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Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

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393 results for: Central Area

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Image of Former Black Panther Party headquarters house, Seattle, 1973
Photograph

Former Black Panther Party headquarters house, Seattle, 1973

The Black Panther Party for Self Defense (BPP) established its Seattle chapter in the spring of 1968, after Aaron Dixon, Elmer Dixon, Anthony Ware, Garry Owens and several other future Panthers attended a memorial service in San Francisco for 17-year-old Bobby Hutton, who had been killed in a shootout with local police. While in Oakland, the Seattle youth met BPP…
ID Number:2000.107.022.21.04
Date:1973
Image of Notice on former Black Panther party headquarters house, Seattle, 1973
Photograph

Notice on former Black Panther party headquarters house, Seattle, 1973

The Black Panther Party for Self Defense (BPP) established its Seattle chapter in the spring of 1968, after Aaron Dixon, Elmer Dixon, Anthony Ware, Garry Owens and several other future Panthers attended a memorial service in San Francisco for 17-year-old Bobby Hutton, who had been killed in a shootout with local police. While in Oakland, the Seattle youth met BPP…
ID Number:2000.107.022.21.05
Date:1973
Image of Bertha Pitts Campbell, Seattle, January 1981
Photograph

Bertha Pitts Campbell, Seattle, January 1981

Bertha Pitts Campbell (1889-1990) was a Seattle civil rights activist. She was born in Kansas and grew up in Colorado. During her studies at Howard University, Campbell founded the Delta Sigma Theta sorority with 21 other women. Delta Sigma Theta is a historically Black sorority and it advocates for civil rights, especially educational opportunities for Black people. Campbell moved to…
ID Number:2000.107.031.12.01
Date:1981
Image of Bertha Pitts Campbell sitting, Seattle, January 1981
Photograph

Bertha Pitts Campbell sitting, Seattle, January 1981

Bertha Pitts Campbell (1889-1990) was a Seattle civil rights activist. She was born in Kansas and grew up in Colorado. During her studies at Howard University, Campbell founded the Delta Sigma Theta sorority with 21 other women. Delta Sigma Theta is a historically Black sorority and it advocates for civil rights, especially educational opportunities for Black people. Campbell moved to…
ID Number:2000.107.031.12.02
Date:1981
Image of Mark Cook giving an interview at Walla Walla State Penitentiary, January 1978
Photograph

Mark Cook giving an interview at Walla Walla State Penitentiary, January 1978

Mark Edwin Cook (b. 1936) was born in Seattle and grew up in the Seattle's Central Area. First arrested at age 17, Cook was in and out of prison for petty crimes until 1973. After his release, he became involved with the George Jackson Brigade, a small revolutionary group in Seattle that committed mostly property crimes to draw attention to…
ID Number:2000.107.041.03.01
Date:1978
Image of Garfield High School students cheering basketball victory, March 1961
Photograph

Garfield High School students cheering basketball victory, March 1961

On March 18, 1961, the Garfield High School Bulldogs defeated the Ballard High School Beavers 58-51 to win the State AA Basketball Tournament championship at Hec Edmundson Pavilion before 9,500 fans. It was Garfield's second state title; the Bulldogs also won the championship in 1955.Here, Garfield High School students in the bleachers at Edmunson Pavilion erupt into cheers as their…
ID Number:2000.107.043.27.01
Date:1961
Image of Earl Debnam in front of Colman School, Seattle, July 1990
Photograph

Earl Debnam in front of Colman School, Seattle, July 1990

In 1985, a group of Black activists led by Charlie James, Earl Debnam, Omari Tahir-Garrett, and Michael Greenwood began occupying the abandoned Colman School in the Central Area in order to pressure the city to renovate it into a museum of African-American history. Despite the building's lack of heat and running water, the occupiers stayed for eight years, making this…
ID Number:2000.107.046.22.01
Date:1990
Image of Earl Debnam in front of Colman School, February 16, 1993
Photograph

Earl Debnam in front of Colman School, February 16, 1993

In 1985, a group of Black activists led by Charlie James, Earl Debnam, Omari Tahir-Garrett, and Michael Greenwood began occupying the abandoned Colman School in the Central Area in order to pressure the city to renovate it into a museum of African-American history. Despite the building's lack of heat and running water, the occupiers stayed for eight years, making this…
ID Number:2000.107.046.22.02
Date:1993
Image of Police escorting minority leaders from South African consulate, Seattle, February 3, 1985
Photograph

Police escorting minority leaders from South African consulate, Seattle, February 3, 1985

Beginning in October 1984, a series of demonstrations were held outside the home of the honorary South African consul in Madison Park to protest the South African government's polices of racial segregation known as apartheid.In February 1985, ten Seattle minority organization leaders climbed the stairs to the consulate and tried unsuccessfully to meet with the consul. They were arrested when…
ID Number:2000.107.047.33.06
Date:1985
Image of Central Area NAACP protest, September 7, 1986
Photograph

Central Area NAACP protest, September 7, 1986

Attorney Ross Baker, right, shouts his support for efforts to stop drug trafficking and prostitution in Seattle's Central Area. Baker was one of about 250 people who marched to Judkins Park for a rally sponsored by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Caption information source: The Seattle Times, September 8, 1986, page B4Caption information also derived…
ID Number:2000.107.047.35.02
Date:1986
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Phone: 206 324 1126
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