Paul Errol Bragdon

PORTLAND, Ore. – Paul Errol Bragdon, a Maine native and former president of Reed College and other Oregon higher educational institutions and a leader in reforming the Democratic Party in New York City in the 1950s and 1960s, died in Portland, Ore. (not Maine) on August 7, 2021. He was 94 years old.

Paul Bragdon was born April 19, 1927, in Portland, Maine (not Oregon), the only child of Errol and Edith Bragdon. His ancestors had been in Maine since the 1630s, starting with the Bragdon family in the York Beach area and the Littlefields in Wells. His 19th century Maine ancestors were scattered more widely, including Cushings at the point that bears their name and on Casco Bay islands, Berrys in the Biddeford/Saco area, the Tuppers and Davises in Lisbon and South Paris, a branch of Bragdons in Freeport and Littlefields on Chebeague Island, and Crossmans, Wymans and Delands. His grandfather, Maurice, founded the M.F. Bragdon Paint Co. which was on Exchange Street in downtown Portland for most of the 20th century. Paul’s father, Errol (1900-1985), was a travelling salesman of paint and janitorial supplies, and his mother, Edith (1900-1982), was a homemaker who sold homemade fudge to get the family through the Great Depression when Paul’s father was unemployed for years due to illness.

Paul spent his early years in South Portland, then as a boy, lived on Bancroft Street in Portland. He loved to ride streetcars. He and his father were foiled in their attempt to ride the final run of Portland streetcars when the service was terminated earlier than expected on the last day.

Paul was in the 1945 class at Deering High School, where he was editor of the school newspaper and president of the drama club and involved in school government. As a teenager, he wrote letters to the editor of the Portland Press Herald and the Portland Evening Express, in favor of the New Deal. He worked part-time as a messenger and copy boy, thanks in part to his uncle, Clifford Somerville, an editor at the Evening Express. In his later years, Paul got a chuckle from the fact that one of the newspaper buildings he used to frequent in the evenings as a young messenger is now a luxury hotel.

Paul graduated from Deering High School two months early to volunteer as a private in the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of 17. He mustered in on April 16, 1945, boarding a train that departed Portland Union Station at 3 a.m. He marked his 18th birthday in USMC boot camp.

The GI Bill allowed Paul to become the first in his family to attend college, at Amherst College. After graduating from Amherst in 1950, Paul went on to Yale Law School, earning his degree in 1953.

He married Nancy Horton, of Rochester Minn., in August 1954.

He and Nancy lived in New York City, where he practiced law and both he and Nancy became active in local politics. He ran unsuccessfully for Assembly in 1958, then served in high posts in city hall in the administration of Mayor Robert Wagner. He later became Vice President of Community Relations at New York University.

Paul became president of Reed College in Portland, Ore., in 1971, the move that defined the “Portland-to-Portland” arc of his life. In his seventeen years as Reed’s President, he grew the endowment, improved student quality of life and faculty compensation, grew applications and student retention, led multiple capital campaigns, and restored Reed’s relationships with the larger Portland community.

Paul subsequently held leadership roles at other Oregon educational institutions. He served as president of the Oregon Graduate Institute, from 1994 to 1998, engineering its integration into what is now Oregon Health and Sciences University. He also served as interim president of Lewis and Clark College for 2003-04, at the age of 76.

Paul is survived by his wife, Nancy; their three children, David, Susan and Peter; and five grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held in Portland, Ore., when public health conditions allow such gatherings safely. Reflecting his lifelong gratitude for the public school education he received at Deering, Paul established a scholarship fund at Reed College, named in honor of his parents, earmarked to enable high school graduates from Maine to receive financial assistance to attend college at Reed.

The family suggests remembrances be sent to the Errol and Edith Bragdon State of Maine Scholarship Fund, Reed College, 3203 Southeast Woodstock Blvd., Portland, OR 97202.