* Otto Rutherford; Led Fight Against Racial Discrimination in Oregon

Otto Rutherford, 89, a former leader of the Portland chapter of the NAACP who fought successfully in Oregon’s state Legislature to outlaw discrimination in housing, restaurants and amusement parks. Born in Portland to one of the state’s first black families, Rutherford and his wife, Verdell, led the Portland chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People in 1953, when it confronted the Legislature with a bill to outlaw discrimination in public facilities in Oregon. The bill passed easily in the Senate, but faced a greater challenge in the House, where civil rights bills had failed in 17 previous legislative sessions. The Rutherfords used a hand-cranked mimeograph machine to copy thousands of letters to churches and organizations asking for their support. Many other Oregonians of all races joined in the fight, and the measure passed on a 46-11 vote. During the Lyndon Johnson administration, Rutherford became director of housing for the Office of Economic Opportunity in Portland, a job previously not open to blacks. Former U.S. Sen. Mark Hatfield, who as a state legislator worked with Rutherford to overturn discrimination laws, said the civil rights leader was “made of steel.” “He was of the old school, which never lost sight of the fact that he had the dignity of a human being to uphold, no matter what the laws of the culture imposed on him,” Hatfield said. On Monday of cardiac and respiratory arrest at Providence Portland Medical Center.