Showing 1 - 20 of 123 results
Adams, Bishop John Hurst (b. 1927)
Bishop John Hurst Adams was pastor at Seattle's First African Methodist Episcopal Church from 1962 to 1968 and a leader in the city's civil rights struggle. He moved to other cities and states after 1968, rising to national prominence as a religious and civil rights leader.
File 8098: Full Text >
Adams, Nora B. (1928-2004)
Nora B. Adams was an African American Seattle Public School principal who left more than $1 million in her estate to three of her major interests. She left $600,000 to the Seattle Public Schools Scholarship Fund and divided the rest between cancer and heart research. A shrewd investor, Adams divested herself of stock brokers and managed her own portfolio. She devoted 37 years to education, as a teacher and as an administrator and was one of the first black female principals in the city. According to her nephew, Gordon McHenry Jr. (Boeing executive and former member of the Seattle Public Library Board), she was the quintessential educator, not given to idle chatter but insisting on thoughtful and meaningful conversation.
File 8506: Full Text >
AFM Seattle Local 493 (1918-1958), "Negro Musicians' Union"
Today's labor union for Seattle's professional musicians is the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 76-493, and that numerically cumbersome name reflects perfectly the organization's tangled and sometimes contentious backstory. Seattle's first musicians' union, AFM Local 76, dated back to the 1890s. But as ever-greater numbers of African Americans arrived in the young, growing town the musicians among them soon discovered that the union had an unwritten segregation policy. A complex, Jim Crow system of turf boundaries arose, with Local 76 musicians claiming the most lucrative gigs. Excluded, black musicians founded their own union, Local 458, in 1918. That organization morphed into Local 493 in 1924, and the two unions then co-existed inharmoniously for the next four decades. AFM 493 became a lifeline and social pillar for the black community. It was at the very center of Seattle's vibrant jazz scene, and bore its share of struggles throughout the era's civil rights strife. At its peak in the 1940s, Local 493 probably had about 150 members (compared to Local 76's 1,200), and it represented some of Seattle's biggest African American stars, including Ray Charles (1930-2004), Phil Moore (1918-1987), and Quincy Jones (b. 1933). But changing times and increased racial tolerance eventually saw the two unions formally merge in 1958, an early instance of the more widespread racial integration that was to come during the following decades.
File 10329: Full Text >
Anderson, Ernestine (b. 1928), Jazz Singer
Ernestine Anderson launched her amazing career as a jazz singer while still a teenaged Seattle high school student back in the 1940s. By the 1950s she was an experienced performer who'd toured widely and sung with big-name bands led by Johnny Otis, Lionel Hampton, and Eddie Heywood. Anderson's debut album brought rave reviews from leading music critics which led to her being included in the all-star lineup at the very first Monterey Jazz Festival in 1958, and she was soon heralded as an important new singing star by both Time and down beat magazines. In the decades since, she has cut more than 30 albums of sophisticated and sensual jazz and blues music, received four GRAMMY award nominations, and been honored with a command performance at the White House.
File 8520: Full Text >
Asberry, Nettie Craig (1865-1968)
Nettie Craig Asberry was an extraordinary, early African American resident of Tacoma who was known for her work in fighting racism and in helping to open doors for women. A founding member of the Tacoma NAACP, a music teacher, a club woman, and in later years a volunteer social worker in the community, she was a Tacoma icon.
File 8632: Full Text >
Atlantic Street Center (Seattle)
The Atlantic Street Center is a nonprofit social service agency that has been operating for 100 years in the Central and Southeast areas of Seattle. Its mission has been to help families and communities raise healthy, successful children and youth. Although program emphasis today is on communities of color, Atlantic Street's beginnings centered on the city's Italian community.
File 9613: Full Text >
Barnett, Powell S. (1883-1971)
Powell S. Barnett, a Seattle musician, baseball player, and community leader, was the organizer and first president of the Leschi (neighborhood) Community Council. He was a leader in organizing the East Madison YMCA and was the first black person to become a member of the once all white Musicians Union.
