Historic Hood River
Kent Shoemaker on Mt. Hood
11-6-2013
Notes
Here’s another Paul Hoerlein photo for the Hood River Ski Club. The subject is Kent Shoemaker, who was the county clerk. Shoemaker went on to play a major role in the intimidation of farmers of Japanese ancestry who were considering returning after forced “relocation” during World War II.
charlott
Paul Hoerlein was also a Crag Rat. He resided in the Oak Grove area with his wife Mildred. Had two children Nancy and Paul H. Was a fruit rancher.
Kate
The Shoemakers were early pioneers in the Hood River Valley. I portrayed Jennie Shoemaker this year in Cemetery Tales. Jennie Boynton married Joseph shoemaker in Eastern Oregon. Twin Brothers Joseph and Benjamin (Kent’s father) moved here in 1887. Benjamin was already married with children at the time.
l.e.
Cold and lonely looking.
Buzz
In Shoemaker’s role in intimidation of those of Japanese ancestry, was his role a personal one, or was it connected to his position as county clerk? Became acquainted with a man in Alaska who was a survivor of the Bataan Death March-a very bitter man. I believe all cultures, including ours, have the potential to commit atrocities during wartime. But, to me, there has to be a difference between personal and government sanctioned atrocities or intimidation.
james
Eliot Glacier sure had a lot more snow/ice than now! So what is the approximate date of this picture?
nels
What do oyou mean by "major role"?
nels
Do you know what time of year this was shot?
Arthur
Shoemaker was responsible for the newspaper ads which told former residents of Japanese ancestry that they were not welcome back in Hood River after the war. Here is an account from OHS:
http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/dspDocument.cfm?doc_ID=0007F921-C609-1E52-BEFF80B05272FE9F
nels
Saw that list once, and marveled at the courage of those interned in coming back to claim their land and orchards and start all over again. Hopefully we have learned a lesson, or have we? And along the way I read names of those who chose not to come back and to start elsewhere. How much we lost in intellect and community spirit we will never know. But every single one that did come back I view as a person of courage. They had nothing to do with the choices of another country but were punished for that. Same as middle eastern countries now kill innocent Americans to
punish the country of origin.
Buzz
l.e., your "cold and lonely looking" response to this photo was just the opposite of what it elicited from me. One of the main things I liked about logging in Alaska when young was being able to stand on a stump on top of a mountain and watch the sun come up in the east. Awesome. Beat the hell out of a desk in a cubicle.
Arlen Sheldrake
My Father always said that those loyal to the emperor left HR months before Pearl Harbor and he felt bad about his role in the relocation as a HR County Deputy Sheriff. Hopefully we won’t forget this important piece of our history.
Charlott
Sad time in the Hood River Valley that is for certain, but hopefully many lessons were learned from all of this horrible time.
AndrewB
I remember reading about Shoemaker in Stubborn twig. He seemed to be the most vocal and vitriolic. He wrote letters to the wardens of the camps and government officials claiming that Yasui and others were spies and enemies of the state. It seemed to all stem from flat out racism to me.
Paul Hoerlein
My dad took that photo, most likely in 1925 or thereabouts. I am guessing it
would have been in late winter.