The building has been the residence of many prominent business and professional people. Among the historical figures have been:
1. Louis Gerlinger Sr., lumber company owner and prominent benefactor during 1929-1940.
2. Edith Green (from 1962-69, 1971-77), an American politician and educator from Oregon, who was the second Oregonian woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from the 3rd Oregon District (1954 to1974), as a Democrat. She is nationally known for legislation she sponsored in the field of education. After her retirement from Congress, she maintained her office on the ground floor of the building.
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3. Lewis A. McArthur (from 1950-51) Vice President of Pacific Power &Light Co., he is locally better known for his definitive work OREGON GEOGRAPHIC NAMES, first published in 1928. Lewis was a member of the boat crew written up in the book The Boys in the Boat, by Daniel James Brown. Lewis spoke at the Ambassador Book Club about this fascinating experience with the boat crew.
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4. Fred Fritsch (from 1924-31), a prominent architect associated with the firm of Sutton&Whitney. He was the designer and project architect for the Fruit and Flower Nursery and Masonic Temple in Portland, both designated Portland Historic Landmarks.
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5. C.C. Chapman (from 1925-56) owner-publisher-editor of The Oregon Voter, an influential business and political paper. He served one term as Multnomah County Representative in the State Legislature and was the father of the gasoline sales tax in Oregon.
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6. William S. U'Ren (from 1927-49) candidate for governor on the Republican ticket in 1913, and state legislator beginning in 1896. He is the author of the nationally known Initiative Petition and Referendum law in Oregon.
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7. Jack Lynch (from 1930-73) appointed to fill a vacancy after 1935, he served as Multnomah County's Senator until 1951. At one time executive secretary for the Oregon State Pharmacy Association, he was later in the insurance business.
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8. Louis Ireland (from 1930-32) founder and owner of Ireland's, a popular restaurant chain.
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9. Fred C. Baker (from 1931-32) a craftsman and designer of lighting fixtures. His work appears in most of the important buildings, churches and residences in Portland. He has been a partner in several lighting firms and owner of the Fred C. Baker Lighting Co. The chandelier that is hanging in the middle of the Ambassador's main lobby is one of Fred Baker's creations, made specifically for that space.
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10. Dan Marx (from 1937-40) founder and owner of a fine local jewelry store that bears his name.
11. Evelyn Gibson (from 1937-40) fonder and owner of "Evelyn Gibson Gowns", a high fashion women's store.
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12. Forrest Berg (from 1938-74) president and owner of Charles F. Berg's, a fashionable store for young ladies and women founded by his father in 1907.
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13. John C. Higgins (from 1939-65) a prominent attorney and partner in Sullivan & Cromwell in New York City. Among his law partners were John Foster Dulles and Ambassador Arthur Dean. After retiring to Oregon in 1938, he became active in mining and forest products. Known as "Mr. Republican" in Oregon, he was a member of the National Finance Committee for the party and Chairman of Thomas Dewey's Oregon campaign.
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14. Herman J. Blaesing, Sr. (from 1949-59) of Blaesing Granite Co., founded by him in 1896. Originally engaged in memorials, the company later supplied stone for many large buildings, including the Oregonian Building and the Equitable Building, listed in the National Register.
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15. Robert S. Farrell, Sr. (from 1950-51) President Chinook Investment Co. and partner in Everding & Farrell, feed and commission merchants. Mr. Farrell also had extensive fishing and logging interests. He served as State Representative from Multnomah County from 1907 to 1910 and as Senator from 1913 to 1924.
16. Stanley C. Wiley (from 1952-56) nationally known in real-estate associations, he is the founder and owner of Oregon's largest residential real-estate concern, Stan Wiley, Inc.
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17. Norma Paulus (from 2XXX-2016) served as Oregon’s first female Secretary of State. She became the first woman to hold statewide office and was one of the most well known politicians in Oregon in the last decades of the 20th Century. She also was the Republican nominee for governor in 1986. Norma was an advocate for women and an environmental leader who started voting by mail in Oregon instead of waiting in long lines at polling stations.
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18. Eleanor Aldrich Forrester (from 1917-2007) was a key figure in East Oregonian Publishing Company newspapers. During more than 20 years at the East Oregonian, Eleanor played a key role in the development of the paper.
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19. Suzanne Crowhurst Lennard - (from 2016 - 2019) Dr. Crowhurst Lennard and her husband co-founded the International Making Cities Livable conferences in 1985. Since that time, she directed the organization of these conferences that have been acclaimed as “…the best conference on cities” (Mayor Joseph P. Riley), and “the most important continuous conference dialogue on making the world’s cities and towns more livable for all of their inhabitants” (Governor Dr. Sven von Ungern-Sternberg).
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