File 307: Full Text >
Barons, The: The Northwest's First Hit-making '50s Teen Rock 'n' Roll Group
A half-decade prior to the Pacific Northwest's great rock 'n' roll eruption of 1959-1960 -- a period that saw a series of teenage groups (including the Fleetwoods, Frantics, Shades, Gallahads, Wailers, Ron Holden and the Thunderbirds, and Little Bill and the Bluenotes) all suddenly burst onto the national scene with hit records -- yet another local group blazed that same trail. Tacoma's talented doo-wop singers, the Barons, were signed to one of America's most esteemed independent labels, the Los Angeles-based Imperial Records, and scored a series of promising hits. Unfortunately, the group was a bit ahead of its time -- the Northwest didn't even have an organized teen-dance scene yet -- and the Barons disbanded before they were able to make the most of their remarkable success. As a result, the group's legacy nearly slipped through the cracks of history. They are absent from all rock encyclopedias, they remain unheralded even in their home region, and the Barons' story has never been told until now.
File 9207: Full Text >
Barr, Roberta Byrd (1919-1993)
Roberta Byrd Barr was an African American educator, civil rights leader, actor, librarian, and television personality. She was born in Tacoma and lived for much of her life in Seattle.
File 306: Full Text >
Bass, Robert A. (1926-2002)
Robert A. Bass was one of Washington state's first African American school principals. He was an advocate for diversity and equal educational opportunity in the school district. He and his twin brother Roscoe, also a Seattle educator, were strong advocates for the education of black children.
File 7595: Full Text >
Black Diamond -- Thumbnail History
The city of Black Diamond, located along the Cascade Mountain range, in King County, 25 miles southeast of Seattle, was built as a company town for the Black Diamond Coal Company in the late 1800s.
File 460: Full Text >
Burton, Philip (1915-1995)
Philip Burton was a Seattle lawyer for more than 40 years, a voice for the disadvantaged, and a fighter for reforms to end discrimination in education, housing, and employment. His legal actions led to the desegregation of Seattle Public Schools.
File 321: Full Text >
Bush, George W. (1790?-1863)
George W. Bush (1790?-1863) was a key leader of the first group of American citizens to settle north of the Columbia River in what is now Washington. Bush was a successful farmer in Missouri, but as a free African American in a slave state, he faced increasing discrimination and decided to move west. In 1844, Bush and his good friend Michael T. Simmons (1814-1867), a white Irish American, led their families and three others over the Oregon Trail. When they found that racial exclusion laws had preceded them and barred Bush from settling south of the Columbia River, they settled on Puget Sound, becoming the first Americans to do so. Bush established a successful farm near present day Olympia on land that became known as Bush Prairie. He and his family were noted for their generosity to new arrivals and for their friendship with the Nisqually Indians who lived nearby. Bush continued modernizing and improving his farm until his death in 1863. Named George Washington Bush in honor of the nation's first president, he has no known connection to the family of the two later presidents who share with him the name George Bush.
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Busing in Seattle: A Well-Intentioned Failure
In 1972, the Seattle School District launched the first phase of what became a decades-long experiment with mandatory busing to integrate its schools. Initially limited to a few thousand middle school students, by 1981 nearly 40 percent of all the district's students were being bused for racial reasons. School officials defended busing against several legal challenges but gradually scaled back the program in response to waning public support. The district's own data showed that busing disproportionately burdened children of color, undercut academic achievement, inhibited parental involvement, contributed to so-called "white flight," and did little to reduce racial isolation in the schools. By 1999, when mandatory busing finally ended in Seattle, it was widely regarded as "one of those well-intentioned social experiments that don't work" (Morrill Interview).
File 3939: Full Text >
CAMP: Central Area Motivation Program (Seattle)
Seattle's Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP) is the oldest surviving independent agency originating during the War on Poverty era (in 1964) and was the first community inspired program in the country to receive funding. Its mission has been to reduce the impact of poverty with all of its related problems. Through many programs and services, CAMP still (2009) assists in improving the lot of the poor by providing food and shelter; offering education for at-risk students; employment and training for the unemployed and underemployed; and providing heat for homes during the colder months.
File 9243: Full Text >
Campbell, Bertha Pitts (1889-1990)
Bertha Pitts Campbell, an early Seattle civil rights worker, was a founder of the Christian Friends for Racial Equality and an early board member of the Seattle Urban League. She was also one of 22 young women at Howard University in 1913 who founded the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, one of the largest African American sororities.
