While 1970 census figures showed that Spanish-speaking residents made up 5% of Seattle's population – similar in numbers to Black residents - the fact that they were scattered in various parts of the city made them less visible as an ethnic group. Language issues and historically based fears of deportation were also a factor, particularly for those from Mexico.

In 1971, Roberto Maestas, Roberto Gallegos, and other Chicano/Latino activists launched a federally funded English-as-a-Second Language (ESL) program at South Seattle Community College (now South Seattle College). The program’s cancellation the following year led the activists to occupy Seattle’s abandoned Beacon Hill schoolhouse, which they had been trying unsuccessfully to acquire from the Seattle School Board for a Chicano services center. Continued occupation and demonstrations finally led the City of Seattle and the Seattle School Board to approve a lease on the building, leading to the founding of El Centro de la Raza.

This image shows Roberto Gallegos, likely inside the occupied Beacon Hill School.

Caption information source: “Chicanos, Latins Resolute: City’s ‘Invisible Minority’ Surfaces”, by Hilda Bryant, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, October 16, 1972, page A3.
Caption information source: “Beacon Hill School – El Centro de la Raza”, National Park Service. www.nps.gov/places/beacon-hill-school-el-centro-de-la-raza.htm. Retrieved June 20, 2025.
Caption information source: “Chicano/Latino Activism in Seattle, 1960s-1970s”, by Oscar Rosales Castaneda, HistoryLink Essay 8013, November 24, 2006.