The Political Organizing of Seattle’s Black Community in 1892
A newly formed Republican club highlights the vibrant, organized civic life of Seattle's Black residents during the city's early municipal boom.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Last night about fifty of the colored Republicans of Seattle met at the Russell house and with much enthusiasm formed a colored central Republican club. I. L. Walker called the meeting to order, and the following officers were chosen: President, T. C. Collins; first vice president, E. D. Hawkins; second vice president, J. W. Houser; third vice president, D. W. Montgomery; secretary, E. D. Alexander; assistant secretary, Richard Scurry; treasurer, G. W. Washington. The meeting unanimously voted the Standard as the organ of the club. Rev. L. S. Blakeney and T. C. Collins delivered speeches which were warmly applauded. Mr. Blakeney declared that he was a Republican because the Republican party was for protection and progress. The Democrats were oppressing the colored people in the South and so he was opposed to Democracy. J. Hawkins proposed a joint debate with the colored Democratic club, and D. E. Beale, in the name of that club, expressed a desire to accept. T. C. Collins and Allen A. Garner, however, opposed the plan as giving too much attention to the few colored Democrats and as leading toward ill feeling. So the plan was dropped.
“Mr. Blakeney declared that he was a Republican because the Republican party was for protection and progress. The Democrats were oppressing the colored people in the South and so he was opposed to Democracy.”
This 1892 meeting illustrates the early and active participation of Black Seattleites in local party politics at a time when they were navigating a rapidly growing, often exclusionary, Western city. It serves as a reminder that Seattle’s political landscape has long been shaped by distinct community organizing and that the ‘party loyalty’ debates of the 19th century still rhyme with the intense civic mobilization seen in local elections today.
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