Topic: Black Americans
The Central Area of Seattle lies midway between the Central Business District and Lake Washington and is the city's oldest surviving residential area. Sometimes known as the Central District, or affec...
A hub in Seattle's Central District for more than a century, the intersection of 23rd Avenue S and S Jackson Street has witnessed dramatic change over the years. The city's electric streetcar system m...
Ron Sims spent more than 20 years in King County government, first as a member of the King County Council elected in 1985 and then as King County Executive since 1996. Sims guided the county governmen...
The Sinclair Park Community Center was the nexus of Sinclair Park, often called Sinclair Heights because of its location atop a large hill west of Bremerton (Kitsap County). Sinclair Park was a housin...
Albert "Al" Smith, Seattle's preeminent African American photographer, was the son of a West Indies immigrant couple who settled in the heart of Seattle's Central Area around 1914. He developed an ear...
Charles Z. Smith was the first African American and the first person of color to serve on the Washington State Supreme Court. He was appointed by Governor Booth Gardner (1936-2013) in 1988, and was th...
Sam Smith was the first black person to be elected to the Seattle City Council and the second black State Legislator from King County. He has been credited with helping to bridge the political and cul...
The Somali immigrant community in Seattle began as a small group of college students and engineers in the 1970s and 1980s. It has grown exponentially in the past 20 years as thousands of refugees of S...
It's been said that the 98118 ZIP code in Southeast Seattle is the most diverse in the United States. The claim is not quantifiably true, although it's easy enough to believe. Successive waves of newc...
John Stanford (1938-1998) was the superintendent of Seattle Schools for just three years and seriously ill during the last few months, but he continued to maintain a high profile in the community as w...
African American Seattleite Joseph Isom Staton (b. 1910) was born in Fort Lawton, Washington, on September 19, 1910. His mother originally came from Kentucky, his father from Missouri. This is an exce...
In 1950, Charles Stokes was elected to the Washington state legislature from the 37th District in central and southeast Seattle, becoming the first black legislator from King County. The only black le...
Quintard Taylor Jr. is a University of Washington professor and historian who founded BlackPast.org, an online encyclopedia of African American history. Born in Tennessee to a family of sharecroppers...
This recollection of the history of The Seattle Repertory Theatre was written by Douglas Q. Barnett (1931-2019), a theater person who witnessed first hand the trials and tribulations of The Rep in its...
Barbara Earl Thomas (b. 1948) is a Seattle artist whose work has been exhibited at the Seattle Art Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Whatcom County Museum, and in museums and galleries throughout the...
Barbara Earl Thomas (b. 1948) is a Seattle artist whose work has been exhibited at the Seattle Art Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Whatcom County Museum, and in museums and galleries throughout the...
Barbara Earl Thomas (b. 1948) is a Seattle artist whose work has been exhibited at the Seattle Art Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, the Whatcom County Museum, and in museums and galleries throughout the...
Dr. Alvin Jerome Thompson was an African American, an accomplished physician, a dedicated volunteer for many causes, and a man of varied talents and interests. He moved to Seattle in 1953, with his wi...
The Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, formerly the Seattle Urban League, is a community-based social service organization dedicated to improving the lives of African Americans, other people of col...
Lillian Walker was an African American civil rights activist in the Bremerton area. Raised in rural Illinois, Walker went on to Chicago to pursue nursing, and moved to Bremerton in 1941 with her husba...
Florasina Ware was the quintessential activist, known for raising a strong and logical voice on behalf of children, the elderly, and the poor.
The eminent African American sculptor and painter James Washington Jr. was a leading member of the Northwest School. He grew up in Mississippi. After working as a WPA artist, he came to the Puget Soun...
Janie Rogella Washington was a Seattle nurse and supportive wife who shared and inspired the spirituality that shaped the art of her husband, Dr. James W. Washington Jr. (1911-2000), the international...
United States society and its military continued to be segregated during World War II. This segregation included separate camps for blacks or separate housing areas within larger installation. During ...