File 28: Full Text >
Cayton, Horace (1859-1940)
Horace Cayton was the African American publisher of the Seattle Republican, a newspaper directed toward both white and black readers and which at one point had the second largest circulation in the city.
File 309: Full Text >
Charles, Ray (1930-2004)
Ray Charles was a poor, blind, newly orphaned teenager living in Tampa, Florida, in 1948 when he decided to move to Seattle, picking the city because it was as far away as he could get from where he was. He stayed only two years, but during that time he cut his first record and began to develop the genre-bending musical style that would make him an international star. Charles often spoke of Seattle as a pivotal point in his long and hugely successful career as a singer/songwriter. "I met a lot of very good friends here," he told one interviewer. "I liked the atmosphere. The people were friendly, the people took to me right away. Seattle is the town where I made my first record. And if you ever want to say where I got my start, you have to say that" ( The Seattle Times).
File 5707: Full Text >
Chase, James E. (1914-1987)
James E. Chase was a popular and respected Spokane civic leader who went from shoe-shiner to the first African American mayor in Spokane's history. He was born in Wharton, Texas, in 1914, to a poor family. The Great Depression put an end to his high school education when his all-black high school closed. He worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps in El Paso and then he and three friends rode the rails to Spokane in 1934 to look for new opportunities. Chase shined shoes at a local barbershop and in 1939 went into the auto body repair business. He did repair work for the Army air base in Spokane during World War II. He became president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP in 1950, a post he held for 17 of the ensuing 19 years. He and his wife Eleanor Barrow Chase (1918-2002), from a prominent Spokane black family, were strong believers in civic involvement. James Chase was elected to the Spokane City Council in 1975, the first black council member since the 1890s. He ran for mayor in 1981 and won by a landslide, a historic feat in a city with a black population hovering between 1 and 2 percent. He served a successful term as mayor, but ill health in 1985 prevented him from seeking a second term. He died of cancer in 1987. His impact on Spokane can be measured in the many ways his name lives on, through the James E. Chase Middle School, the Chase Art Gallery at Spokane City Hall, and the Chase Youth Commission, dedicated to improving the lives of the city's youth.
File 8788: Full Text >
Children's Orthopedic Hospital
In early 1907, Anna Herr Clise (1866-1936) called together 23 affluent Seattle women friends to address a health care crisis -- namely the lack of a facility to treat crippled and malnourished children. Each of the women contributed $20 to launch Children's Orthopedic Hospital. The hospital opened on Queen Anne Hill and in 1953 moved to Seattle's Laurelhurst neighborhood. Today known as Children's Hospital and Medical Center, it is still governed by an all-women board of trustees. Key to the hospital's development has been income raised by volunteers through their work in the hospital guilds. In 1944, the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors honored the Orthopedic as Seattle's First Citizen for the contribution made by Children's Hospital to the community and to the Northwest. The honor paid tribute to the thousands of women in the guild and junior guild organizations, to the volunteer staff of doctors, and to the many hospital volunteers who cared for the patients over the years.
File 2059: Full Text >
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Showing 1 - 20 of 188 results
George W. Bush settles with his family at Bush Prairie near Tumwater in November 1845.
In November 1845, George W. and Isabella James Bush and their five sons settle near Tumwater on a fertile plain that comes to be known as Bush Prairie. They and their party, which includes their good friend Michael T. Simmons (1814-1867) are the first Americans to settle north of the Columbia River in what is now Washington. The Simmons party makes the historically significant decision to settle north of the Columbia primarily because the discriminatory laws of the provisional government of Oregon Territory prohibit George Bush, an African American who is a key leader of the group, from settling south of the river.
File 5646: Full Text >
Donation Land Claim Act, spur to American settlement of Oregon Territory, takes effect on September 27, 1850.
On September 27, 1850, the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 takes effect. The act creates a powerful incentive for settlement of the Oregon Territory by offering 320 acres at no charge to qualifying adult U.S. citizens (640 acres to married couples) who occupy their claims for four consecutive years. Amendments in 1853 and 1854 continue the program, but cut the size of allowable claims by half.
