This page is a gateway to the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project resources for exploring the civil rights activism of African Americans in the Pacific Northwest. Included are a short film, activist oral histories, research reports, newspaper reports, photographic collections, maps, historical documents. Show
Film: "The End of Old Days" This 13 minute video explores a century of African American community building and civil rights activism in Seattle. It was created for the Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project by Shaun Scott. It can be viewed online in several formats. Activist Oral Histories Click to learn more about these activists and watch video excerpts of their oral history interviews. Alexander, BelleBelle Alexander was a "Rosie the Riveter" and one of the first African Americans to work at Boeing Aircraft. Raised in Georgia, she moved to Seattle in 1943. A sheet metal worker, she worked at Boeing for three years, then spent three decades working in Seattle area hospitals. Adams, John H.Bishop Adams was pastor of First AME Church from 1962-1968 and helped shape Seattle's civil rights struggles of the mid 1960s. He was the first Chair of the Central Area Civil Rights Committee and co-founded the Central Area Motivation Program (CAMP). Amen-Allah, KenyattoA child during the civil rights era, Kenyatto Amen-Allah grew up around the Black Panther Party, attending the BPP's Liberation School. He is currently active with the Panther Legacy Committee. Caver, VivianVivian Caver’s more than 50 year record of civic service in Seattle’s African American community includes substantial civil rights advocacy work: Urban League desegregation campaigns of the 1940s, open housing campaigns of the 1960s, and serving as Vice Chair and later Chair of the Seattle Human Rights Department. Cook, MarkRaised in Seattle, Mike Cook joined the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s and co-founded its chapter in Walla Walla state penitentiary. Dixon, AaronCo-founder of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party, Aaron Dixon helped start the Black Student Union at the University of Washington before meeting Bobby Seale and agreeing to lead the first chapter of the BPP established outside of California. He served as Captain from 1968 to 1972. Dixon, ElmerCo-founder of the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party, Elmer Dixon grew up in the Central District and helped organize a Black Student Union at Garfield HS before helping his brother Aaron begin the BPP. He served as Field Marshall and coordinator of the breakfast program for the chapter. Dixon, MichaelYoungest of the Dixon brothers, Michael was a 15-year-old sophomore at Garfield High School when he joined the BP. Active also in the BSU at Garfield, he then attended UW and helped cement the relationship between the Panthers and the BSU. Fiddler, JakeJake Fiddler served as Elmer Dixon's bodyguard and the Coordinator of Party newspaper sales and distribution for the Seattle Chapter of the Black Panther Party from 1968-70. Gossett, LarryLarry Gossett grew up in Seattle's Central District and attended the University of Washington where he co-founded the Black Student Union and helped lead off-campus protests in the late 1960s. After serving as Executive Director at CAMP, he was elected to the King County Council, where he now represents the 2nd District. Hawkins, ToddTodd Hawkins is a plumber who took a leading role in the United Construction Workers Association’s struggle to desegregate the Seattle building trades unions and organize anti-discrimination organizing in Oakland, Denver, and the Southwest. He is a longtime leader at LELO. Hollingsworth, DorothyA social worker, Dorothy Hollingsworth moved to Seattle in 1946 and became active in the Christian Friends for Racial Equality and later the Central Area Civil Rights Committee and Model Cities. She served as first director of Head Start in Seattle, and was the first black woman elected to the Seattle School Board. Hobbs, LeonAfter joining the Black Panther Party in 1969, Leon Hobbs used his military experience to train Seattle Chapter members in weapons and tactics. He later served as bodyguard to Huey P. Newton. Hubbard, WalterWalter Hubbard’s civil rights leadership grew out of his involvement with the Catholic Church. Hubbard co-founded Seattle’s Catholic Interracial Council and the Catholic Church’s Project