Oregon Catholic woman lives through a century of glory and woe

Published: 2003-10-16

PORTLAND, Ore. (CNS) -- For the African-Americans who shopped at Kienow's Food Store in Portland in the 1940s and '50s, Carmen Swenson was a saint of the checkout stand. Working at the grocery for 16 years as head checker and then manager, she was known for cashing checks for workers whom local banks snubbed. Swenson, who was raising three children at the time, also taught dozens of customers in the low-income neighborhood to sign their names. The matriarch, who celebrated her 100th birthday in September with a party thrown by Holy Family Parish, has much of her photographic memory intact. Her mental acuity came in handy at the grocery, where she recalled not only prices, but customers' names, faces, addresses and phone numbers. Most shoppers were African-Americans, many of whom had come to Portland from the South and big Eastern cities during the World War II shipbuilding boom. "To me, they were all individuals," Swenson said, sitting in her small southeast Portland living room. In all her years, not one check she cashed from the workers bounced. As she thought of the banks and their racist practices at the time, she snarled. But, brightening up, she said, "I've always liked people and trusted people."

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