Proponents of an open housing ordinance demonstrate in front of the world-class Olympic Hotel at 411 University Street. Despite efforts to end racial discrimination in home sales and rentals, on March 10, 1964, Seattle voters rejected the ordinance 112,448 to 53,453. The ordinance, drafted by Seattle's Human Rights Commission, would have made housing discrimination a misdemeanor. Opponents, mostly in the real estate industry, argued that the ordinance would infringe on property rights. The Seattle City Council finally passed an open housing law on April 19, 1968, spurred by national unrest following the assassination of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Protestors' signs: CORE - Congress of Racial Equality. Stop Racial Discrimination Now! Vote for Open Housing March 10. There Can Be No Innocent Bystanders.
Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): March 2, 1964.