Book Description

Hayes's principal utopian contribution to Northwest literature was "Portland, Oregon, A.D. 1999," a story that first appeared in 1913. He framed this tale so that it resembled Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward (1888). The main character is an elderly woman who has seen Portland in the year 1999 and returns to the city around 1911 to offer "prophecies" of how life would change. Her predictions emphasize how technological change and social reform produced a sort of Christian socialism that would make Portland a nearly perfect city. Note how people of color are described at the end of the included text. In a chapter not included here, Hayes's prophet envisioned a truly utopian transformation -- doctors, lawyers, and ministers who work not for themselves but for the public good as defined by city commissioners (Hayes 1913:15) -- University of Washington website.