Decades after Multnomah County bulldozed the graves of Chinese and Chinese American residents for a maintenance building and parking lot, the Board of Commissioners formally acknowledged and apologized for the harm, expressing sincere regret to families and community members.
Board members unanimously passed the resolution Thursday, June 26, just two weeks after approving $1 million in the FY 2025-26 budget to help fund a memorial at Lone Fir Cemetery, now owned and operated by the Metro regional government. The Board’s goal is to acknowledge the contributions of people of Chinese heritage — as well as the persistent discrimination they endured — including at the County’s hands.
“This action by our Board is a sincere apology to address past wrongs and honors the unrecognized stories of Chinese Americans originally buried at Lone Fir,” said Chair Jessica Vega Pederson. “It is very important that this response was built in close collaboration with our Chinese American community and will be followed by community events, additional remembrances and a lasting memorial that helps us commemorate these lives into the future.”
Commissioner Meghan Moyer said it was her honor to represent District 1, where Lone Fir Cemetery Block 14 is located, during this moment in time because “it gives me an opportunity to participate in the truth-telling and the beginning of a reconciliation between an institution that I am proud to be a part of, but that has committed acts that have inflicted incredible pain to the Chinese American community.”
“There are not words that can heal this type of action,” Commissioner Moyer said, “but I think a consistent and sincere effort to take ownership and work collaboratively to restore the harm caused is the least we can do.”
Lone Fir Cemetery, 649 SE 26th Ave. in Southeast Portland, is one of the region’s oldest cemeteries. And, for decades, it was the only place where newly arrived residents in the area were buried.
Since 1868, as many as 2,892 Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans were buried in Lone Fir, with research later showing that most were buried in a section called Block 14. A recent historical account by Metro describes Block 14 as having been “crowded with headstones bearing Chinese writing.” Chinese mourners had also erected a shrine that allowed people to make offerings to the deceased in accordance with their traditions.
Many people were buried where relatives could care for their graves long-term. But according to Metro, families also voluntarily disinterred their loved ones throughout the late 19th century, and sent their remains back to China. Those removals were highly ritualized and conducted by trained experts.
In 1928, Multnomah County took over Lone Fir Cemetery from a private owner and stopped community burials, other cultural practices, and all use of Block 14.
More than 20 years later, the cemetery superintendent proposed removing any remaining graves and repurposing the land. Multnomah County workers exhumed the remains of 265 more individuals from Block 14 to develop the property, according to Metro’s history.
Most remains were shipped to China, with the rest reburied elsewhere in Lone Fir Cemetery. Descendants later learned County workers used bulldozers to remove the remains — without careful, culturally sensitive collection practices, and without recording or tracking any names, including children. No other graves in the cemetery underwent such desecration.
In 1953, Multnomah County erected the Morrison Building on Block 14 and paved over the remainder for use as a parking lot. The maintenance building stood until 2005. At that point, the County moved to demolish the building and sell the land.
But the Buckman Neighborhood Association, Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery and the Oregon Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association believed the site still contained remains. Archaeologists confirmed there were remains and cultural artifacts in the Block 14 area. The property was eventually turned over to Metro (which had acquired Lone Fir in 1994). As part of the transfer, the County formally committed to developing a memorial to those members of the Chinese community.
Metro assembled a project team for a memorial in 2021 and undertook additional research and design work. That plan took another step forward this year, when the Board of Commissioners — amid ongoing advocacy from the Chinese American community and others — voted to help fund a memorial as part of its FY 2026 budget approved June 12.
In a budget note, the Board committed to closely monitor construction of the memorial over the next year. The Board also intends to prioritize any additional available funds in the next budget cycle to support completion of the memorial, including a gathering space, seating, interpretive elements, and a new stone altar marking the location of the historic altar lost decades ago — all essential to enabling traditional rituals and community reflection.
The intent is to provide an enduring record of the County's memorialization and public apology that helps to heal these harms for today and future generations.
“As a Commission, and even people in power, we have a responsibility to acknowledge historic wrongs and a duty to listen and work with the community to repair that harm,” said District 2 Commissioner Shannon Singleton. “This community had something taken that can never be fully compensated, but I’m honored to be part of the healing.”
District 3 Commissioner Julia Brim-Edwards said, “I went to Washington High School a few blocks away from the Lone Fir Cemetery, and Lone Fir has been on my daily commute route for a long time. What’s clear is that the County has completely erased really any sign or evidence of Block 14 and the presence of the Chinese cemetery.”
"Apologies have the ability to advance healing,’’ Commissioner Brim-Edwards said. “Apologies make us closely examine the facts and actions that form the basis of why an apology is required. It can evoke feelings of shame and embarrassment of why an apology is needed. But, that’s exactly why an apology is so powerful. It's with humility that I support the County's apology."
District 4 Commissioner Vince Jones-Dixon said, “The County's past actions at Lone Fir Cemetery are reprehensible. While our apology and investment can't erase the disgraceful choices of the past, I see this as a vital step in acknowledging the pain and indignity imposed upon the Chinese and Chinese American community. We are committed to forging a new path forward, together.”
At the Board meeting, Neil Lee, the longtime president and now vice president of the Oregon Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, called the Board’s apology “a significant step to rebuild trust, equity and inclusion, and acknowledge a historical injustice.”