A.H. Francis Building - 1854

Here, in one of the city's first brick buildings, Abner Hunt Francis and his brother Isaac operated a thriving clothing business. Educated free Blacks, they settled in Oregon despite the territory's 1849 Black exclusion laws. When in 1851 the Francis Brothers were ordered to leave, 216 prominent Portlanders petitioned successfully against their removal.

A. H. Francis (1812-1872) and his wife Sydna Francis (1815-1889) were leading anti-slavery advocates. They counted Frederick Douglass as a friend; both published in his "North Star" newspaper. While living in Portland, they continued to pursue abolition and equal rights for all citizens.

Isaac Francis died in 1856. In 1860, Abner, Sydna, and their daughter, Theodosia,left Portland to join Sydna's parents in Victoria, B.C.

. This historical marker was erected in 2021 by Lang Syne Society. It is in Southwest Portland in Multnomah County Oregon