Harry Mittleman (May 24, 1900 – August 1, 1985) was a prominent building contractor, apartment owner, and real estate developer in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...

. During his career, he built more than 20 apartment buildings and owned 30 bank buildings. Mittleman owned the Sovereign Hotel for 34 years. The Mittleman Jewish Community Center at the Schnitzer Family Campus is named after Mittleman's wife, Helen Mittleman.

Early years

Harry Mittleman was born in 1900 within a region of Europe he called

Russian Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

. His father was a

peddler A peddler, in British English pedlar, also known as a chapman, packman, cheapjack, hawker, higler, huckster, (coster)monger, colporteur or solicitor, is a door-to-door and/or travelling vendor of goods. In England, the term was mostly used f ...

. The family immigrated to the United States in 1911 to escape the

Persecution of Jews The persecution of Jews has been a major event in Jewish history, prompting shifting waves of refugees and the formation of diaspora communities. As early as 605 BCE, Jews who lived in the Neo-Babylonian Empire were persecuted and deported. ...

prior to

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, settling in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

. In 1922 Mittleman moved to

Castle Rock, Washington Castle Rock is a city in Cowlitz County, Washington. Located between the Willapa Hills and the western base of Mount St. Helens, Castle Rock is at the heart of Washington timber country in the Pacific temperate rain forest. Castle Rock is part o ...

, and opened a series of grocery stores in the surrounding area. He moved to Portland in 1925 and opened six more stores.

Apartment and real estate construction

Citing stiff competition in the grocery business, Mittleman liquidated his grocery stores and built his first apartment building in 1928. He named it Marian Court after one of his daughters. Other apartment construction followed, and Queen Louise Apartments, Babette Manor, Adelle Manor, Charmaine Manor, Jeanne Manor, and Saint Helen's Court were named after Mittleman family members. Mittleman was a fast builder, and he hired extra workers in the early years of the

Depression era The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagion ...

to provide jobs. At a lot that would become Parkway Manor, for example, Mittleman announced that a steam shovel would begin digging even before the architects had designed the building. Parkway Manor construction employed up to 250 workers on a 5-story project at a cost of $250,000 in 1930. Mittleman would construct more than 20 apartment buildings, and his motto was, "What Mittleman builds builds Portland!" Mittleman built Marlene Village residential development in 1949. With the expansion of

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the following two decad ...

in 1969, Mittleman saw a need to provide space for student housing. He sold some of his SW Park Avenue apartment buildings to the

Oregon University System The Oregon University System (OUS) was administered by the Oregon State Board of Higher Education (the "Board") and the Chancellor of the OUS, who was appointed by the Board. It was disbanded in June 2015. OUS was responsible for governing the s ...

. Some of the buildings were demolished; for example, the Queen Louise apartment building was torn down to make room for the Branford Price Millar Library. The Blackstone Apartment building, the Saint Helen's Court, and the Parkway Manor, however, remained standing.

Acquisition of bank buildings

In 1972 Mittleman liquidated his remaining holdings and purchased 29 United States National Bank of Oregon buildings, becoming the largest individual owner of bank buildings in Oregon. He also acquired the Bank of California tower (now known as the Union Bank Tower).

Jewish Community Center

Mittleman served as president of Portland's Jewish Community Center for ten years, and he paid the outstanding mortgage on the center. The name was changed to Mittleman Jewish Community Center in 1976 to honor the memory of Mittleman's wife, Helen. Harry Mittleman died at his home in Portland on August 1, 1985.

References

External links

Oregon Encyclopedia: Mittleman Jewish Community Center

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mittleman, Harry Jews and Judaism in Portland, Oregon Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States American people of Russian-Jewish descent Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon 1900 births 1985 deaths 20th-century American businesspeople People from Castle Rock, Washington