History of the Seattle Branch
The Seattle Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on October 23, 1913, and became the first of the national civil rights organizations to be established in the city.
The founding members of the Seattle NAACP were:
In its early years the Seattle NAACP staged protest marches, filed lawsuits against discrimination, and sponsored celebrations of Emancipation Day and Lincoln's birthday. It also protested the showing of the anti-black film, Birth of a Nation.
During the 1920s, Seattle's NAACP mobilized to fight an anti-intermarriage bill under consideration by the state legislature. But, for most of the decade there were few NAACP activities, perhaps due to the Universal Negro Improvement Association which emerged during this period. In 1928, the national office declared the Seattle chapter dormant.
The Great Depression of the 1930s breathed new life into the floundering civil rights organization as it sought to respond to the economic crisis in black Seattle. It took up many cases of employment discrimination and racial harassment.
As Seattle's black population grew during the 1940s, there was increasing segregation and exclusion in restaurants, theaters, motels, and recreational areas. The NAACP filed successful suits against many of the offenders and campaigned against discriminatory policies. The membership grew from 85 to 1,550 in 1946. New leaders Philip Burton and E. June Smith emerged. They initiated suits against discriminatory practices and lobbied for stronger Washington state civil rights laws.
Sources:
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Manuscripts and University Archives, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Records, 1935-1966, Accession No. 994; Quintard Taylor, The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle's Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Movement. (Seattle: University of Washington Press,1994).
Note: This essay was updated on January 27, 2005, and again on February 8, 2009.
By Mary T. Henry, January 14, 1999
HistoryLink.org
The founding members of the Seattle NAACP were:
- Dr. E. A Johnson
- Rev. J. L. Williams
- Horace Cayton, Vice President
- Samuel H. Stone
- G. W. Jones
- J. I. Reams
- Zoe Young (Zoe Dusanne)
- Bonita Wright
- Mrs. R. J. Allen
- Andrew Black
- Mrs. S. H. Stone
- Rev. W. D. Carter
- Samuel P. DeBow
- William Chandler
- Benjamin F. Tutt
- Letitia Graves, President
- Alma Glass
- J. H. (Henry) Graves
- Etta Hawkins
- Beatrice Ball
- G. W. Thompson
- L. Austin
In its early years the Seattle NAACP staged protest marches, filed lawsuits against discrimination, and sponsored celebrations of Emancipation Day and Lincoln's birthday. It also protested the showing of the anti-black film, Birth of a Nation.
During the 1920s, Seattle's NAACP mobilized to fight an anti-intermarriage bill under consideration by the state legislature. But, for most of the decade there were few NAACP activities, perhaps due to the Universal Negro Improvement Association which emerged during this period. In 1928, the national office declared the Seattle chapter dormant.
The Great Depression of the 1930s breathed new life into the floundering civil rights organization as it sought to respond to the economic crisis in black Seattle. It took up many cases of employment discrimination and racial harassment.
As Seattle's black population grew during the 1940s, there was increasing segregation and exclusion in restaurants, theaters, motels, and recreational areas. The NAACP filed successful suits against many of the offenders and campaigned against discriminatory policies. The membership grew from 85 to 1,550 in 1946. New leaders Philip Burton and E. June Smith emerged. They initiated suits against discriminatory practices and lobbied for stronger Washington state civil rights laws.
Sources:
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, Manuscripts and University Archives, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Records, 1935-1966, Accession No. 994; Quintard Taylor, The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle's Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Movement. (Seattle: University of Washington Press,1994).
Note: This essay was updated on January 27, 2005, and again on February 8, 2009.
By Mary T. Henry, January 14, 1999
HistoryLink.org