Senator William McCoy and The passage of HJR 13

[Pragmatic]

In 1966 Gladys McCoy was elected to the Portland School Board, becoming the first African American to hold public office in Oregon.

In 1972, Gladys's husband, William McCoy, was elected to the Oregon House, making him the first African American to serve in the state legislature.

As one of his first actions as a member of the House, McCoy asked his colleagues to ratify the Fourteenth Amendment.

It came as a surprise to Oregon politicians that their state was not on record in support of the Fourteenth Amendment.

However, the move to correct the situation was conducted in such a way as to minimize any possibility of public education or reconciliation--quickly, in an almost embarrassed silence.

When asked why the issue never garnered much attention or debate, Les Aucoin, one of the cosponsors of the joint resolution to ratify the amendment in 1973, indicates that politicians wanted to quickly rectify the oversight before too many people found out. Ed. note* Like the Naturalization Act of 1807

On April 19, 1973, McCoy briefly testified before the Senate State and Federal Affairs Committee in support of the resolution.

He also recounted the old Grant County dispute and noted that, at the time, the Oregon Legislature was "hopelessly entangled ... in the bitter aftermath of the Civil War reconstruction controversy." McCoy stated, according to meeting minutes, that while "he realized that ratification at this time has no real effect on what has been done constitutionally, ... he wished by passage of HJR 13 to set the Oregon record straight." House Joint Resolution 13 passed overwhelmingly but without fanfare on May 21, 1973.

It is not clear from the record if certified copies of the resolution ever were sent to the General Services Administration, but Congress did note Oregon's re ratification when the Speaker of the House announced a "memorial" of the Oregon Legislature, "ratifying, again (after rescinding previous ratification) the 14th Amendment."

However, the Historical Notes in the U.S. Code mention only the rescission, not the re ratification.

Apparently, McCoy's desire to "set the record straight" was never fulfilled. Politicians got their wish--hardly anyone found out about Oregon's embarrassing oversight.

The Oregonian buried a brief follow-up story at the bottom of page 30, mentioning neither the issue of race nor McCoy's role in introducing the resolution. However, the "illegal" Grant County episode was again rehashed.

At his death in 1996, McCoy was the longest-serving state senator in Oregon. Even his obituary did not mention the contribution, early in his career, of seeing that Oregon finally ratified the Fourteenth Amendment.


...only if he knew...

Peace be upon you