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NR Nomination
NR Nomination Amendment

LOCATION AND PROPERTY NAME
address:2337 N Williams Ave historic name:Marshall, Dr. John D., Building
Portland, Multnomah County (97227) current/other names:Marshall, Dr. John D., Clinic; Brown, Dr. Samuel J., Office; Brown, Aaron, Office; Malcolm X People’s Dental Clinic; Fred Hampton People’s Free Health Clinic; Skanner News Group; Brown, Spielberg and Culp Funeral Directors;Terry Family Funeral Home
assoc addresses:
block/lot/tax lot:
location descr: twnshp/rng/sect/qtr sect:
PROPERTY CHARACTERISTICS
resource type:Building height (stories):1.0 total elig resources:1 total inelig resources:
elig evaluation: eligible/significant NR Status: Individually Listed
prim constr date:1952 second date: date indiv listed:06/13/2023
primary orig use: Specialty Store orig use comments:
second orig use:
primary style: Minimal Traditional prim style comments:
secondary style: sec style comments:
primary siding: Roman Brick siding comments:
secondary siding: Ceramic Tile
plan type: 1-Part Block architect:Lathrop, Gillam & Percy, Associates
builder:Beebe & Wechner
comments/notes:
Site has connections to Judge Aaron Brown, The Skanner News, Dr Marshal, and a children's breakfast program.
GROUPINGS / ASSOCIATIONS
Survey/Grouping Included In: Type of Grouping Date Listed Date Compiled
   African American Resources in Portland, Oregon from 1851 to 1973 MPS 07/01/2020 2020
   Portland Central City Modern Resources RLS 1945-1985 Survey & Inventory Project 2011
SHPO INFORMATION FOR THIS PROPERTY
NR date listed: 06/13/2023
ILS survey date:
RLS survey date: 07/22/2011
106 Project(s): None
Special Assess Project(s): None
Federal Tax Project(s): None
ARCHITECTURAL / PROPERTY DESCRIPTION
(Includes expanded description of the building/property, setting, significant landscape features, outbuildings and alterations)
The Dr. John D. Marshall Building is a one-story, rectangular-in-plan commercial building located at 2337 N Williams Avenue in the Eliot neighborhood of Portland, Oregon (Figures 1 and 2). Constructed in 1952, the building exhibits characteristic features of the Modern Movement including a horizontal emphasis, cuboid form, and simplified design. It fronts the sidewalk along the west side of N Williams Avenue, and it has a concrete slab foundation and a flat roof with a low parapet and internal brick chimney. The north, south, and west façades are constructed of concrete masonry units with glass block windows on the south and west facades, while the primary (east) façade is wood-framed and clad in a combination of Roman brick, tile, and wood planks. The primary façade is divided into three bays: the central bay features a shallow, inset porch containing the primary entrance, and the two outer bays contain large replacement windows. Exterior modifications since the conclusion of the period of significance include the reconfiguration of the southern portion of the primary façade; replacement of much of the original fenestration; exterior painting and the replacement or covering of original tilework in the inset porch; the installation of modern signage; and the addition of a noncontributing storage shed at the west (rear) property boundary. The interior of the building, which is currently divided into a lobby, offices, viewing rooms, and lavatories, has been more extensively altered. However, the location of the building’s primary hallway remains generally intact to the 1952 to 1979 period of significance, as do minor finishes such as the doors to the linen closet and furnace room. Overall, the Dr. John D. Marshall Building retains integrity of location, setting, feeling, and association despite changes that have reduced its integrity of design, materials, and workmanship.
