African American John T. Gayton arrives in Seattle in 1889.

  • By Helen Lacy
  • Posted 11/07/1998
  • HistoryLink.org Essay 259
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In 1889, John T. Gayton (1868-1954) arrives in Seattle as a coachman for a Mississippi family. A founder of one of Seattle's leading African American families, he works as librarian for the Federal Court for 20 years.


Sources:

Quintard Taylor, The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle's Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era (Seattle: University of Washngton Press, 1994).


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