PAUL BRAGDON

1927 - 2021

BRAGDON--Paul Errol. April 19, 1927 (Portland, Maine) -- August 7, 2021 (Portland, Oregon). Paul Errol Bragdon, a leader in efforts to reform the Democratic Party in New York City in the 1950-60s and President of Reed College in the 1970s-80s, died in Portland, Oregon (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 father was a travelling salesman of paint and janitorial supplies, and his mother was a homemaker who sold homemade fudge to get the family through the Great Depression. Mr. Bragdon graduated from high school two months early to volunteer in the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of 17 in World War II. The GI Bill allowed Mr. Bragdon to become the first in his family to attend college, at Amherst College, where he graduated in 1950. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1953, then moved to New York City. He soon met Nancy Horton, another newcomer to NYC, who was starting her career in the publishing industry. They married, in her hometown of Rochester, Minnesota, in August 1954. Mr. Bragdon went to work for major Wall Street law firms, including Root, Ballentine, Bushby and Palmer as well as at Javits, Trubin, Sillcocks and Purcell, and TIAA- CREFF. In 1956, Mr. and Mrs. Bragdon helped found the Lenox Hill Democratic Club, whose manifesto declared it to consist of "non-bossable Democrats" who stood for women's equality, improved housing, more parks, fighting corruption, and increased access to the ballot, by ousting the Tammany Machine. In 1957, Mr. Bragdon became the founding paid Executive Director of the New York Committee for Democratic Voters, a progressive outfit affiliated with Eleanor Roosevelt and former Governor Herbert Lehman. In 1958, at the age of 31 just five years after arriving in New York City, Mr. Bragdon ran for the Democratic nomination for Assembly in the 8th Assembly District, on Manhattan's upper east side, challenging a Tammany candidate. Mr. Bragdon prevailed in the primary, the first insurgent challenger to defeat a machine candidate in a Democratic primary in New York City. He lost the general election, with 49% of the vote, to the Republican. After his foray as a candidate, he and Mrs. Bragdon cultivated a more demanding constituency at home, with the births of their children David in 1959, Susan in 1960, and Peter in 1962. NYC Mayor Robert Wagner Jr. sought to solidify his progressive credentials by hiring Mr. Bragdon, who served as Press Secretary, Executive Assistant and legislative representative during Wagner's third term. The New York Times of February 25, 1964 profiled Mr. Bragdon as the day's "Man in the News," deemed him an influential rising star at City Hall, and described him as an "analytical machine with a dry sense of humor." The Times reported the family's favorite recreational activity was riding the ferry from Whitehall to St. George and back. As the city's chief legislative representative, Mr. Bragdon ran the biggest lobby shop in Albany. A New York Times profile of him published on May 29, 1965 noted that "millions of dollars ride on the success of his efforts," noting his work to restrain bus and subway fare increases. Mr. Bragdon's most memorable moments in City Hall occurred the evening of November 9, 1965 during the great blackout. With the Mayor marooned uptown, Mr. Bragdon was the voice of the administration, single- handedly dealing with all press and radio and television interviews. When the lights blinked back on around 4:00 AM, Mr. Bragdon later recalled, he walked to the Mayor's private refrigerator, "took out a bottle of dry vermouth, poured myself a glass, sat with my feet up on the desk and looked out over City Hall Park, and thought, 'Ah, my people are safe.'" After Mayor Wagner left office, Mr Bragdon worked for City Council President Frank O'Connor, helping to craft O'Connor's advocacy for a civilian review board to investigate allegations of abusive policing. Mr. Bragdon moved into academic administration in 1967, becoming New York University's chief political and community relations official. Mr. Bragdon was recruited to become President of Reed College in Oregon (not Maine) in 1971. The liberal arts college had a strong academic reputation, but was in financial and administrative distress. In his seventeen years as Reed's President, he increased the endowment, dramatically improved student quality of life and faculty compensation, grew applications and student retention to all time highs, led multiple capital campaigns that transformed the campus, and restored Reed's relationships with the community. Mr. Bragdon 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. Mr. Bragdon also served as interim President of Lewis and Clark College for 2003-04, at the age of 76. Mr. Bragdon is survived by his wife, Nancy, their three children, David, Susan and Peter, and five grandchildren. A memorial will be held in Portland, Oregon, when public health conditions allow such gatherings safely. The family suggests remembrances to Reed College, in memory of President Paul Bragdon, or to the Melvin Judkins Cardiology Fund at Oregon Health and Sciences University.