Women in the Seattle Civil Rights Movements

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Women in the Seattle Civil Rights Movements
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Seattles Female Activists
Seattles female civil rights activists have
unique stories. As people of color, they battled
racial discrimination. As women, they battled sex
discrimination. The intersection of these two
fights sometimes pitted women of color against
those who should have been allies. This slide
show explores female activists particular
experiences in Seattles civil rights movements.
Activism takes different forms. In 1946, these
women organized the PTA at Bailey Gatzert, one of
Seattles only integrated elementary schools.
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A Long History of Protest
African-Americans in Seattle began protesting
discriminatory employment, housing, and other
practices at the turn of the century. Women were
active from the very beginning in church groups,
social uplift organizations, and other
causes. Susie Cayton helped start the Seattle
chapter of the NAACP (National Association for
the Advancement of Colored People) in 1913.
Susie Cayton was also Associate Editor of The
Seattle Republican which served Seattle's African
American community from 1894 to 1913. Her husband
Horace Cayton was editor
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Christian Friends for Racial Equality
The Christian Friends for Racial Equality played
an important role in civil rights campaigns in
the 1940s and 1950s. Black churchwomen and white
churchwomen worked together to highlight
segregation practices in Seattle.
Social activities were important, but the CFRE
also mounted effective lobbying campaigns,
helping to secure passage of a state Fair
Employment law in 1949.
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American Indian Womens Service League
The American Indian Womens Service League was
the one of the first civil rights organizations
in the country fighting for urban Indians. It was
founded in 1958 and remains active today. Pearl
Warren (second from the right) served as
President from 1958 to 1971.
In 1960 the group opened the Indian Cultural
Center which provided social and health services,
taught Native cultural awareness, and laid the
foundation for the political activism of young
urban Indians in the late 1960s and 1970s
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Women and men worked together
click to play 2 minute video
In addition to these woman-led organizations,
women and men worked together to fight
discrimination. In the late 1940s, the Urban
League led a campaign to force downtown stores to
hire African Americans Vivian Caver played a key
role in that fight.
Vivian Cavers more than 50 year record of civic
service in Seattles African American community
includes substantial civil rights advocacy work,
including working with the Urban League, and
serving as Vice Chair and later Chair of the
Seattle Human Rights Department.
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click to play 3 minute video
Women in the movement, 1960s
Men usually assumed leadership roles in campaigns
and organizations, even while women did much of
the actual work. Joan Singler, Bettylou
Valentine, and Jean Adams were key activists in
the Seattle chapter of CORE (Congress of Racial
Equality). Founded in 1961, CORE organized
nonviolent campaigns against employment
discrimination, housing and school segregation,
and police brutality.
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Later Civil Rights Movements
In the late 1960s, a new generation of civil
rights activists took to the streets to protest
continuing discrimination in Seattle. Though
women in earlier generations had proven their
leadership potential, they had usually done so in
organizations like CFRE that consisted mostly of
women. In the late 1960s female activists began
to challenge sexism and insist on full gender
equality in the various civil rights movements.
The Black Panther Party was one of the new
movements of the late 1960s. Here BPP members
protest the incarceration of Party leader Huey
Newton.
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Confronting inequality in movements that stood
for equality
Women began to resent the distribution of
responsibilities in the civil rights movements.
All too often, men claimed the leadership roles
while women were expected to perform
behind-the-scenes tasks such as making copies of
fliers, typing, cooking and childcare.
Kathy Hallie was one of the few female leaders in
the Black Panther Party.
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Sexism in the student movement
click to play 1 minute video
With earlier experience and obvious leadership
skills, Sharon Maeda was upset at the treatment
she received by her fellow activists. Labeling
the work she and other women did as grunt work,
Maeda describes her experiences.
Raised in Portland and Seattle, Sharon Maeda
attended UW in the 1960s and became involved in
civil rights activities. A teacher and
journalist, she has served on the Board of
Japanese American Citizens League, was a founding
member of Seattle Third World Women, and is
currently the president of a consulting firm. (1
min)
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An Uphill Battle
click to play 2 minute video
Though some men in the organization were
responsive to womens protests, others were not,
and women still faced chauvinism and
discrimination from their fellow activists.
