The Black Panther Party for Self Defense established its Seattle chapter in the spring of 1968, after Aaron Dixon, Elmer Dixon, Anthony Ware, Gary 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 Chairman Bobby Seale, whose subsequent visit to Seattle marked the beginning of the Seattle chapter, one of the first authorized chapters outside of California. The Seattle chapter also lasted longer than most, surviving until 1978.

This photo shows Seattle BPP member Curtis Harris, who also served as the chapter's minister for defense. This photograph was taken in September 1968, shortly after the BPP nominated Harris as a candidate for the State House of Representatives for the 37th District, the State's first Black ticket.

Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): September 18, 1968

Caption information source: University of Washington Seattle Black Panther Party History and Memory Project at http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/BPP.htm