Immigrant of the Day: Vera Katz (Germany)

Vera Katz (b. August 3, 1933, Düsseldorf, Germany) was the 45th mayor of Portland, Oregon, serving from January 1993 until January 2005. She was elected in 1992 and was re-elected in 1996 and 2000.

Katz was born as Vera Pistrak in Düsseldorf, Germany and moved to the United States as a child. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brooklyn College in 1955, and a Master of Arts in 1957.

Katz began her political career in the late 1960s while working on the presidential campaign of Robert F. Kennedy. In 1972 Katz was elected to the Oregon House of Representatives and, in 1985, she was chosen as the first female speaker of the Oregon House. While in the Oregon House, she sponsored the Oregon Educational Act for the 21st Century, a landmark school reform bill. She also helped pass measures on gun control, as well as legislation prohibiting gender discrimination. During her administration, Katz pursued an active policy of revitalization of the city’s neighborhoods.

In June 2003, a statue of Katz was unveiled on the Eastbank Esplanade. In November 2004, the bicycle and pedestrian trail was officially renamed the Vera Katz Eastbank Esplanade in honor of the former Mayor. In January 2005, the former Mayor began an unpaid position as a Dean’s Visiting Fellow in the College of Urban and Public Affairs’ Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies at Portland State University.

KJ