job. I never even knew about Vanport...pretty cool topic and great way to put it together. Makes me want to make another documentary!
  •  
  • Luke Ross 2 years ago
    Really well done. I live in Beaverton, and also had no idea that vanport even existed..

    Thanks!!
  •  
  • Lawrence Johnson plus 2 years ago
    Hey are you from PDX? I see you like guitar!
  • Brian Van Peski plus 2 years ago
    Grew up in San Diego and went to school at UO, now I'm living in Portland. I do like guitar and really should practice more instead of fiddling around every now and again.
  •  
  • Phil Carpenter plus 1 year ago
    Good stuff Brian. Very nice indeed!
  • Brian Van Peski plus 1 year ago
    Thanks man! Appreciate it!
  •  
  • Ivy Lin 1 year ago
    Nicely done, Brian.
    I've been wanting to see this...surprised there are not more documentaries about Vanport. I had no idea it had such an impact on Portland's diversity, or I should say the lack of it. Thanks for making this doc.
  • Brian Van Peski plus 1 year ago
    Thanks for the kind words. I'm surprised how many native Oregonians know little or nothing about Vanport. The few that do are usually the grandparents to our generation.
  •  
  • Charles Oundo 9 months ago
    Brian I live in northern Ireland, I feel the documentary was really well done even if I don't know where Vanport is.Nice one
  •  
  • Dark Emerald 7 months ago
    Excellent documentary. I knew about Vanport because I'm a native of NE Portland and it's something you kind of pick up, but I certainly didn't learn about it in school. You've compiled some great archival footage with some really wonderful "talking head" footage to form a cohesive story about the history of race relations in Portland, and the result would be required viewing in middle-school classrooms around the region. Great work.
  •  
This conversation is missing your voice. Take five seconds to join Vimeo or log in.

Advertisement

2 Related collections

Channels Channels
Albums Albums

Statistics

  •  
    plays
    likes
    comments
  • Total
    plays 783
    likes 6
    comments 11
  • Nov 27th
    plays 0
    likes 0
    comments 0
  • Nov 26th
    plays 0
    likes 0
    comments 0
  • Nov 25th
    plays 1
    likes 0
    comments 0
  • Nov 24th
    plays 0
    likes 0
    comments 0
  • Nov 23rd
    plays 1
    likes 0
    comments 0
  • Nov 22nd
    plays 0
    likes 0
    comments 0
  • Nov 21st
    plays 0
    likes 0
    comments 0
  • Nov 20th
    plays 0
    likes 0
    comments 0
Previous Week

Downloads

Please join Vimeo or log in to download the original file. It only takes a few seconds.