HISTORY
(Chronological, descriptive history of the property from its construction through at least the historic period - preferably to the present)
The Dr. John D. Marshall Building at 2337 N Williams Avenue is nominated to the National Register of Historic Places under the African American Resources in Portland, Oregon, from 1851-1973 Multiple Property Documentation (MPD) Form. The building meets the general and property-specific registration requirements established by the MPD, and it is locally significant under Criterion A in the areas of Ethnic Heritage - Black and Health/Medicine for its long and varied association with Black medical professionals and with healthcare programs serving Portland’s Black community. The building was commissioned by Dr. John D. Marshall, one of fewer than five Black physicians practicing in Portland during the early postwar period, and Dr. Marshall owned the property throughout the entire period of significance (1952-1980). Dr. Marshall operated his own medical practice out of its main clinic space between 1952 and 1980, and at various points, he leased the building’s smaller commercial spaces to Dr. Richard Neal, a Black pharmacist; Dr. Samuel Brown, a Black dentist; and Dr. Paul F. Ventura, a white speech pathologist and audiologist; and the Portland chapter of the BPP, for use as the Malcolm X People’s Dental Clinic and Fred Hampton People’s Free Health Clinic. The building was an important and centrally located healthcare resource for Portland’s postwar Black community, which was concentrated in the surrounding Lower Albina neighborhoods during the period of significance. The former John D. Marshall Building is also locally significant under Criterion A in the areas of Ethnic Heritage - Black, Health/Medicine, and Social History - Civil Rights for its association with the community healthcare programs operated by the Portland chapter of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The Portland Panthers operated two free healthcare clinics from the building between 1970 and 1979: the Malcolm X People’s Dental Clinic from 1970 to 1975 and the Fred Hampton People’s Free Health Clinic from 1973 to 1979. Both clinics were organized and administered by the Portland Panthers and staffed by volunteers, including Black and white physicians and dentists. These programs were an important subset of the BBP’s “community survival” programming, and Panther chapters across the United States established similar community healthcare resources during the 1960s and 1970s. However, the Portland Panthers are the only local chapter known to have operated both a general medical clinic and a separate, dedicated dental clinic. Furthermore, Panther historians judge that no other chapter’s health clinics experienced such a consistent volume of volunteer physicians and dentists. As the only building in Portland to have housed a Black-owned medical practice, dental practice, and pharmacy as well as both BPP healthcare clinics, the Dr. John D. Marshall Building uniquely represents efforts to address disparities in medical access for African Americans living in postwar Portland. Its period of significance is 1952 to 1980, encompassing the building’s entire association with healthcare resources serving the Black community and other residents of Lower Albina. As described in the preceding section, the property satisfies Criteria Consideration G for properties achieving significance within the past 50 years, due to its exceptional importance within its historic contexts.
RESEARCH INFORMATION
Title Records Census Records Property Tax Records Local Histories
Sanborn Maps Biographical Sources SHPO Files Interviews
Obituaries Newspapers State Archives Historic Photographs
City Directories Building Permits State Library
Local Library: University Library:
Historical Society: Other Respository:
Bibliography:
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Galbraith, Catherine, with Caitlyn Ewers, Kerrie Franey, Matthew Davis, and Brandon Spencer-Hartle. African American Resources in Portland, Oregon, from 1851 to 1973. Multiple Property Documentation Form, 2020. Gibson, Campbell and Kay Jung. Historical Census Statistics on Population Totals by Race, 1790 to 1990, and by Hispanic Origin, 1970 to 1990, for Large Cities and Other Urban Places in the United States. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Census Bureau, 2005. Hilliard, David. This Side of Glory: The Autobiography of David Hilliard and the Story of the Black Panther Party. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2007. Lopez, Russ P. “Public Health, the APHA, and Urban Renewal.” American Journal of Public Health 99, no. 9 (September 2009): 1603-1611. Nelson, Alondra. Body and Soul: The Black Panther Party and the Fight against Medical Discrimination. Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press: 2011. Oregon Black Pioneers and Kimberly Stowers Moreland. 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Accessed October 3, 2022. https://www.theskanner.com/news/newsbriefs/21516-pcri-honors-five-pioneers-for-contributions-to-black-community. “People’s Clinic from Panthers and HEALTH-RAP.” Willamette Bridge vol. 3, no. 11 (October 1970): 7. “Robt. N Joyner Jr., M.D.” Portland Inquirer (Portland, OR). January 25, 1946. Stimson, Brian. “Renaming the Boulevard: A Retrospective.” Skanner News (Portland, OR). January 14, 2010. “Suspects Delay Pleas in Albina Incidents.” Oregonian (Portland, OR). June 21, 1969. Permit Records and Architectural Drawings City of Portland Bureau of Buildings. Report of Inspection, May 28, 1952. City of Portland Bureau of Development Services Records Collection, Permit Application No. 327672. ------. Report of Inspection, June 6, 1952. City of Portland Bureau of Development Services Records Collection, Permit Application No. 327828. City of Portland Bureau of Development Services. Sign Permit Application for 2337 N Williams Avenue, June 28, 2007. City of Portland Bureau of Development Services Records Collection, Permit Application No. SG07-142620. City of Portland Department of Public Works, Bureau of Buildings. Application for Permit, Alterations or Repairs, February 4, 1942. City of Portland Bureau of Development Services Records Collection, Permit Application No. 261155. Lathrop, Gillam & Percy, Associates. “Clinic & Store Building for Dr. John D. Marshall, Portland, Oregon.” May 16, 1952, Job No. 6032. City of Portland Bureau of Development Services Records Collection, Permit Application No. 327828 26-26. Pyramid Designs. “For Bernie Foster – The Skanner.” September 15, 1981, Job No. 1401. City of Portland Bureau of Development Services Records Collection, Permit Application No. 544430 18-15. Census Records United States of America, Bureau of the Census, 1950 Census of Population and Housing. United States of America, Bureau of the Census, Sixteenth Census of the United States: 1940. City Directories R.L. Polk & Company. 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