Learn about iconic Garfield High School in this week’s installment of MOHAI Minute.
In this series, Peder Nelson and Helen Divjak take viewers on a time-traveling journey to some of Seattle’s most fascinating historic spots where they delve into the unique history of each.
Video Transcript
I don’t know which one belongs to the CIA I’m trying to figure it out.
Hey guys, my name is Peder Nelson and over the past couple years Helen and I have brought to you different types of History all around Seattle but today we’re in one place that holds a little bit of my own history – Garfield High School. That’s right I’m not from Seattle but even before I moved here I knew about Garfield High and when I found out that this guy and that guy behind the camera both graduated from here, I knew we had to do a MOHAI Minute about it. I’m Helen Divjak and I’m Peder Nelson and this is your MOHAI Minute. Bulldogs!
Since 1920 there has been a school on these grounds. Starting with the temporary East High School that was created to help ease all of the overcrowding in nearby schools like Broadway High School. The demand for sufficient high school facilities was rising quickly so in 1923 this permanent structure was opened. It was designed by the Seattle schools architect Floyd naramore who is the “N” in the renowned local Architecture Firm NBBJ. The school is named after the 20th president of the United States, James A Garfield, who during his 200 days in office was a major supporter of African-American civil rights and he appointed many African-American men to prominent posts in the federal government – including Fredick Douglas and John Langston great uncle to Langston Hughes. And if you’re wondering why Garfield only served 200 days in office it’s because he was shot in July of 1881 and died from the wound a few months later.
We came to MOHAI’s Library where we found some Garfield High yearbooks and you can tell by the names and faces of these students that it’s always been a pretty diverse school. Yeah absolutely and what’s really interesting is that if you look at the yearbooks from before World War II you can see that a large portion of the student body was Japanese-American. But after 1941, when Japanese internment began, these students disappear and that just goes to show that your books aren’t just evidence of really bad hair styling choices but they also document the changing demographics of the community. Since its earliest days Garfield has been known as one of the most diverse schools in the state. In 1962 it became the first school in Washington state to have a majority African-American population making it a perfect venue for the groundbreaking speech by Stokely Carmichael in 1967.
“When we were in Puerto Rico a couple of months ago we were speaking in Spanish I looked through the dictionary to find a word for Negro in Puerto Rican. There is no such word. The closest word is negro. It means black. In French there is no word for Negro.”
Stokely Carmichael, leader of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee spoke at Garfield in 1967 to a crowd of thousands. His speech would inspire a new generation of civil rights activists including Garfield student Elmer Dixon and his older brother Aaron who both went on to found Seattle’s Black Panther Party.
“In German, there is no word for Negro. In Swahili there is no word for Negro.”
So I came here to talk with my friend Jesse who’s a history teacher at Garfield. What inspires you as an educator.
“We just had a really incredible fall here at Garfield. The budget cuts have been have been brutal on our school. You know students now at Garfield can’t get four years of of science and of language – things they need to go to college. Probably the most inspiring moment of my teaching career to see hundreds of students streaming through the hallways with signs saying “Fund our future, stop the budget cuts” marching all the way down to City Hall and demanding to see the mayor. The mayor coming out and saying you guys did the right thing and seeing their picture in the New York Times several days later.” That’s incredible. Thanks for your work. Thank you.
So this is Gabrielle. Now Gabrielle, can you tell me what it is about the Garfield Community that you’re trying to capture in this mural. Definitely the diversity because this whole area, the Central District, was built by people from all different countries and cultures and that’s completely manifested at Garfield High School and it’s a really unique phenomenon. For a long time it was the most diverse ZIP code in the United States so – that’s not true anymore – but that’s what we’re trying to captures is that heritage. Awesome, thanks for your work. You’re welcome.”