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    Submitted by @maccoinnich