File 9501: Full Text >
Manuel Lopes (1812-?), Seattle's first black citizen, arrives in 1852.
Manuel Lopes (1812-?), Seattle's first black citizen, arrives in 1852. Lopes is a barber and his barbershop is the village's first black-owned business. He plays the snare drum, and is known for his generosity to his customers -- loggers, millhands, sailors, and miners.
File 2750: Full Text >
George Waunch files a claim near future Centralia on land that will become known as Waunch Prairie on October 26, 1853.
On October 26, 1853 George Waunch (1812-1882) files a claim on what will be known as Waunch Prairie, just north of present-day Centralia. He has lived on the prairie intermittently for eight years, but only files now because the Donation Land Act of 1850 requires continuous residence and cultivation for four years. The Donation Land Act provides the first legal framework for claiming land in Oregon Territory, which includes land that will become Washington Territory.
File 8505: Full Text >
Pioneer William Grose, an African American, arrives in Seattle in 1861.
In 1861, William Grose (1835-1898), African American pioneer, arrives in Seattle and becomes a successful businessman.
File 308: Full Text >
Black property owner William Hedges arrives in Seattle in 1864.
In about 1864, William Hedges (d. 1871) arrives Seattle. He later becomes the African American who owns the most property during the territorial years.
File 232: Full Text >
African American pioneer Matthias Monet opens a restaurant in Seattle in 1864.
In 1864, Mathias Monet, an African American pioneer and native of Oregon, arrives in Seattle and opens Monet's Seattle Restaurant and Coffee Saloon opposite the Yesler, Denny and Company's Store.
File 235: Full Text >
Seattle pioneers petition against a reservation on the Black River for the Duwamish tribe in 1866.
In 1866, King County settlers petition the Territorial Delegate to Congress, Arthur Denny
(1822-1899), against the establishment of a reservation for the Duwamish tribe on the Black River.
The Superintendent of Indian Affairs had proposed such a reservation to correct deficiencies in the Point Elliott Treaty of 1855. The pioneer's petition is forwarded to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the reservation is not
established. There are about 156 signatures, all or nearly all King County residents, including Chas. C. Terry (first signature), John Denny, D. T. Denny, H. L. Yesler, D. S. Maynard, Chas Plummer, Jacob Maple, and J. P. Pinnell.
File 2955: Full Text >
African American student at the UW stirs racism and a defense of civil rights in January 1874.
During January 1874, a "colored" (African American) student attends the winter session of the University of Washington. Some white parents complain to the Board of Regents for allowing "colored" children to take classes at the university. One "very ardent and active Republican politician" withdraws his children from the University. In response, Beriah Brown (1815-1900), editor of the Puget Sound Dispatch, defends civil rights: "Every child of African descent born in this country has the same right of access to our public schools as the children of the most privileged of Caucassian [sic] blood. No teacher or school officer has any more legal right to exclude one than the other."
File 1606: Full Text >
George and Mary Jane Washington found the town of Centerville (now Centralia) on January 8, 1875.
On January 8, 1875, George Washington (1817-1905) and his wife Mary Jane file the plat that establishes the town of Centerville, soon to be renamed Centralia, in Lewis County in Southwest Washington. George Washington, a pioneer from Virginia, is the son of an African American slave and a woman of English descent. For the next 30 years, he is a leading citizen, promoter, and benefactor of the town he founds.
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African American Thomas Freeman opens Pioneer Variety Store in Seattle in 1876.
In 1876, African American Thomas P. Freeman opens the Pioneer Variety Store at the corner of Yesler Way and 2nd Avenue. He sells crockery, glassware, hardware, and new and used goods. He is a shoemaker by trade, having arrived in Seattle with his family in 1872.
File 2759: Full Text >
African American Alfred Freeman opens boot and shoe shop in Seattle 1879.
In 1879, African American Al Freeman opens a boot and shoe store on 1st Avenue. His advertisement states, "Boots and shoes of all kind made to measure at reasonable prices. Repairing neatly, cheaply and promptly done." Al Freeman is the son of Thomas P. (T.P.) Freeman who is the proprietor of the nearby Pioneer Variety Store.
