From Vanport To The Capitol: The Journey of Jackie Winters
A trailblazer in Oregon politics, Jackie Winters turned adversity into action—championing justice, opportunity, and community empowerment.
Roots and Migration
Jacqueline “Jackie” Winters was born in 1937 in Topeka, Kansas, the youngest of six children. In 1943, her family, like thousands of Black families across the country, left the Jim Crow South and Midwest in search of economic opportunity, migrating west for wartime jobs. They arrived in Oregon, where wartime labor was plentiful but housing was scarce, especially for people of color.
Vanport, The Miracle City
Jackie Winters’ family settled in Vanport, the largest wartime public housing project in the U.S. and, at its peak, Oregon’s second-largest city. Built on a floodplain midway between Portland and Vancouver, Washington, Vanport housed thousands of shipyard workers and their families.
Its vibrant community included African American, Hispanic, Native American, Asian, and white residents, making Vanport the most racially diverse city in Oregon at the time. While life there was challenging, it was full of opportunity, providing schools, community centers, and a strong sense of community.
At home, civic engagement was a constant theme. Jackie’s father often discussed politics and elections at the dinner table, instilling in her the belief that voting was both a right and a responsibility. He spoke of Charles Curtis, the first Native American Vice President of the United States, who had been a neighbor of Jackie’s great-grandmother in Kansas. These conversations planted the seeds for Winters’ lifelong dedication to governance and advocacy. (In this photo: Forrest "Virgil" Jackson and Katherine Jackson, Jackie's parents).
I grew up with a father who says you can't sit on the couch and complain. That if you see something that is wrong or you can't just sit and gripe about it, you gotta get up and do something about it. And you couldn't have grown up in Portland during that period of time in history and not know that there were things that were wrong.
The 1948 Flood
In the spring of 1948, unusually warm temperatures melted the heavy snowpack in the mountains, causing the Columbia and Willamette Rivers to rise rapidly.
On May 29, HAP officials discussed the possibility of evacuation and the lack of emergency housing, but the next morning, reassuring notices were distributed to some residents. The message read in part: REMEMBER. DIKES ARE SAFE AT PRESENT. YOU WILL BE WARNED IF NECESSARY. YOU WILL HAVE TIME TO LEAVE. DON’T GET EXCITED.
At 4:17 p.m., the Columbia River broke through the railroad embankment that served as a dike, unleashing flood waters into Vanport. Within an hour, buildings were torn from their foundations, floating and crashing into one another in the turbulent waters.
By the end of Memorial Day, May 30, 1948, the city of Vanport was all but gone, with at least 16 people killed and another 18,500 left houseless, including over 5,000 African Americans.
Two men one carrying a small boy wading in water up to their waists at Vanport during the flood. (Defunct & Closed City Agencies- Housing Authority of Portland )
Watch this excerpt from the Vanport Mosaic oral history short documentary, where Jackie Winters remembers the day of the flood.
Vanport Mosaic team recording an oral history interview at Sen. Winters' home in 2017.
Vanport was never rebuilt. Today, a lone concrete slab from the movie theater is all that remains of what was once Oregon’s second-largest city. Where homes and dreams once stood, there are now golf courses, raceways, and parks. Swipe to see an aerial view of Vanport before and after the flood.
Displacement and Resilience
Winters was just 11 at the time of "Oregon's Katrina." The experience shaped her understanding of government responsibility and the consequences of neglect.
Eleven-year-old Jackie Winters (pictured here with her dog Tippy and her doll) sits with other evacuees who survived the flood. (Photo by Al Monner, courtesy of Jackie Winters).
Nearly seven decades later, as a state senator, Winters took action to ensure Vanport’s story would not be forgotten. In 2017, she co-sponsored the Senate Concurrent Resolution 21 with then-House Speaker Tina Kotek, officially recognizing the anniversary of the flood. The Oregon State Senate voted unanimously in support, acknowledging the historical significance of Vanport and the resilience of its survivors.
Senator Winters with other survivors of the 1948 flood at the Oregon State Capitol on the day of the proclamation.
