Patricia Anne "Patti" Bown (1931-2008) was born in Seattle to a musically-talented family, and grew up during a musically rich period in the city. During her youth and education at Seattle University and Cornish School of Fine Arts, Ms. Bown was an active member of AFM Local 493, also known as the "Negro Musicians' Union," founded in 1918 as Local 458 when African Americans were excluded from Seattle's first musicians' union, AFM Local 76. Local 493 was at the heart of Seattle's vibrant jazz scene, and its E. Jefferson Street “clubhouse,” the Blue Note, was a lifeline for the Black community, functioning as a union hall, nightspot, and social club. Changing times and increased racial tolerance eventually saw the two unions formally merge in 1958. AFM Local 76-493 is still an active union in Seattle as of 2019.

In this image Patti Bown poses at a piano at the New Orleans Restaurant where she was playing several shows along side John Bishop, Floyd Standifer, and Doug Miller, other well-known Seattle musicians. Bown moved to New York City in 1955, where she raised her son, but occasionally returned to Seattle to perform with old friends. In 2006 Ms. Bown received the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Festival Award, and in 2007 she was honored by the Jazz Foundation of America.

Caption information source: "Patti Bown, 76, lit up Seattle's early jazz scene," The Seattle Times, March 21, 2008, p. E1.
Caption information source: https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/race-gender-jazz-local-493-black-women-musicians-seattle-1920-1955
Caption information source: "AFM Seattle Local 493 (1918-1958), 'Negro Musicians' Union,'" by Peter Blecha, HistoryLink.org Essay 10329.
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.