The Memorial to Francis Murnane
Dedicated to the head of the Longshore Union
This memorial, just south of the Burnside Bridge, was Portland's only memorial to a labor leader, Francis Murnane. The memorial was built in 1978 just ten years after Murnane died, but was unfortunately destroyed in 2010 to make way for the expansion of the Saturday Market. Also mentioned: street battles near the union office at NW 8th & Everett during the strike of 1934.
As Told By...
Michael Munk
Retired Political Scientist
Michael Munk was born in Prague in 1934 and escaped the Nazi occupation of Czechoslovakia to Portland in 1939. His political activity began in the 1950s, when he became a local opponent of nuclear testing as well as a promoter of a Portland concert from Paul Robeson. He received his PhD in Politics from New York University, taught political science for more than twenty-five years at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, Roosevelt University in Chicago and Rutgers University before retiring in Portland. He is author of The Portland Red Guide (Ooligan Press, 2007), as well as articles in Oregon Historical Quarterly, Pacific Northwest Quarterly, Portland Alliance and more.
More Information:
International Longshore and Warehouse Union
The official website to the ILWU Read More
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