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)
Eleanor Barrow Chase, a member of one of Spokane, Washington’s pioneer African American families, made many contributions to the city during her lifetime. Eleanor excelled in sports and academics, graduating magna cum laude from Whitworth College with a degree in vocal music in 1941. After … Read MoreEleanor Barrow Chase (1918-2002)
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)
Edwin Thomas Pratt had been a leader in Seattle, Washington’s civil rights movement for a decade when he was assassinated at the front door of his home on January 26, 1969. At the time, Pratt was Executive Director of the Seattle Urban League. His murder … Read MoreEdwin T. Pratt (1930-1969)
Dr. Earl V. Miller was the first African American board certified urologist in the State of Washington and the first west of the Mississippi. He was born in Natchez, Mississippi, and received his B.A. degree from Dillard University in New Orleans in 1943. He joined the … Read MoreDr. Earl V. Miller (1923-2005)
The Spokesman-Review of March 6, 1910 featured this headline: ‘Spokane Negroes Buy Land Tract to be Developed by Black Labor Only.’ The article continued, “For the purpose of giving the Negroes of Spokane an opportunity to demonstrate a fitness to survive in this northwest… a band … Read MoreDeer Lake Park, Deer Lake, Washington
Constance Allen Pitter Thomas, the eldest of the Pitter Sisters, was born July 13, 1917, to Edward A. Pitter and Marjorie Allen Pitter, in the East Madison Street district of Seattle, Washington. She grew up in a very close-knit family and community, in which she … Read MoreConstance Allen Pitter Thomas (1917-2006)
Charles Moorehead Stokes, one of three sons of Rev. Norris Jefferson Stokes and Myrtle Garner Stokes, was born on February 1, 1903 in Pratt, Kansas. He graduated from the University of Kansas Law School in 1931 and soon after opened his law practice in Pratt … Read MoreCharles Moorehead Stokes (1903-1996)
Located in southwest Washington, the town of Centralia was founded by George Washington, an African American who came west in 1850 to escape discrimination. Washington first settled in Oregon Territory, but was barred from owning land there, so he moved north and eventually obtained a … Read MoreCentralia, Washington (1875– )
Despite its charm, Hawaii was a peculiar setting for a young black woman from Brooklyn, New York in the late nineteenth century. The third child of T. McCants Stewart and Charlotte Pearl Harris, Carlotta Stewart was born in 1881 in Brooklyn, New York, where she … Read MoreCarlotta Stewart Lai (1881-1952)
