On June 13, Oregon state Senator Avel Gordly offered the
following remarks at the 50th Anniversary Commemoration of the
Oregon Public Accommodations Act: – In 1844, the first of what
would be known as the 'Exclusion Laws' was passed in this state,
prohibiting slavery but requiring all blacks to leave the
territory within three years.1 – In 1849, a bill allowing black
settlers and their children to stay, but preventing others from
moving into the state, became law.2 – In 1851, Jacob Vanderpool,
a Salem businessman, was arrested and expelled from the state
for the crime of being a black Oregon resident. – In 1857, . . .
the voters approved a black exclusion clause as part of the
Oregon Constitution, a law that remained until 1926. – In 1862,
the Legislative Assembly added two additional exclusion laws,
one charging blacks a poll tax, and the other prohibiting
marriage between black and white Oregonians. – In 1919, an
effort began to pass a law making discrimination in public
accommodations illegal in this state