Street Roots is a non-profit weekly newspaper published in Portland since 1999. Issues are sold by people experiencing homelessness and poverty, and a majority of the proceeds go to the vendors. The newspaper provides local news and investigative reporting focused on social and environmental justice issues, as well as poetry and other creative writing written by vendors.

The Oregon Digital Newspaper Program recently completed a digitization project of ten years’ worth of Street Roots issues (2009-2019), thanks to an anonymous donor. We’re pleased to add this title to Historic Oregon Newspapers and to ensure it is preserved for research into the future. Street Roots provides news and opinion that often isn’t found in mainstream news outlets, and it can widen our perspective on what the news is and, eventually, what our history is. Similar to newspapers published by and for a particular audience, Street Roots adds to the diversity of resources in Historic Oregon Newspapers that tell the complex stories of Oregon.

We recently added a phase 2 project to digitize more back issues of Street Roots (1999-2008) and its predecessor Burnside Cadillac (1995-1998). These issues will become available in Historic Oregon Newspapers in early 2027.