Exposed concrete slabs and metal anchor points where seats had been bolted are all that remain of the Vanport Theater, once the hub of community and leisure in the World War II-era housing development.
"From what we can see of the slab and also with the historical photos, we're guessing that the front of the theater was facing this way," said Portland State anthropology senior Jenaya Wallace, pointing in the direction of what is now the Portland International Raceway. To the left in the distance, golfers could be seen at Heron Lakes Golf Course. "We're just trying to get our contemporary bearings with what might've been here."
Wallace is among a group of PSU students, faculty and community partners — archaeologists, historians, land-use planners — doing archaeological surveys and interviews with former Vanport residents to capture the historical and cultural significance of the theater as part of an effort to list the site on the National Register of Historic Places.
Shipbuilder Henry Kaiser created Vanport in the early days of World War II because he needed a place where his employees and their families could live. By 1943, the population peaked at about 40,000 people, making it the second largest city in Oregon at the time before it was washed away in the catastrophic flood of May 1948. Portland State got its start at the site as Vanport Extension Center, so it's only fitting that PSU students and alumni are now leading this effort.
"We're telling a story that isn't just about the flood," said Dave Ellis MPA '92, senior archaeologist and president emeritus of Willamette Cultural Resources Associates. "It's not to dismiss that, but that's not the only story out there."
During Vanport's peak, the 750-seat theater was open 24/7. Kids and adults alike would have frequented the theater to watch the double features, get up to speed on the war with newsreels or simply socialize.
That's why the project, dubbed the Vanport Archaeological Memory Project, is as much about documenting the concrete remnants as it is about capturing the memories of the former residents.
"Seeing as how we're nearing a point where there isn't going to be anyone left who lived in Vanport, we thought it would be super exciting to look at Vanport using two lenses: through archaeology and through cultural anthropology where you're asking somebody about their memories of a certain place," said Kristen Minor, a preservation planner and project co-lead. "Not only is the theater one of the few places at Vanport that has an archaeology remnant — the slab is still there and visible — but it's also a place of community where a lot of people would have gone."
The group hopes to interview at least 10 former residents — all of whom were kids when they lived there — as well as comb through oral histories that the Oregon Historical Society recorded with flood survivors in 1998 to capture more adult memories. They are also floating the idea of inviting former residents to the site to see if the experience of being back there, as different as it looks, evokes any memories.
On a recent day, a trio of anthropology student interns took measurements of the site as they tried to match landscape markers — dead tree, living tree, shrub line, water utility pump — with the interior floor plan of the 750-seat theater to create a sketch map. The concrete extends underneath the grass, so the group might return another time with ground-penetrating radar or magnetometers to try to get a more complete footprint of the theater.
Architectural historian Tanya March PhD '10 showed the group photos of other theaters in the area that had been built during the same time with near-identical blueprints: one on N. Columbia Boulevard that was also destroyed during the flood, one on Swan Island and one at the Hudson House dorm complex in Vancouver.
March, who is research director of the concurrent Vanport Placemarking Project, designed panels that will be installed at the site to share more of Vanport's history with the community. Plans are also in the works for audio boxes to both provide information for visually impaired individuals and share the interviews; an augmented reality app that will overlay Vanport structures over the current landscape to give visitors the experience of seeing what Vanport looked like; an artistic sculpture to convey the theme of "People Who Lived Here;" and possible quarterly tours of the site.
Shelby Larson, a senior anthropology major, said she jumped at the chance to get real-world archaeological experience as an undergrad but has also come to appreciate the multidisciplinarity of the project.
"It's been great to work on a team with all different people with different backgrounds," she said. "Whether it's the archaeological angle, the historical angle or the architectural angle, it's all important."
Wallace said the project has been a valuable learning experience, even if at times daunting.
"Getting to do something that's preserving memories and keeping this whole story and narrative of a lot of people who aren't with us anymore and capturing this snapshot in time is special," she said. "You want to get it right. You want to do right by the people and their histories and experiences."
And this project is just the start.
"We start with the theater … but we want to build on that to look at all of Vanport in the broader social and cultural context for Indigenous people, Euro Americans, the Black community, Chinese and Japanese populations," Ellis said. "We want to contribute to a more inclusive history of Portland."