After the Vanport Flood, Black families had little choice about where to go. Racist housing policies forced them into Albina—the only Portland neighborhood where they were allowed to live.
Once a working-class immigrant district, Albina became the heart of Black life in Portland. The neighborhood was home to Black-owned businesses, churches, jazz clubs, and a strong sense of community. But it was also shaped by systemic racism. Banks refused to lend to Black homebuyers, and the city withheld investments in infrastructure, schools, and services. As the decades passed, new government projects—freeway construction, hospital expansion, and urban renewal—pushed out Black residents again and again.
Winters grew up in this reality, watching as political decisions shaped daily life.
This picture of Sen. Winters was taken a little less than a year after the flood, on Easter of 1949.
Watch this excerpt from the Vanport Mosaic short oral history with Jackie Winters, where she reflects on Albina's history and her memories of its vibrant community.
A Path To Service
In 1959 she entered the workforce, passed the state civil service exam, and began her career at the Oregon Health Sciences University as a clerk typist—a foot in the door to a system that few Black women had access to.
Winters' ability to navigate bureaucracy and problem-solving did not go unnoticed. By 1969, she was recruited by Governor Tom McCall to join Oregon’s Office of Economic Opportunity, the agency tasked with fighting poverty under President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty.
It was a time of transformation. The federal government was pouring resources into social programs, while cities across the country were reckoning with civil rights protests and demands for racial justice. Winters was at the center of it—working to expand services, increase government accountability, and ensure that programs reached the people they were meant to serve.
(Photo: Jackie Winters speaking at her NAACP Roast and Toast at the Black Angus in Salem, OR 1979. Credits: Jackie Winters Historical Documents. Jereld R. Nicholson Library. Linfield University, McMinnville, Oregon. Loan from Marlon L. McLain, February 21, 2020.)
Her ability to work across agencies led to another first. In 1979, she was appointed Oregon’s first African American Ombudsman, overseeing complaints against state agencies and advocating for ordinary Oregonians caught in bureaucratic red tape.
One of her most lasting contributions came from listening to the community. She received letter after letter from seniors who were forced to choose between food and medication. Winters responded by helping create Oregon Food Share, the state’s first statewide food bank, which remains a vital resource for families across Oregon.
Jackie Winters remembering how she advocated for the creation of a food program. Oregon State Capitol Oral History Project 2018/ State Library of Oregon: Oregon Documents Depository Program.
Photo of Jackie Winters speaking at her NAACP Roast and Toast at the Black Angus in Salem, OR in 1979. Credit: Jackie Winters Historical Documents. Jereld R. Nicholson Library. Linfield University, McMinnville, Oregon. Loan from Marlon L. McLain, February 21, 2020.
Winters’ commitment to justice was shaped not only by her work in public service but also by personal experience. Her husband, Marc “Ted” Winters, had once been incarcerated at the Oregon State Penitentiary before rebuilding his life and earning a place in the administrations of Governors Tom McCall and Bob Straub. His journey from incarceration to public service reinforced her belief in rehabilitation and second chances.
“I think we forget the whole (possibility) of redemption and forgiveness when we are dealing with the criminal justice system.”
She saw firsthand that a prison sentence did not have to define a person’s future. This perspective would later inform her legislative work, where she championed policies that reduced recidivism, expanded reentry programs, and reformed sentencing laws to give people—especially young offenders—a chance to rebuild their lives.
If I had my wish list, we would be on the front end of prevention so we are not getting individuals in the system in the first place. We have 14 prisons in Oregon, and all of them are 1,000-plus. Wouldn't that be much better dollars spent on educating and preventing individuals from getting in the system in the first place?
Jackie's Ribs
In 1971, Jackie Winters moved to Salem, where she and her husband, Ted Winters, raised their four sons. After years of public service, she made a bold decision in 1985: she left a stable career to open her own business.
She launched Jackie’s Ribs in Salem, a restaurant that quickly became known for its barbecue and welcoming atmosphere. As the business grew, she and her family expanded into multiple locations, franchises, and a thriving catering service.
