Independent Historian

Allison Espiritu graduated from the University of Washington in 2007 with a degree in journalism.  She has worked for a number of Seattle area newspapers including the International Examiner, OnePhilippines, the North Seattle Herald Outlook, and the Madison Park Times.   Her feature stories have covered diverse topics ranging from alcohol awareness programs in the Seattle Middle School and the local impact of the Great American Smoke Out program to a discussion of the role of local restaurants in feeding the homeless.  Allison is currently working at the Seattle Times as a News Lead Assistant.

Hazel Rollins Reid O’Leary (1937- )

The first and only woman to hold the position of U.S. Secretary of Energy, Hazel Rollins Reid was born May 17, 1937 in Newport News, Virginia.  During this time of public school segregation, Reid’s parents, hoping for better schooling opportunities, sent their daughter to live … Read MoreHazel Rollins Reid O’Leary (1937- )

Palmer Memorial Institute (1902-1971)

In 1902, Charlotte Brown Hawkins opened an institute for African American teenagers in North Carolina. She established the institute in a converted blacksmith shop and named it for her mentor, Alice Freeman Palmer.  Hawkins credited Palmer, the first woman president of Wellesley College, with much … Read MorePalmer Memorial Institute (1902-1971)

Charlotte Eugenia Hawkins Brown (1883-1961)

Born Lottie Hawkins in Henderson, North Carolina, in 1883, her family moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts, early in her childhood to avoid racial discrimination in their home state. In Cambridge, she attended Allston Grammar School, Cambridge English High School and Salem State Normal School in Salem, … Read MoreCharlotte Eugenia Hawkins Brown (1883-1961)