Ernest Boyd MacNaughton (October 22, 1880August 24, 1960) was president of the
First National Bank of Oregon (19321947), then chairman (19471960), president of ''
The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...
'' publishing company (19471950), and president of
Reed College
Reed College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...
(19481952). He is the namesake of the
ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million.
...
E.B. MacNaughton Civil Liberties Award.
Early life and education
MacNaughton was born in 1880 in
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is a suburb in the Greater Boston metropolitan area, located directly across the Charles River from Boston. The city's population as of the 2020 United States census, ...
, to parents Daniel MacNaughton and Lillias Boyd. He received a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...
degree in engineering from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
in 1902.
His first job after graduation was as a
building contractor
A contractor (North American English) or builder (British English), is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and the communication of information to all involved parties throughout the c ...
working for
F.B. Gilbreth in Boston. After moving to Portland in 1903, MacNaughton began working in the office of architect
Edgar M. Lazarus.
Career
The 1984 Portland Historic Resources Inventory identified 37 buildings associated with E.B. MacNaughton.
MacNaughton and Raymond
In 1906 MacNaughton formed an architectural and engineering partnership with Herbert E. Raymond, MacNaughton and Raymond. Raymond may also have trained as an engineer. The partnership existed until 1907 when
Ellis F. Lawrence joined the firm. After the departure of Lawrence in 1910, MacNaughton and Raymond briefly resumed their partnership.
MacNaughton's designs at this time include the
Sellwood Branch YMCA and the
Blake McFall Company Building. He is credited with designing the 1906 Alexandra Apartment/Hotel building on NW 21st Place in Portland,
[ although a set of architectural drawings for the building was found among the Lawrence papers, leading researchers to conclude that the design credit should go to Lawrence. MacNaughton and Raymond also designed the 1912 Clyde Hotel.
Relying on his skills as a building contractor, MacNaughton accepted the job of renovating the Marquam Building in 1912. Part of the building collapsed during the renovation, and MacNaughton was fired by owner ]Henry Pittock
Henry Lewis Pittock (March 1, 1835 (some sources cite 1836) – January 28, 1919) was an England, English-born American American pioneers, pioneer, publisher, newspaper editor, and wood and paper magnate. He was active in Republican Party (U.S.) ...
. An investigation concluded that weak bricks had been used in the original construction.
MacNaughton, Raymond, and Lawrence
The addition of Ellis F. Lawrence greatly increased the architectural skills at the firm. Among the surviving designs of MacNaughton, Raymond, and Lawrence are the Samuel G. Reed House and the Cumberland Apartments. Lawrence left the firm in 1910 to start his own company, and the two remaining partners continued as MacNaughton and Raymond.
Strong and MacNaughton
MacNaughton gradually became more interested in resource planning and asset management, and he formed a partnership with Robert H. Strong sometime after 1911, the Strong and MacNaughton Trust Company. Strong was an asset manager whose inventory included management of the estate of Henry W. Corbett, and his brother was managing director of the Ladd estate. Strong would soon become a commissioner at the Port of Portland.
In 1919 Portland mayor George Luis Baker appointed MacNaughton to the newly created planning commission. Other planners included architects A. E. Doyle and Ellis F. Lawrence.
The firm authored a series of newsletters in the 1920s that provided analysis and opinions about capital, real estate, taxes, merchandising, city infrastructure, and city planning.
The firm also handled stock investments, and when the Portland Public Market
The Portland Public Market was a public market in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1933 at a widely advertised cost of $1 million ($ million in ). Controversial and ambitious, it was intended to replace the Carroll Public Market, ce ...
was approved in the 1920s, Strong and MacNaughton was the transfer agent
A stock transfer agent, transfer agent, share registry or transfer agency is an entity, usually a third-party firm unrelated to security transactions, that manages the change in ownership of company stock or investment fund shares, maintains a ...
.
First National Bank of Portland
MacNaughton entered the banking industry in the mid-1920s when Frederic B. Pratt, owner of Portland's Ladd and Tilton Bank, suspected that he had been cheated by the previous owners. Pratt hired MacNaughton to analyze the bank's records and discover what had happened. MacNaughton became a vice president at the bank, and when the bank was acquired by the U.S. National Bank of Portland, Strong and MacNaughton were tasked with liquidating the assets.
In 1928 MacNaughton became a vice president at the First National Bank of Portland, and Strong and MacNaughton was disbanded. In 1932 during the Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, he became president of the bank. He became chairman in 1947 and was scheduled to become honorary chairman in 1960.
MacNaughton served for a time as an associate professor of banking at the Stanford Graduate School of Business
The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective ...
.[
]
''The Oregonian''
MacNaughton became a director of ''The Oregonian
''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...
'' publishing company in 1939, a position he would hold for 11 years. During his time on the board, the newspaper undertook a costly relocation and expansion. MacNaughton became president of the company in 1947 and soon began to look for a buyer. The company was purchased for $5.6 million by Samuel Irving Newhouse, Sr. in 1950, and MacNaughton's tenure ended.[
]
Reed College
In 1908 the will of Amanda Reed, widow of Simeon Gannett Reed, established a board of five trustees to oversee Reed College
Reed College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Portland, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1908, Reed is a residential college with a campus in the Eastmoreland, Portland, Oregon, E ...
. In 1919 the trustees voted to create a board of regents that would absorb the original five trustees and include six newly elected officers. MacNaughton was among the new regents, as was Reed architect A. E. Doyle.
MacNaughton served in various capacities at Reed for 24 years. He became president of the college in 1948 during a time of financial crisis. He raised faculty salaries, created a scholarship fund for students, and increased the size of Reed's endowment through donations. In 1952 when Reed was financially solvent, MacNaughton left his job as president.[
]
Partial list of honorariums and awards
The University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a Public university, public research university in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1876, the university is organized into nine colleges and schools and offers 420 undergraduate and gra ...
awarded MacNaughton an honorary doctorate in 1944 in recognition of his many years of service to the Oregon business community.
He received the William Freeman Snow Medal for distinguished service to humanity in 1952.
MacNaughton served as chairman of the ACLU
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million.
...
Advisory Council from 1955 until 1960, and the E.B. MacNaughton Civil Liberties Award was created in 1962 in his honor.
Death
MacNaughton died of cancer on August 24, 1960. He is buried at River View Cemetery.[
]
See also
* History of Portland, Oregon
The history of the city of Portland, Oregon, began in 1843 when business partners William Overton (Portland founder), William Overton and Asa Lovejoy filed to claim land on the west bank of the Willamette River in Oregon Country. In 1845 the name ...
References
External links
Bankers at Wells Fargo make telling mistake
MacNaughton, Raymond, and Lawrence Pacific Coast Architecture Database
Strong And Macnaughton Trust Company Records 1920-1925
Guide to the First National Bank of Oregon (Portland) Early History
History of the ACLU of Oregon
Japan-American Society of Oregon Past Chairs
{{DEFAULTSORT:MacNaughton, Ernest Boyd
Businesspeople from Portland, Oregon
20th-century American architects
American bankers
American newspaper executives
Presidents of Reed College
1880 births
1960 deaths
Businesspeople from Cambridge, Massachusetts
MIT School of Engineering alumni
Stanford University faculty
Burials at River View Cemetery (Portland, Oregon)
The Oregonian people
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American academics