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 defendants and attorneys involved in the sit-in case emerging from police court after the cases were postponed until August 14, at which time the charges were stricken. Pictured here are defendants Zonyia Clayton, center, Alice Gilmartin, and Susan Van Donge.
Caption information source: "First sit-in arrests of Seattle's civil rights movement occur on July 25, 1963" by David Wilma, HistoryLink.org Essay 3162
ID Number: 1986.5.5928.2
Date: 1963
Physical Description: 1 acetate negative : b&w ; 4 x 5 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant.
