DeNorval Unthank, M.D.
DENORVAL UNTHANK, M.D.
1899 1977
DR. DENORVAL UNTHANK COMPLETED MEDICAL SCHOOL AT
HOWARD, UNIVERSITY IN WASHINGTON, D.C. HE WAS RECRUITED
TO PORTLAND IN 1929. AND FOR SEVERAL YEARS AFTER 1931 WAS
PORTLAND'S ONLY BLACK DOCTOR, IT WAS A TIME WHEN BLACK
FAMILIES WERE TURNED AWAY FROM PORTLAND HOSPITALS. IN THE
1940s, DR. UNTHANK BEGAN TIRELESSLY ADVOCATING FOR CIVIL
RIGHTS WHILE BUILDING HIS MEDICAL PRACTICE. HE BECAME THE
FIRST BLACK MEMBER OF PORTLAND'S CITY CLUB, SERVED AS
PRESIDENT OF THE LOCAL CHAPTER OF THE NAACP, AND WAS A
CO-FOUNDER OF THE URBAN LEAGUE OF PORTLAND. IN 1958, THE
OREGON MEDICAL ASSOCIATION NAMED HIM DOCTOR OF THE YEAR,
A RECOGNITION THAT WAS JUST ONE OP A LONG LIST OF AWARDS IN
HIS 40 YEARS OF SERVICE, IN 1969, THE CITY OF PORTLAND DEDICATED
THIS PARK TO DR, UNTHANK IN COMMEMORATION OF HIS YEARS OF
ACTIVISM IN HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS.
LANG SYNE SOCIETY OF PORTLAND -2017