Julia Shorey, who lived with her two children, Victoria and William, in Hammond.

In a recent talk at the Fort George Brewery Lovell Showroom, historian Zachary Stocks spoke on the story of the Shoreys, one of the few Black families who lived in Clatsop County during the early 20th century.

Capt. William T. Shorey was a whaling ship captain whose voyages were often based out of San Francisco, and was for some time the only Black ship captain operating on the West Coast.

His wife, Julia Shorey, often accompanied him as he sailed around the world, as did their five children. Julia then returned to write letters about her travels to The Elevator, a Black-owned newspaper in San Francisco.

After her husband’s death in 1918, Julia Shorey moved with her two surviving children, Victoria and William, to Hammond.

Stocks, who lives in Astoria, is the executive director of Oregon Black Pioneers, a group dedicated to preserving and promoting the heritage of Black Oregonians.

To learn more about their stories, including those with ties to the Columbia-Pacific region, visit the Oregon Black Pioneers website to look through online exhibits, maps and collections.

For more about the history of race in Astoria, visit the Clatsop County Heritage Museum’s “Blocked Out: Race and Place in the Making of Modern Astoria,” an ongoing exhibit that challenges ideas about the city’s past.