The Langston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (LHPAI) is Seattle’s longest-lived performing arts venue for programming primarily by and about people of African descent. It is located at 104 17th Avenue South in the Central Area, the traditional heart of the African American and Diaspora community. … Read MoreLangston Hughes Performing Arts Institute (1969- )
Dr. Dawn Mason is a former Washington State Representative for the 37th District, an adjunct professor for writing, a former member of the Board of Visitors at Antioch University Seattle, and a Vision and Planning Team Member for Cultural Reconnection (USA and Kenya). Mason was … Read MoreDawn Mason (1945- )
Paul Dusenbury was a multi-talented visual artist, musician, teacher, and proponent of the synthesis of many art expressions. His explorations, infectious inspiration, and originality were well appreciated throughout the Seattle, Washington area where he taught and worked. He expressed caring relationships, and art that combined … Read MorePaul R. Dusenbury (1935-1998)
Virgil Spencer Clarkson, five-term member of the City Council of Lacey, Washington, served for three terms as Mayor of the city (2004-2005, 2006-2007, and 2012-2013). He has also served twice as Deputy Mayor in 2002-2003 and 2010-2011. He is the first African American to hold … Read MoreVirgil Spencer Clarkson (1932- )
In the account below, Jim Kershner, author, historian, and longtime journalist for the Spokesman-Review, Spokane’s major daily newspaper, discusses what led him to the story of Carl Maxey, one of Washington State’s key 20th century civil rights figures, and the challenges he encountered while writing … Read MoreTelling Carl Maxey’s Story: Understanding the Fighter in the Ring and the Courtroom
Former State Senator and Representative for Washington’s 26th District, William “Bill” Smitherman was born on July 31, 1943. He grew up in Lakewood and graduated from Clover Park High School in 1962. He and his wife Karen, a retired Tacoma public school teacher and administrator, … Read MoreWilliam Smitherman (1943- )
Former Washington State Legislator and current internet business entrepreneur, Jesse Calvin Wineberry was born in 1955 in Sedro Woolley, Washington, and adopted by parents Peter and Mary Wineberry. Wineberry grew up in Seattle’s Central District and attended Queen Anne High School. He earned a degree … Read MoreJesse Calvin Wineberry (1955- )
Milton Simons was a major Seattle African American multi-faceted artist from the 1940s until his death in 1973. In addition to his skills as a painter, Simons was an educator, poet, dancer, and noted musician/composer. Born and raised in Seattle, Washington, Simons’ work reflected his … Read MoreMilt Simons (1923-1973)
Desmond Power, a third-generation British subject born in Tientsin (now Tianjin), China in 1923, was incarcerated along with 1,500 other foreign nationals in 1943 in Weihsien, a Japanese Prisoner of War camp in North China during World War II. In the article below, Power recalls … Read MoreJazz in Occupied China: Black Jazzmen at the Japanese Prison Camp in Weihsien, China during World War II
Few people connect Washington Territory with slavery. However one incident in 1860 was a reminder that the peculiar institution reached the pre-Civil War Pacific Northwest. In the account below, historian Lorraine McConaghy describes the saga of Charles Mitchell whose attempted escape from slavery in a … Read MoreCharles Mitchell, Slavery, and Washington Territory in 1860