File 2760: Full Text >
African American pioneers John and Mary Conna settle in Federal Way area in 1883.
In 1883, African American pioneers John Conna (1836-1921) and Mary Conna (1840-1907) arrive in the Federal Way area and settle on their 157 acre homestead. John Conna becomes the first black political appointee in the history of Washington Territory.
File 262: Full Text >
Seattle's First African Methodist Episcopal Church is founded in 1886.
In 1886, a Seattle group of African Methodist Episcopalians, served by travelling missionaries, begin meeting in each other's homes. They establish the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.
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African Americans Charles Harvey and Eva Ellis Harvey arrive in Seattle in 1886.
In 1886, Charles H. and Eva Ellis Harvey come to Seattle. He becomes an early black contractor and employer. After living in Belltown for a brief time, they moved to a house on 2nd Avenue at the present (late 1990s) site of the Seattle Art Museum.
File 241: Full Text >
Black publisher Horace Cayton arrives in Seattle in 1886.
In 1886, Horace Cayton (1859-1940) comes to Seattle from Mississippi and by 1894 is publishing the Seattle Republican newspaper.
File 242: Full Text >
Roslyn coalminers strike, precipitating the importation of black miners, on August 17, 1888.
On August 17, 1888, Roslyn miners strike for an eight-hour day, and the Northern Pacific Coal Company brings in trainloads of black miners as strikebreakers. To protect the strikebreakers and to intimidate miners, the company hires 40 armed guards. This precipitates a legal and constitutional crisis, as Territorial Governor Eugene Semple (1840-1908) fears that this armed body constitutes a virtual private militia. He calls it "an outrage" and orders the guards dispersed or arrested. The strike will be settled, and the guards disbanded. Yet many of the black miners and their families will remain in Roslyn for decades.
File 9240: Full Text >
Robert O. Lee becomes first African American to practice law in Washington in 1889.
In 1889, Robert O. Lee arrives in Seattle and becomes the first African American to practice law in Washington.
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African American John T. Gayton arrives in Seattle in 1889.
In 1889, John T. Gayton (1868-1954) arrives in Seattle as a coachman for a Mississippi family. A founder of one of Seattle's leading African American families, he works as librarian for the Federal Court for 20 years.
File 259: Full Text >
Ladies Colored Social Circle forms in Seattle in 1889.
In 1889, the Ladies Colored Social Circle, Seattle's first African American social organization for women, forms. Members include Mrs. Fred Lawrence, Mrs. Logan, and Rebecca Grose Dixon.
File 257: Full Text >
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Showing 1 - 20 of 26 results
Bennie Paris recalls 39 years at Seattle City Light
Bennie Paris worked for City Light for 39 years, beginning as a clerk in September 1956 and (with about three years out to have children) retiring as Senior Finance Analyst in January 1998. This file contains her reminiscences, including memories of the days of discrimination against women, as well as the fun and family-like feeling of working for Seattle's publicly owned utility.
File 2893: Full Text >
Black Arts/West, Part 1 -- A History by Douglas Q. Barnett
Douglas Q. Barnett (b. 1931) was the founder of Black Arts/West and instrumental in the development of theater in Seattle's African American community during the 1960s. Black Arts/West opened on April 1, 1969,
and was directed by Barnett until his resignation on July 31, 1973. This is Part 1 of his five-part history of Black Arts/West during his era and the flowering of African American theater and dance during those turbulent years. A complete list of the 32 plays produced during this period is
included at the end of Part 5.
File 3921: Full Text >
Black Arts/West, Part 2 -- A History by Douglas Q. Barnett
Douglas Q. Barnett (b. 1931) was the founder of Black Arts/West and instrumental in the development of theater in Seattle's African American community during the 1960s. Black Arts/West opened on April 1, 1969,
and was directed by Barnett until his resignation on July 31, 1973. This is Part 2 of his five-part history of Black Arts/West during his era and the flowering of African American theater and dance during those turbulent years. A complete list of the 32 plays produced during this period is included at the end of Part 5.