Equality, and served in the leadership of Seattle's Central Area Civil Rights Committee and the National Office of Black Catholics. Johnson, Charles V.Charles Johnson has a long record of leadership in the NAACP: he was President of the NAACP's Seattle Chapter from 1959 to 1964, of its Northwest Area Conference until the early 1970s, and served on the National NAACP's Executive Board from 1968 to 1995. He played a leading role in the Central Area Civil Rights Committee and Model Cities. From 1969 to 1998 he served as a Judge, first in Municipal Court, then in Superior Court. Johnson, RonShortly after moving to Seattle from Los Angeles in 1969, Ron Johnson joined the Black Panther Party and served as the local Chapter's Minister of Information through much of the 1970s. Lanier, HermanHerman Lanier was a sheet metal worker in the early 1970s and an active member in the United Construction Workers Association. McKinney, SamuelRev. Dr. Samuel McKinney came to Seattle in 1958 and led Mt. Zion Baptist Church for 40 years. He played a key role in the civil rights mobilizations of the 1960s. In 1961 he arranged the one and only Seattle visit for his former college classmate, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Mercer, LyleSince returning to Seattle after serving in WWII, Lyle Mercer has been an activist for peace and progressive politics. Over the decades he led opposition to HUAC, was closely involved in Congress of Racial Equality and the ACLU, crusaded for a National Health Security Act, served on the board of Group Health Cooperative, and remains active today in Veterans for Peace. Murray, Mike Mike Murray was 16 years old and a student at Garfield High School when he joined the Black Panther Party in 1968. He left the party after its first year. Nelson, LonnieBorn in Seattle, her father was a Communist Party member and helped organize the International Longshoremen and Warehousemen's Union in the 1930s. Lonnie joined the Party in 1951 and has been active ever since in civil rights and Indian rights struggles, Central District organizing, the Coalition for the Defense of the Rights of the Black Panther Party, the Coalition of Labor Union Women, and Mothers for Police Accountability. Owens, GarryA member of the Black Panther Party from 1968-1972, Gary Owens had grown up in Seattle and served in the military before joining. Among other things, he handled the party's Speakers Bureau. Sims, BeverlyOne of the first women members of IBEW local 46, Beverly Sims is the widow of UCWA founder Tyree Scott. She helped create LELO (Northwest Labor and Employment Law Office) and was involved in enforcing pioneering court decisions that mandated affirmative action in the local construction industry. Simmons, FredAn electrician and long time activist, Fred Simmons was raised in St. Louis. After moving to Seattle, he apprenticed as an electrician. As a member of IBEW Local 46, he helped create the Electrical Workers Minority Caucus, serving as its first president. He is also active in LELO. Singler, JoanCo-founder of Seattle's CORE chapter in 1961, Joan Singler helped organize campaigns against employment discrimination in grocery stories and downtown department stores, against housing discrimination, and against police harassment of African Americans. Smith, Charles Z.Born in Florida, Charles Smith moved to Seattle in 1955 to attend law school at UW. Active in African American civil rights efforts, he also became a member of the Japanese American Citizens League. He served as Dean of the UW Law School and In 1988 became the first African American to serve on the Washington State Supreme Court. Tagawa, MikeOne of only three Japanese Americans to join the Black Panther Party, Mike Tagawa was born in an internment camp, grew up in Seattle, and served in the military before joining the party in 1968. He later helped organize the Oriental Student Union at Seattle Central Community College. Uhlman, Wes Mayor of Seattle from 1969 to 1977, Uhlman presided over one of the most turbulent and significant eras in Seattle's history. Only 34 years old when he took office and more liberal than his predecessors, Uhlman changed the tone of city politics. Valentine, BettylouBettylou Valentine moved to Seattle in 1959 to attend graduate school. An NAACP activist, she joined CORE in the early 1960s and helped organize campaigns against employment discrimination in grocery stories and downtown department stores, against