In July 1963, demonstrators occupied City Council chambers in Seattle for four days in protest over Mayor Gordon S. Clinton’s nominees for the newly created Human Rights Commission. Protesters objected to the fact that the 12-member commission, charged with writing an open housing ordinance, had only two black members. On the fourth day of the protest, police removed and arrested 22 young people--nine adults and thirteen juveniles--for creating a disturbance, loitering in a public building, and resisting arrest.
This photo shows four young women sitting on the floor in City Council chambers, identified as (left to right) Delores Hall, Jackie Ellis, Infanta Spence, and Susan Van Dong. Sit-in spokesman Eddie Givens stands at right.
Caption information sources: "First sit-in arrests of Seattle's civil rights movement occur on July 25, 1963" by David Wilma, HistoryLink.org Essay 3162; "Sit-ins Send Councilman Sprawling," Seattle Daily Times, July 25, 1963, p. 1.
Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): July 26, 1963
ID Number: 1986.5.5927.1
Date: 1963
Physical Description: 1 acetate negative : b&w ; 2.25 x 2.25 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant.
