The organization that is today known as Oregon Black Pioneers was founded in Salem, Oregon, in August 1993. When Carole Davis, the newly hired Deputy Superintendent of Salem-Keizer Public Schools, relocated from Seattle, she was discouraged to learn that area schools were not teaching Oregon’s Black history. Inspired by a Seattle-based group called Northwest Black Pioneers, she invited community leaders Jackie Winters and David Burgess to discuss forming a sister organization in Oregon. Together they created the Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers (ONBP).
ONBP’s first program brought a Northwest Black Pioneers exhibit to Mission Mill Museum (today Willamette Heritage Center). Soon after, ONBP produced three brief publications on Oregon’s Black history and debuted a scholarship program for local students. A Board of Directors was established in the summer of 1994 with Willie B. Richardson and Johnny Lake as co-chairs. ONBP received tax-exempt status in November 1995.
After Richardson resigned from the Board in 1996, the organization was mostly inactive. That changed in 2004, when Richardson, with a renewed vision for what the organization could accomplish, approached Jackie Winters and asked to take possession of ONBP’s files and records. Winters agreed, and the two began the process of reestablishing the organization’s operations.
Under Richardson’s leadership, ONBP reactivated its 501(c)(3) status and built a new Board of Directors. This began a period of intensive, research-focused activities, including presentations on the Black history of Salem, the Willamette Valley, and eventually the entire State of Oregon. In 2007, the group erected a headstone at the Salem Pioneer Cemetery honoring over 40 members of Salem’s 19th-century Black community interred there, most in unmarked graves.
The group’s research efforts, led by Board Member Gwen Carr, culminated in the publication of its first book, Perseverance: A History of African Americans in Oregon’s Marion and Polk Counties, in 2011. Board Member Kimberly S. Moreland wrote a second book, Images of America: African Americans of Portland, published in 2013. In between, Oregon Northwest Black Pioneers rebanded, dropping “Northwest” from its name and becoming known simply as Oregon Black Pioneers (OBP).
OBP’s relationship with Oregon Historical Society had been invaluable to OBP’s research, and the growing relationship between the organizations resulted in four exhibits installed at its museum in Portland: Perseverance: Blacks Around Oregon (2011); All Aboard! Railroading and Portland’s Black Community (2013); A Community on the Move (2015); and Racing to Change: Oregon’s Civil Rights Years (2018).
In July 2020, OBP hired Zachary Stocks as its Executive Director and first paid staff member. COVID-19 challenged the organization to move programming online. OBP created a new website and social media presence, and produced a number of digital learning resources like History Maps, lesson plans, and a radio show and podcast called The Register.
When in-person gatherings resumed in 2021, the organization hosted outdoor history hikes and a bus tour of Black historic sites on the North Oregon Coast. That same year, OBP became a partner of the Letitia Carson Legacy Project, a cooperative project with Oregon State University and other nonprofits to elevate the story of one of Oregon’s first Black woman settlers and preserve her original 19th-century homestead.
Meanwhile, OBP entered a new leadership phase. Longtime Board members Gwen Carr and Willie Richardson retired from the board in 2021 and 2022 respectively, while Kim Moreland became OBP’s President. In 2022, OBP pursued classroom education with its first-ever school visits, lesson plans, and teacher trainings. That November, OBP republished Elizabeth McLagan’s landmark 1980 book A Peculiar Paradise through Oregon State University Press.
Increased public presence and fundraising success allowed OBP to grow its staff and programming. OBP’s team of full-time employees made new experiences possible, such as Black history walking tours, a busy traveling exhibit program, education workshops and in-class learning opportunities, short videos that bring far flung Black history to life, and a live virtual lecture program called Black History Quest.
In January 2024, OBP relocated from Salem to Portland, opening an office in the historically Black Albina area. This move marked a symbolic transition in the organization’s history, reflecting OBP’s commitment to providing services to Black Oregonians from the epicenter of the state’s Black community.
OBP has continued to lead talks around the state while also staging large-scale events in Portland with local partners. In September 2024, OBP co-led a Black Preservation Symposium with Restore Oregon, and in October 2025 hosted and produced York Fest, a multi-day, multi-organization festival honoring York of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
In January 2025, OBP received a transformative investment from the 1803 Fund and joined their inaugural cohort of Black-led nonprofits working to create a more rooted and prosperous Black Portland. This funding has allowed OBP to expand its staffing and its diverse program and educational offerings. All the while, OBP is pursuing a permanent museum in Portland where Oregon’s Black history can be shared with the world.