File 3515: Full Text >
Black Arts/West, Part 3 -- A History by Douglas Q. Barnett
Douglas Q. Barnett (b. 1931) was the founder of Black Arts/West and instrumental in the development of theater in Seattle's African American community during the 1960s. Black Arts/West opened on April 1, 1969, and was directed by Barnett until his resignation on July 31, 1973. This is Part 3 of his five-part history of Black Arts/West during his era and the flowering of African American theater and dance during those turbulent years. A complete list of the 32 plays produced during this period is included at the end of Part 5.
File 3522: Full Text >
Black Arts/West, Part 4 -- A History by Douglas Q. Barnett
Douglas Q. Barnett (b. 1931) was the founder of Black Arts/West and instrumental in the development of theater in Seattle's African American community during the 1960s. Black Arts/West opened on April 1, 1969, and was directed by Barnett until his resignation on July 31, 1973. This is Part 4 of his five-part history of Black Arts/West during his era and the flowering of African American theater and dance during those turbulent years. A complete list of the 32 plays produced during this period is included at the end of Part 5.
File 3523: Full Text >
Black Arts/West, Part 5 -- A History by Douglas Q. Barnett
Douglas Q. Barnett (b. 1931) was the founder of Black Arts/West and instrumental in the development of theater in Seattle's African American community during the 1960s. Black Arts/West opened on April 1, 1969, and was directed by Barnett until his resignation on July 31, 1973. This is Part 5 of his five-part history of Black Arts/West during his era and the flowering of African American theater and dance during those turbulent years. A complete list of the 32 plays produced during this period is included at the end.
File 3524: Full Text >
Campbell, Bertha Pitts: An Oral History
Bertha Pitts Campbell (1889-1990), an early Seattle civil rights worker, was a founder of the Christian Friends for Racial Equality and an early board member of the Seattle Urban League. This is an excerpt of an oral history interview of Bertha Pitts Campbell done by Esther Mumford on April 23, 1975, as part of the Washington State Oral History Project. The interview contains reflections on discrimination against African Americans in Seattle as well as an account of the internment of Japanese Americans at the beginning of World War II.
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Capitol Hill and the Movement: Dotty Decoster Remembers
This is an excerpt from a HistoryLink interview by Heather MacIntosh with Dotty DeCoster in April 2000. DeCoster was an outspoken member of the Women's Movement in the late 1960s and 1970s in Seattle. In this account, she recalls recalls life on Capitol Hill in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s. She touches on a number of issues including: racism, the Civil Rights Movement; the Women's Movement; child care; women joining the Seattle work force; and the Boeing Bust and its impact on Capitol Hill and on the Movement.
File 2443: Full Text >
Carver Gayton reflects on the Jim Owens statue at Husky Stadium, University of Washington
In October 2003, a statue of former Husky head coach Jim Owens (1927-2009) was placed in front of the Husky Stadium in Seattle. The statue renewed a longstanding controversy surrounding Owens. Owens coached the Huskies from 1957 to 1974. He led three teams to the Rose Bowl, but was also at the center of racial turmoil and accusations of bigotry. In part as a result of these racial tensions, Carver Gayton, an African American alumnae player who played on the victorious 1959 Rose Bowl team, was hired in 1968 as Assistant Coach. Gayton was thus in an excellent position to observe the events surrounding Owen's firing of four black athletes on October 30, 1969. In protest of how Owens handled this episode, Gayton resigned as Assistant Coach. This is Carver Gayton's account of these events, written in 2004.
File 5745: Full Text >
Conna, John N. (1836-1921)
This is a biography and reminiscence of the Tacoma African American pioneer John N. Conna written by his grandson, Douglas Q. Barnett.
File 7111: Full Text >
Gayton, John Cyrus (1931-2005), African American Leader
John Cyrus Gayton was the oldest son of John Jacob Gayton (1899-1969) and Virginia Clark Gayton, and grandson of John T. Gayton (1866-1954), early Seattle pioneer. He grew up imbued with the sense of importance of a legacy passed down. His pioneering efforts in the business world, particularly corporate, and activities, civic and community based, have left their mark. In this brief autobiography, Mr. Gayton summarized his life, professional achievements, and services to the community.
