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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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1183 results for: Black/African American

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Image of King Street Station employees posing in coach yard, Seattle, October 2, 1929
Photograph

King Street Station employees posing in coach yard, Seattle, October 2, 1929

From 1888 through the 1950s trains dominated travel in and out of Seattle, via the King Street Station and Union Station in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood. Built between 1904 and 1906, the King Street Station served the Great Northern Railway and Northern Pacific Railway until the creation and start of Amtrak in 1971. The depot with its 242-foot clock tower…
ID Number:1989.87.1
Date:1929
Image of Program for Paul Robeson concert at Seattle Civic Auditorium, May 20, 1952
Program

Program for Paul Robeson concert at Seattle Civic Auditorium, May 20, 1952

On May 20, 1952, American actor and singer Paul Robeson overcame blacklisting, a press blackout, and a City Council ban to perform at the Seattle Civic Auditorium in a "Peoples Program" presented by the Seattle Chapter of the National Negro Labor Council.A civil rights activist and anti-fascist sympathetic to communism, Robeson was investigated and blacklisted beginning in the late 1940s.…
ID Number:1998.4.2
Date:1952
Image of Clara B. White and two children on porch of house, Seattle, circa 1975
Photograph

Clara B. White and two children on porch of house, Seattle, circa 1975

Clara B. White owned and lived in the duplex at 729-731 22nd Avenue in the Central District of Seattle. She was a seamstress and was one of the first African-American women to own property in Seattle. The education wing at the First African Metodist Episcopal Church is named after her, as she was a Sunday School teacher there for 60…
ID Number:2000.30.2
Date:Circa 1975
Image of Ralph Abernathy talks with local pastors, Seattle, January 16, 1977
Photograph

Ralph Abernathy talks with local pastors, Seattle, January 16, 1977

In this image Dr. Ralph D. Abernathy, Sr. (1926-1990), center, president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) talks with Reverend Samuel B. McKinney, left, pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, and Reverend John McKenna, right, president of Black United Clergy for Action and pastor of St. Mary's Catholic Church. Abernathy had just arrived at Sea-Tac International Airport and called…
ID Number:2000.107.001.12.01
Date:1977
Image of Clarence Acox directing Jazz Ensemble at Garfield High School, Seattle, May 11, 1991
Photograph

Clarence Acox directing Jazz Ensemble at Garfield High School, Seattle, May 11, 1991

In this image director Clarence Acox leads the Garfield High School Jazz Ensemble in some swinging music of the '30s and '40s in the high school gymnasium. A native of New Orleans, Clarence Acox Jr. is a well-known jazz drummer and band director who has been teaching at Garfield since 1971. Acox has led the Garfield Jazz Ensemble to win…
ID Number:2000.107.002.17.01
Date:1991
Image of Bishop John Hurst Adams discussing education, Seattle, November 19, 1987
Photograph

Bishop John Hurst Adams discussing education, Seattle, November 19, 1987

Rev. Dr. John Hurst Adams (1927-2018) was the pastor at Seattle’s First African Methodist Episcopal (FAME) Church from 1962 to 1968 and a leader in the city’s civil rights struggle. He chaired the Central Area Civil Rights Committee, made up of the heads of the local civil rights organizations Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), NAACP, and Seattle Urban League. The…
ID Number:2000.107.002.26.01
Date:1987
Image of Reginald Alleyne and John Adams at CORE housing rally, Seattle, October 20, 1963
Photograph

Reginald Alleyne and John Adams at CORE housing rally, Seattle, October 20, 1963

In this image Rev. Dr. John Adams stands behind Reginald Alleyne, president of the Seattle unit of CORE, at a housing rally. Bishop John Hurst Adams (1927-), lived in Seattle from 1962-1968, serving as pastor of First African Methodist Episcopal (AME), and as a key spokesperson for the African American movement for civil rights. Reginald H. Alleyne (1932–2004) played a role…
ID Number:2000.107.006.25.01
Date:1963
Image of Reginald Alleyne speaking to crowd at Westlake Mall, Seattle, June 15, 1963
Photograph

Reginald Alleyne speaking to crowd at Westlake Mall, Seattle, June 15, 1963

In this image Reginald Alleyne, president of the Seattle unit of CORE, speaks to the crowd at Westlake Mall during a demonstration. Reginald H. Alleyne (1932–2004) played a role in the founding of Seattle's chapter of CORE. At the time, he was working in the office of the State of Washington's attorney general, he later was a Professor of Law,…
ID Number:2000.107.006.25.02
Date:1963
Image of Ernestine Anderson performing at the High School Jazz Festival, Seward Park Amphitheater, Seattle, June 16, 1980
Photograph

Ernestine Anderson performing at the High School Jazz Festival, Seward Park Amphitheater, Seattle, June 16, 1980

Ernestine Anderson (1928-2016) was an internationally renowned American jazz and blues singer. Her connection to Seattle began when her family moved to the city 1944, and she was discovered by band leader "Bumps" Blackwell, who hired her as a singer for his Junior Band. Anderson's first show was at the Washington Social Club on East Madison Street. The band (which…
ID Number:2000.107.007.24.01
Date:1980
Image of Ernestine Anderson and granddaughter at Greenwood Elementary School, Seattle, April 19, 1985
Photograph

Ernestine Anderson and granddaughter at Greenwood Elementary School, Seattle, April 19, 1985

Ernestine Anderson (1928-2016) was an internationally renowned American jazz and blues singer. Her connection to Seattle began when her family moved to the city 1944, and she was discovered by band leader "Bumps" Blackwell, who hired her as a singer for his Junior Band. Anderson's first show was at the Washington Social Club on East Madison Street. The band (which…
ID Number:2000.107.007.24.02
Date:1985
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