housing discrimination, and against police harassment of African Americans. West, MarionMarion and her African American husband Ray West were active members of the Christian Friends for Racial Equality in the 1950s and Seattle CORE in the 1960s. Marion was able to purchase a home in the racially restricted University District in the 1950s, but when neighbors discovered that she was married to Ray, and that they would rent the building out to people of color, they were driven from their home by harrasment, including a cross burning. White, BobbyBobby White joined the Black Panther Party in 1968, shortly after returning home to Seattle after military service in Vietnam. He served as the Seattle Chapter’s Lieutenant of Information until leaving the Party in 1970. Whitaker, AlvinAlvin Whitaker is an electrician who helped integrate Seattle’s building trades in the 1970s as an activist in the United Construction Workers Association. Williams, ShamseddinThe son of former Panther and former pro-football player, Malcolm Williams, Shamseddin Williams spent part of his childhood with the Seattle Black Panther Party. Yates, JohnJohn Yates was one of the first black apprentice insulators in the early 1970s and an active member in the United Construction Workers Association. Special Sections
Research ReportsRacial Restrictive Covenants: Enforcing Neighborhood Segregation in Seattle by Catherine Silva
Coon Chicken Inn: North Seattle’s Beacon of Bigotry by Catherine Roth
CORE and the Fight Against Employer Discrimination in 1960s Seattle by Jamie Brown
CORE’s Drive for Equal Employment in Downtown Seattle, 1964 by Rachel Smith
The 1964 Open Housing Election: How the Press Influenced the Campaign by Trevor Goodloe
The Early History of the UW Black Student Union by Marc Robinson
The BSU Takes on BYU and the UW Athletics Program, 1970 by Craig Collisson
The Franklin High School Sit-in, March 29, 1968 by Tikia Gilbert
The Christian Friends for Racial Equality, 1942-70 by Johanna Phillips
Battle at Boeing: African Americans and the Campaign for Jobs, 1939-1942 by Sarah Davenport
1965 Freedom Patrols and the Origins of Seattle’s Police Accountability Movement by Jennifer Taylor
Electrical Workers Minority Caucus: A History by Nicole Grant
Blocking Racial Intermarriage Laws in 1935 and 1937: Seattle’s First Civil Rights Coalition by Stefanie Johnson
Susie Revels Cayton: "The Part She Played" by Michelle L. Goshorn
Black Longshoreman: The Frank Jenkins Story by Megan Elston
Revels Cayton: African American Communist and Labor Activist by Sarah Falconer
The Seattle School Boycott of 1966 by Brooke Clark
Tyree Scott and the United Construction Workers Association by Trevor Griffey
The Black Panther Party in Seattle 1968-1970 by Kurt Schaefer
Organized Labor and Seattle’s African American Community: 1916-1920by Jon Wright
Race and Civil Rights in the Washington State Communist Party: the 1930s and 1940sby Shelley Pinckney
Newspaper reports
Photo Collections
Maps of residential patterns
Document collections
Other resources and links
Bibliography
Why was there a change in the civil rights movement after 1965?The Civil Rights Movement began to change after 1965. Some African Americans began to reject the calls for non-violent protests. These people wanted changes to occur much more quickly. They demanded action now, rather than the slower changes that usually came from peaceful demonstrations.
What happened in 1965 during the civil rights movement?Voting Rights Act of 1965
When President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law on August 6, 1965, he took the Civil Rights Act of 1964 several steps further. The new law banned all voter literacy tests and provided federal examiners in certain voting jurisdictions.
Why was the Black Power Movement important to the civil rights movement?Black Power began as revolutionary movement in the 1960s and 1970s. It emphasized racial pride, economic empowerment, and the creation of political and cultural institutions.
Why did African Americans pursue civil rights more vigorously after World War II?Why did African Americans pursue civil rights more vigorously after World War II? Despite service in the military, blacks returned to find that Jim Crow laws were still in place. Why did blacks begin to expect more civil rights after World War II? Blacks had gained confidence to compete in a white-dominated society.
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