George Morrison dreamed of playing violin with a major orchestra. As things stood for black musicians in the early twentieth century, that dream would remain unrealized. Born in Fayette, Missouri, on September 9, 1891, Morrison came from a musical family and at an early age … Read MoreGeorge Morrison (1891-1974)
As one of the earliest permanent American settlers on Puget Sound in 1845, George Bush played a vital role in the beginnings of Washington Territory. Bush’s story is even more remarkable because he was a man of mixed race who overcame prejudice and discrimination to … Read MoreGeorge Bush (ca. 1789-1863)
For nearly thirty years, Emma Ray, who was born into slavery and raised in poverty in Missouri, ministered to the poor and homeless in Seattle slums along with her husband, L.P. They came to Seattle following the 1889 fire in order for L.P. to find … Read MoreEmma Ray (1859-1930)
Dred Scott, was an enslaved person noted mainly for the unsuccessful lawsuit brought to free him from bondage. The decision rendered by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1857 in the Dred Scott case, said that no blacks slave or free were U.S. citizens and allowed … Read MoreDred Scott (1795-1858)
E. June Smith, a prominent leader in Seattle’s civil rights movement, was born in Cairo, Illinois in 1900 and worked as a secretary in St. Louis. Smith came to Seattle with her husband Roscoe O. Smith, a railroad porter, in 1941. Soon after her arrival, … Read MoreE. June Smith (1900-1982)
Dr. DeNorval Unthank, a civil rights advocate and a highly respected leader in the black community of Portland, Oregon, was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania on December 14, 1899. After his mother died, Unthank’s father sent him to live with an aunt and uncle in Kansas … Read MoreDeNorval Unthank (1899-1977)
Chester Himes was an important writer of fiction and autobiography. Although Himes’s most widely read novels were detective stories set in Harlem, his first two published novels reflected his experiences in Los Angeles, where he lived from 1940 until 1944. Himes was born in Jefferson … Read MoreChester Himes (1909-1984)
William Dominick Matthews was a Civil War officer in the Union Army and is best known for leading the First Kansas Colored Volunteer Infantry. Matthews was born a free man in October 25, 1827, on the eastern shore of Maryland. His father Joseph was a … Read MoreWilliam Dominick Matthews (1827-1906)
Benjamin “Pap” Singleton was born a slave in Nashville, Tennessee in 1809 and worked for much of his life as a cabinet maker. After being sold to the Deep South Singleton escaped to Canada, but it was not long before he moved to Detroit, Michigan … Read MoreBenjamin “Pap” Singleton (1809-1892)
Born in 1837 in North Carolina, Sara G. Stanley was a member of a free, educated and economically secure family. She attended Oberlin College and later moved to Delaware after her family immigrated there. Following the tradition of other free black women Sara joined the … Read MoreSara G. Stanley (1837-1918)