Aaron Dixon describes the difficulty in
integrating women into the Black Panther Party.
Aaron Dixon helped start the Black Student Union
at the University of Washington before going on
to found the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther
Party. He served as Captain from 1968 to 1972.
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click to play 2 minute video
Challenging sexism in the American Indian movement
Sometimes women leaders who were supported by
their local communities faced discrimination at a
national level. Ramona Bennett, elected
Chairwoman by her Puyallup tribe, talks about
having to fight her way into the National Tribal
Chairmans Association Meeting in the 1970s.
A Puyallup, Ramona Bennett has been a pioneering
activist on behalf of Indian rights since the
1950s. In 1971, she was elected Puyallup Tribal
Chairwoman, becoming one of the first women to
lead a tribe. She was one of the principal
authors of the Indian Child Welfare Act passed by
Congress in 1978.
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click to play 2 minute video
Filipina Cannery Workers in the 1970s
Working in the Alaska fish canneries in the
1970s, Lynne Domingo experienced this dual
discrimination first hand. Because the canneries
were segregated by race and sex, women of color
were essential to the movement for fair treatment
of Filipinos in the industry. Here she explains
the difference between white and Filipina womens
work in the cannery.
Lynn Domingo became involved in the Union of
Democratic Filipinos (KDP) while still in high
school. She attended the University of
Washington where she played a leadership role in
the Asian Student Association. She remains an
active member of the Legacy of Equality,
Leadership and Organizing (LELO).
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Women of color had two battles to fight
At the same time that people of color were
struggling against employment discrimination,
women of all races and ethnicities were as well
they wanted to be allowed into industries that
had traditionally been reserved for men. Often
times these careers paid better than ones that
had been traditionally labeled womens careers.
Beverly Sims and her husband Tyree Scott picket
with members of the United Construction Workers
Association, a multi ethnic organization for
workers in the construction industry.
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Women in male industries
click to play 2 minute video
Beverly Sims describes the experience of being a
person of color in a traditionally white
industry, and being a woman in a traditionally
male industry the electrical workers trade.
One of the first women members of IBEW Local 46,
Beverly Sims was involved in pioneering court
decisions mandating affirmative action in the
construction industry.
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click to play 2 minute video
First Filipina American in state legislature
In a very different setting, Velma Veloria also
felt the difficulty of being a woman of color in
a primarily white, male setting the state
legislature. Here she describes how she tried to
cope during her first term in office in 1992.
Velma Veloria came to Seattle in the late 1970s
to organize cannery workers under the auspices of
the KDP. After a decade of labor activism, she
turned to electoral politics and served in the
legislature for 13 years.
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The fight is not over
click to play 1 minute video
The struggle for equality between men and women
did not end in the 1970s, nor did civil rights
movements. Even in more recent struggles women
have needed to establish themselves as capable
leaders who deserve respect. Rosalinda Guillen
discusses womens work in the 1990s campaign to
unionize workers at Chateau Ste. Michelle winery.
Rosalinda Guillen helped lead the United Farm
Workers campaign that resulted in a contract with
Chateau Ste. Michelle winery in 1995. A native
of Skagit County, she had worked in the fields
when she was young, then built a successful
career as a bank officer. She gave that up to
devote herself to farm worker organizing.
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Though women of color had long been essential to
civil rights struggles, they still needed to
fight for equal recognition among their male
peers. They also battled sexism and racism
outside of their organizations, at work and in
other locations. Today, women continue to be a
vital part of community activism all over the
city.
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Credits
This slide show was created by Teresa
Frizell Photo Credits Harry Bridges Center for
Labor Studies Chicano Power LELO United
Construction Workers Association Tyree Scott and
Beverly Sims Seattle Times Black Panthers with
posters Museum of History and Industry 1946 PTA
American Indian Womens Service League Free
Huey University of Washington library,
Manuscripts and Archives Christian Friends of
Racial Equality pamphlet
Return to main page www.civilrights.washington.edu

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Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History
Projectwww.civilrights.washington.edu