Isaiah Edwards was a community activist and advocate in Seattle’s Central Area. Isaiah Edwards and his wife, Marie, moved from Topeka, Kansas, to Seattle in 1942 to work at Boeing. Edwards worked for 40 years at Boeing as a maintenance dispatcher without missing a day, … Read MoreIsaiah Edwards (1913-1994)
Inez Maxine Pitter Haynes, the middle sibling of the Pitter sisters, was born February 06, 1919 to Edward A. Pitter and Marjorie Allen Pitter, in Seattle, Washington. In 1936 she graduated from Garfield High School and entered the University of Washington as a pre-nursing major, … Read MoreInez Maxine Pitter Haynes (1919-2004)
Homer Harris was born on March 4, 1916 in Seattle, Washington. In 1933, Harris became the first black captain of the football team at Garfield High School in Seattle. At the University of Iowa, Homer was elected by his teammates to be team captain, most … Read MoreHomer E. Harris, Jr. (1916- 2007 )
Born November 9, 1933 in Clinton, Louisiana to a farming family, Henry Beauchamp, Jr., was the youngest of Henry Clay, Sr., and Cornellia Beauchamp’s seven children. Shortly after Henry’s thirteenth birthday, his family moved to Yakima, Washington, where he received his secondary education. Henry married … Read MoreHenry Beauchamp (1933-2013)
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)
Franklin Raines was born in Seattle on January 14, 1949, and graduated from Franklin High School in Seattle. From here, he went to Harvard and graduated in 1971 with a B.A. in Government. He was awarded the prestigious Rhodes scholarship and attended Oxford University for … Read MoreFranklin Raines (1949- )
Frank A. Stokes was a black Spokane pioneer, an entrepreneur, a custodian for Spokane’s Old National Bank, and a member of one of Spokane’s first black churches, Bethel AME. In 1919, he helped organize Spokane’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People branch. For … Read MoreFrank A. Stokes ( ? -1950)
Florasina Ware was the quintessential activist, known in Seattle for raising a strong voice on behalf of children, the elderly, and the poor. Dissatisfied with the quality of the Central Area schools attended by most of the city’s black students, she pressed school officials for academic … Read MoreFlo Ware (1912-1981)
Established in 1886 when Washington was still a territory, the First African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Seattle, Washington is the state’s oldest black church. Initially, members began by meeting in each other’s homes. These meetings eventually led to the opening of a home based … Read MoreFirst African Methodist Episcopal Church, Seattle, Washington (1886- )
E. Russell “Noodles” Smith, so named because he always kept enough money for a bowl of noodles after a night of gambling, is considered to be “the father – or perhaps the midwife – of Seattle jazz.” He arrived in Seattle during the Alaska Yukon … Read MoreE. Russell “Noodles” Smith (?-1952)