Jackie Winters at her restaurant in Salem. Statesman Journal Archives.
Even as a business owner, she remained deeply involved in civic life. She served on boards, advised community organizations, and supported initiatives aimed at reducing poverty and promoting racial equity.
Jackie's Last Vote
Jackie Winters never stopped working. Even after a lung cancer diagnosis, she continued serving in the Senate, winning reelection in 2018 while undergoing treatment.
On April 16, 2019, despite battling illness, Jackie Winters made her way to the Senate floor one last time. A crucial criminal justice reform bill, aimed at changing sentencing requirements for juvenile offenders and giving judges and prosecutors more flexibility under Oregon's mandatory minimum sentencing laws, needed 20 votes to pass. She was not expected to make it. But Jackie arrived, frail but resolute, bill in hand, delivering the words that would push it forward. The bill, passed. By one vote. Her vote.
She passed away on May 29, 2019, at age 82.
For me, the 80th Legislative Assembly will be the session that Senator Jacqueline Francis Winters said goodbye to Oregon, my Oregon.
She is survived by four sons, a stepson, stepdaughter, 11 grandchildren, and three great-granddaughters. Her beloved husband Marc “Ted” Winters passed on August 26, 2008.
A Legacy of Service
Her death marked the loss of one of Oregon’s most steadfast public servants. Lawmakers from both parties acknowledged her commitment to justice, her ability to work across divides, and her dedication to making government work for the people it was meant to serve.
Defining Moments: Jackie Winters’ Path to Leadership
1959
Passes the state civil service examination and begins her career in public service at Oregon Health Sciences University. Later, she joins the Portland Model Cities Program, working to address urban poverty.
1961
Graduates from Portland Public Schools’ adult vocational program (which later becomes Portland Community College). She continues her education through the Oregon University System’s Continuing Education Program, studying Intergovernmental Relations.
1969-1971
She was recruited to be supervisor of the Office of Economic Opportunity’s New Resources Program at the request of Governor Tom McCall. Winters oversaw funding for children’s welfare programs, shaping statewide efforts to support families.
1979 -1980
Becomes Oregon’s first African American Ombudsman, appointed by Governor Vic Atiyeh. In this role, she advocates for citizens navigating state agencies.
1985
Winters opens a barbecue restaurant, Jackie’s Ribs, as a place to
“come in and eat ribs and talk politics.”
1998-2002
Elected to the Oregon House of Representatives. She becomes Oregon’s First Black Republican State Senator.
2002-2019
Elected to the Oregon State Senate, serving multiple terms and becoming one of the state’s most respected bipartisan leaders.
2017-2018
Elected Senate Minority Leader, making history as the first Black legislator to lead an Oregon caucus.
2019
Despite battling illness, she returns to the Senate floor on April 16 to cast a crucial vote on criminal justice reform.
May 29, 2019
Jackie Winters passes away in Salem, Oregon, at age 82, leaving behind a legacy of public service, economic empowerment, and justice reform.
The party stuff didn’t matter. She saw you. She was someone who had her arms to embrace around everyone
There isn’t enough room on a page or in a library to cite all the achievements Jackie made—not for herself, but for the people of Oregon. For all her titles and all her monikers, at the end of the day Jackie was Mom. Grandma. Friend. Neighbor. And now, Saint.
(Photo: Jackie Winters, R-Salem, is the center of attention while getting ready for a group picture of Senators during the first day of the 2015 Oregon Legislature at the state Capitol building on Monday, January 12, 2015, in Salem. Credits: Brent Drinkut / Statesman Journal)
Winters toured with a tap-dancing troupe as a teen, and still goes out to dance in the clubs every chance she gets, which helps keep her young, she says.
“I tap danced all the way from Albina to the statehouse,” she likes to joke.
A Call To Action
Jackie Winters often said that change requires action. What is one way—big or small—you can contribute to your community, whether through civic engagement, volunteering, or advocating for an issue that matters to you?
