Seattle's first publicly funded night school opens on October 26, 1891.

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On October 26, 1891, Seattle's first publicly funded night school opens in a room on the corner of 7th Avenue and Cherry Street with 30 students. Attending are waiters, clerks, bell boys, a few mechanics, and one female.

The School Superintendent had proposed a night school earlier but the School Board did not act upon the idea until the waiters at the Rainier Club, other members of the African American community, and white hotel workers submitted a petition requesting a night school.

Sources:
Esther Hall Mumford, Seattle's Black Victorians 1852-1901 (Seattle: Ananse Press, 1980), 142.

By Helen Lacy, November 07, 1998

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Related Topics: Firsts | Education | Black Americans |

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Seattle, looking up Pike Street from 2nd Avenue, 1890s
Postcard