Peter William Cassey was born in Philadelphia in 1831, the son of renowned African American abolitionist Joseph Cassey. Cassey learned political activism from his father. He also learned the barbering trade which he pursued after his arrival in San Francisco in 1863. In 1859 Cassey … Read MorePeter William Cassey (1831-?)
After a faction of the Creek tribe had negotiated and signed a treaty with the Confederacy in July 1861, a group of Upper Creek chiefs led by Opothleyohola repudiated the treaty and declared their neutrality. Opothleyohola’s followers and their families gathered together on Opothleyohola’s plantation/ranch … Read MoreOpothleyohola’s Exodus to Kansas (Nov. 1861-Jan. 1862)
Nolle Smith, cowboy, politician, diplomat, was born on his parents’ ranch in Horse Creek, Wyoming in 1888 but grew up in Cheyenne where he graduated as valedictorian of his high school class at Cheyenne High School in 1907. The son of a white father and … Read MoreNolle Smith (1888-1982)
Mary Ellen Pleasant was born on Aug. 19, 1814 in Virginia and spent her early years in Nantucket, Massachusetts. She worked as a bond servant to the Hussey family, an abolitionist family. She later married James Smith, a wealthy former plantation owner and an abolitionist. … Read MoreMary Ellen Pleasant (1814-1904)
Lieutenant James A. Roston was a key organizer for the African American labor movement in Seattle in the early part of the 20th century. He was born in New Haven, Connecticut in 1864. Roston was commissioned (from the District of Columbia) as a first lieutenant … Read MoreJames A. Roston (1864-1924)
William Nickerson, one of the founders of Golden State Mutual Life Insurance Co., was born in a log cabin in San Jacinto County, Texas in 1879. Nickerson was educated at Bishop College in Marshall, Texas. He worked briefly as a history teacher in public schools … Read MoreWilliam Nickerson (1879-1945)
Determined to study law in the United States, William McDonald Austin moved from his home in Barbados to San Francisco, California when he was a young man. He moved again from San Francisco to Seattle, Washington when he was admitted to the University of Washington … Read MoreWilliam McDonald Austin (?-?)
On Thursday March 31 and Friday April 1, 1966, thousands of Seattle Public School students boycotted schools in the Central District, Seattle Washington’s African American community, to protest the de facto segregation that they believed was racially discriminatory. The students and their leaders felt that … Read MoreSeattle School Boycott (1966)
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, Jr. on August 16, 1947, in New York City, New York. He was known as Lew Alcindor until his 1973 name change. Alcindor dominated the New York City high school basketball scene. Decidedly larger than his peers from … Read MoreKareem Abdul-Jabbar (1947- )
Jack Tanner was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1919. His father, Ernie Tanner, was a respected local leader in the Tacoma local of the International Longshoremen’s Union, an organization that Jack Tanner eventually joined when he worked on the city’s docks. Before joining the union, … Read MoreJack Tanner (1919-2006)