File 2726: Full Text >
Holden, Dave: On Race and Music in Seattle, 1956-1966
Dave Holden was born on May 21, 1937, in Seattle. Son of local jazz legend Oscar Holden, Dave got his first paid gig as a jazz musician in the late 1950s. From that time on, Dave's keyboard and vocal talents have taken him around the world. In this HistoryLink interview conducted by Heather MacIntosh in Kent on May 23, 2000, Dave Holden shares his memories of Garfield High School, growing up in the Central Area, and his virtual isolation from the explosive racial tensions of the 1960s.
File 2562: Full Text >
Holden, Grace: Living with a Legend
The following account was excerpted from an interview with Oscale Grace Holden (b. 1930), the daughter of Oscar Holden (1886-1969), who was, according to Paul DeBarros in Jackson Street After Hours: The Roots of Jazz in Seattle, the patriarch of Seattle jazz. The Holden children, Grace, and her brothers Oscar Jr., Dave, Ron, and Jimmy were all musicians who played in Seattle in the late 1940s and beyond. Grace Holden still sings in her church's gospel choir. In this interview, conducted by HistoryLink's Heather MacIntosh on May 17, 2000, at Grace Holden's home in Madison Valley in Seattle, she shares memories of her father and of life as a Holden in Seattle in the 1930s and 1940s.
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Jive Bombers jazz band of World War II
In January 1943, the U.S. Naval Military Band transferred from the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in Illinois to Sand Point Naval Air Station in Seattle. A group of these musicians formed their own jazz ensemble, the "Jive Bombers." This information and the band roster were prepared by Jacqueline E. A. Lawson and band member John Willis to correctly caption a photo found in the collection of the National Archives.
File 7392: Full Text >
Kirk, Priscilla Maunder: An Oral History
Priscilla Maunder Kirk (1898-1992), an African American Seattleite, was born on August 9, 1898, in Seattle. In 1919 she moved to Montana with her husband, where she lived until 1929. She also lived in Minnesota before returning to Seattle in 1955. This is an excerpt of an oral history interview of Priscilla Kirk Maunder done by Esther Mumford on June 18, 1975, as part of the Washington State Oral History Project. Priscilla Maunder Kirk died on November 14, 1992.
File 2429: Full Text >
Madrona Memories, Part 1
This people's history recalls life and society in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s. The main author is Carol Richman, and this segment also includes reflections by Mary Kenny and Sheila Bodemer.
File 3030: Full Text >
Madrona Memories, Part 2 -- Civil Rights and Civil Unrest
This people's history recalls recalls the civil rights movement and civil unrest in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s. The main author is Carol Richman, and this segment also includes extensive reflections by Mary Kenny, Reva K. Twersky, and Judge John Darrah.
File 3105: Full Text >
Madrona Memories, Part 3 -- Central Area Council
Carol Richman moved with her family to the Madrona neighborhood of Seattle in 1961. She was a member of the Central Area Community Council (Madrona and the Central Area are contiguous) and in this People's History offers a reminiscence of and reflection on the Council in the 1960s. Other voices which join Carol Richman as co-rememberers are Richard Boerner and Diana Glenn.
File 3103: Full Text >
Mandatory Busing in Seattle: Memories of a Bumpy Ride
Jovelyn Agbalog (b. 1969) and Linnea Tate Rodriguez (b. 1969) were in grade school when the Seattle School Board implemented mandatory, cross-town busing in the interests of racial integration in 1978. The two met each other on the first day of school the next year, while waiting for the bus that would take them from their Mount Baker neighborhood, in Seattle's South End, to Broadview Elementary School, at the northern edge of the city. Jovelyn, a Filipina, was entering the fifth grade and had already been through one year of busing. Linnea, a Caucasian, was a fourth-grade rookie, freshly moved to Seattle from Lewiston, Idaho. They recall their experiences on the bus and in the classroom in this interview with HistoryLink staff historian (and Linnea's mother) Cassandra Tate.
File 3915: Full Text >
Racism in Seattle and Fort Lewis During World War II: An Oral History of Arline and Letcher Yarbrough
This oral history of Arline and Letcher Yarbrough concerning racism during World War II in Seattle and at Fort Lewis was conducted at the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) on January 26. 1985, and is edited by MOHAI historian Dr. Lorraine McConaghy.
File 8090: Full Text >
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