Seattle had a growing Latino population in the late 1960s, and activists had been pressing the city for a building in which to establish a Chicano community center. Tired of having their requests ignored, in October 1972 they took over the abandoned Beacon Hill School on 16th Avenue South and renamed it El Centro de la Raza. After a 75-day occupation and ongoing negotiations—including a sit-in-- with the Mayor’s office, the city finally acquiesced in June 1973, subleasing the Seattle School District building to the group for $1 a year. El Centro de la Raza community center is still (as of 2017) in the same building, providing services and advocacy for the Latino community and other residents of the Beacon Hill area.
This photo shows two carpenters for minority contractor Chester Fitzgibbons working to renovate the Beacon Hill School building for El Centro de la Raza. Ismael Puente, right, and Thomas Walston are working in the lower level of the building to install lavatories and shower stalls.
Caption information source: Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project at University of Washington, page at http://depts.washington.edu/civilr/slides_Chicano.htm Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.
