When Chisao Hata and Erica Naito-Campbell look at Portland’s Old Town neighborhood, they see the communities that have called it home since it came into being nearly 175 years ago.

They see Nihonmachi, or Japantown, which grew up in the 1890s around Japanese immigrants who came for railroad, farm and forest jobs.

They see Chinatown, which at the turn of the 20th century was one of the largest Chinatowns in the United States.

They see the early 20th-century hub of the Black community, the Golden West Hotel at Northwest Broadway and Everett streets.

They see Greek entrepreneurs opening businesses and sharing their culture. 

That rich history is informing a Sept. 28-Oct. 5 event series, “Coming Home,” which will honor and reconnect communities with deep ties to Old Town. The event series is hosted by Portland nonprofit Vanport Mosaic, which preserves and celebrates the histories of underrepresented communities. 

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Listen to “Coming Home” to Portland’s Old Town,
Dmae Lo Roberts’ Stage & Studio podcast conversation
with Chisao Hata and Roberta Wong about memory activism.

“Coming Home” is part of the first-ever national Cultural Week of Action on Race and Democracy. Organizers from the national nonprofits Race Forward and Americans for the Arts chose 14 anchor projects, from more than 375 applicants, to receive funding for work that addresses diversity and interconnectedness. “Coming Home” received $40,000, said Hata, a performing artist and community organizer who is directing the event series.

The goal of “Coming Home” is to secure Old Town’s cultural significance in Portland’s past, present and future through what Vanport Mosaic calls “memory activism.” Hata defined memory activism as “remembering and uplifting the histories that are often omitted.” 

“It’s not just to say, ‘Remember the past,’ but it’s how does the past activate and motivate and inspire actions today,” Hata said. 

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To that end, Vanport Mosaic is working with seven partner organizations to present exhibits, community art projects, walking tours, roundtable discussions and more. Each partner has a space in the “Coming Home” hub on the sixth floor of the 220 Building, on Northwest Second Avenue between Davis and Everett streets. The hub will also host a group exhibit of more than two dozen artists, organized by Portland artist, curator and arts advocate Roberta Wong. 

Events will run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekends and noon to 5 p.m. weekdays, each focusing on a different aspect of community. “Senninbari” is an art project inspired by a Japanese tradition in which participants add knots to fabric as an act of solidarity and protection. “From Nana to Now” is a cross-generational conversation about the meaning of community. “Story Snacks” highlights five local chefs and the histories of their foods. “Reimagining Old Town” will feature community leaders and members sharing their ideas for Old Town’s future and working toward a collective vision. 

Throughout the week, the Japanese American Museum of Oregon and Oregon Black Pioneers will lead walking tours. A “Discovery Zone” will offer activities for all ages. A viewing station will run videos featuring community members’ stories.

It’s an ambitious event series, Hata acknowledged. “I just felt like everything was important to do,” she said. “And there may be different qualities that draw different people for different reasons. I think if we can bring some people down to Old Town that maybe have said, ‘I’m not ever going down there again,’ or help people understand what the history is and was, it would be well worth the effort that we’re putting into it.”

The “Reimagining Old Town” discussion will include Erica Naito-Campbell, a member of the Naito family, which has been prominent in Oregon’s business, civic and philanthropic circles for decades. She’ll be speaking about the history of Old Town and the role that her grandfather Bill Naito and great-uncle Sam Naito played in saving it and resurrecting it, as told in her 2024 book “Portland’s Audacious Champion.”

Naito-Campbell sees“Coming Home” as vital to preserving the neighborhood’s history, particularly given a project under way to turn part of Old Town into a footwear and apparel manufacturing campus called Made in Old Town. 

“I read through the proposal, and it doesn’t mention once that it’s a historic district,” Naito-Campbell said. “It doesn’t say anything about trying to maintain the character of the district.”

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Old Town “holds the history of almost every community of color that has come through Oregon, and so to just flippantly say we’re going to take all the buildings and make this little fantasy sneaker world is really an act of racism,” Naito-Campbell said. “It’s an act of erasure.”

Hopefully, “Coming Home” draws enough attention that “we flip the narrative and we take ownership of it,” she said.

Hata also would like to see more awareness of Old Town’s diverse past, especially among city officials.

“I just want to say to the elected officials that if they don’t know this history, shame on them, and this is their city’s history,” Hata said. “They should know the history, and they should become actively involved in preserving, protecting and honoring the cultural histories that are … rooted in historic Old Town.”