Donald Phelps, educator, singer, and TV commentator, was the grandson of John T. Gayton (1866-1954), one of Seattle’s Black pioneers. He rose through the ranks, starting as an elementary school teacher in Bellevue, to become Chancellor of Seattle Community College District.
Seattle Native
Donald Phelps was born on July 22, 1929, in Seattle. He began his teaching career in 1960, as a teacher of fourth, fifth, and sixth grade students at Robinswood Elementary School in Bellevue. He taught all subjects and introduced special programs in music. In 1963, he was appointed principal of Robinswood and became the first black principal in Bellevue. Here he established one of the first continuous growth schools in the district. These schools provided a curriculum in which students moved ahead at their own individual rates. From 1967 to 1969, he served as principal of Bellevue Junior High School and instituted the first flexible class scheduling and the first computer assignments. He was the first Black secondary school principal in the state.
From 1968 to 1972, he served as a news commentator on KOMO TV and Radio. In addition to his work as a full-time educator, he composed and presented commentary about world, national, and local events each evening over the Seattle ABC affiliate. His nearly 700 commentaries are in the archives at the University of Washington and are available to students.
From 1976 to 1988, he continued to rise through the hierarchy of education, becoming Interim Superintendent of Lake Washington School District 414 in 1976, president of Seattle Central Community College in 1980, and chancellor of Seattle Community College District in 1984.
Musician
Phelps studied for three years at the Cornish School to develop his naturally rich voice. He sang at his Lincoln High School performances and in the First African Methodist Episcopal Church choir. Professionally he sang solos with the Seattle Philharmonic and Choral Society and with the Music Under the Stars summer program of the Seattle Park Department. He paid for much of his later education by singing solos at weddings in Seattle churches and at funerals at Bonney Watson Funeral Home. On the occasions of the visits of Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson to Seattle, Phelps was called upon to sing the national anthem at various venues.
He received his bachelors and masters degrees in education from Seattle University and his doctorate in education from the University of Washington. He also did postgraduate work at Harvard University. He served as consultant and speaker to many organizations across the country, had numerous professional affiliations, and had many honors bestowed upon him.
Phelps left Seattle in 1988 to become chancellor of Los Angeles Community College District, the nation’s largest community college system. In 1994, he was appointed W. K. Kellogg Regents Professor at the University of Texas at Austin. He died in Austin after a brief illness on July 5, 2003.
