Allan and Ruth Hart

Allan and Ruth Hart were strong advocates of the Portland community and its citizens. Allan worked tirelessly over the years as a private practice attorney playing a prominent role in the formation of the ACLU of Oregon and the Bonneville Power Administration. Throughout her life, Ruth brought her experiences as a young adult painter, teacher and activist to the larger community: to tirelessly encourage access to the arts for students, volunteers, and friends.

Hart's daughters, Martha Schulte and Sally Retecki, remember their parents as civic minded and deeply engaged in the community and the arts; they always listened to others openly and empathically, eager to learn new perspectives. Allan and Ruth continue to care for their community through generous bequests they left to OPB, ALCU, Portland Symphony, and many other important local organizations.

From their early years together, Allan and Ruth were immersed in the Portland community. Ruth was a gifted visual artist, highly regarded by some of the finest artists of her time. Her education at Cady School in Portland, Oregon grounded her in the arts; she continued her studies in NY and abroad. After she completed her graduate degree in fine arts, she was sought after by fine arts institutions to teach. Instead Ruth returned to Portland where she continued to paint, became an art teacher and later married Allan Hart in 1944.

Ruth created hundreds of paintings, prints and drawings in the 1930s and 1940s. Martha and Sally recalled that Ruth was influenced by the issues of social justice and war that drove social realism painters in the 1930's.

For more than 30 years Ruth continued to give back to the community through organizing and guiding volunteer programs and helping shape the direction of arts organizations including Young Audiences and Contemporary Crafts Gallery. Allan joined Ruth in support of a wide variety of arts organizations.

Allan once said that he was deeply moved by a live radio broadcast of a speech by Eleanor Roosevelt, compelling the country to protect civil rights for all. After graduating from Stanford University he attended and taught at Yale Law School. He moved back to Portland as Assistant U.S. Attorney, then returned to Washington DC to work on the "Bonneville Project", and later to become it's General Counsel.

Allan left BPA to serve as an Army officer in the South Pacific from 1942 to 1946. After the war, he entered into private law practice. Allan was later a partner at Lindsay, Hart, Neil and Weigler until his retirement in 1984. During his distinguished career, Allan was a leader in the community helping to found the American Civil Liberties Union of Oregon (ACLU), leading The City Club of Portland, serving on the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, the Oregon Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and much more.

His daughters recall that their father, in addition to his area of legal specialty, remained deeply engaged and involved with civil liberties issues through out his life, and was publicly honored for that work. Recognized as one of the State's great legal minds, he was also a very careful writer, a purist with the written word.

Allan and Ruth enjoyed the simple things in life — seeing the natural beauty of the Pacific Northwest, traveling when they could, and for Ruth, spending time in her garden.

Ruth was passionate about her garden — she invested a large share of her time creating and sustaining the landscape around their home. Her daughters comment that the garden became her grand landscape "painting".

When they were home, Allan and Ruth enjoyed the programs they found on OPB, including shows pertaining to the arts, music, drama and politics. The Harts on OPB often watched concerts, commentary, and campaigns. Allan and Ruth were very supportive of OPB. Martha and Sally share their parents' conviction that what public broadcasting can offer is unique and essential to American society.

Allan and Ruth's lifetime of working to better their communities continues today through their legacy gifts to OPB and many other local organizations. It is this type of enduring support from The Harts that the enables OPB to grow and serve the local community at a time when many media organizations are scaling back.