The Forging of a Black Community

An enduring classic on black urbanization and Seattle history

Seattle's first black resident was a sailor named Manuel Lopes who arrived in 1858 and became the small community's first barber. He left in the early 1870s to seek economic prosperity elsewhere, but as Seattle transformed from a stopover town to a full-fledged city, African Americans began to stay and build a community. By the early twentieth century, black life in Seattle coalesced in the Central District, a four-square-mile section east of downtown. Black Seattle, however, was never a monolith. Through world wars, economic booms and busts, and the civil rights movement, black residents and leaders negotiated intragroup conflicts and had varied approaches to challenging racial inequity. Despite these differences, they nurtured a distinct African American culture and black urban community ethos. With a new foreword and afterword, this second edition of The Forging of a Black Community is essential to understanding the history and present of the largest black community in the Pacific Northwest.

Quintard Taylor is the Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Emeritus Professor of American History at the University of Washington and founder of BlackPast.org. Among his many publications, he is the author of In Search of The Racial Frontier: African Americans in the American West, 1528-1990 (Norton, 1999) and The Forging of A Black Community: Seattle’s Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era (UWP, 1994) and co-editor of Seeking El Dorado: African Americans in California (UWP, 2001) and African American Women Confront the West, 1600-2000 (University of Oklahoma Press, 2003). He is the series editor for the University of Oklahoma Press's series Race and Culture in the American West.Cobbins-Modica Quin'Nita :

Quin'Nita Cobbins-Modica is visiting assistant professor of history at the University of Oregon and executive director of BlackPast.org. She is the coauthor of Seattle on the Spot: The Photographs of Al Smith (MOHAI/UWP, 2018). Quin'Nita Cobbins-Modica received her PhD from the University of Washington in 2018. This is her first book.Rice Norman :

Norm Rice was mayor of Seattle from 1990 to 1997. A Seattle resident for more than 50 years, he earned his bachelor's and master's degrees at the University of Washington and was the first elected African American mayor of Seattle.Broussard Albert S. :

Albert S. Broussard is professor of history at Texas A&M University. He is the author of several books, including African American Odyssey: The Stewarts, 1853-1963 (University Press of Kansas, 1998) and Black San Francisco: The Struggle for Racial Equality in the West, 1900-1954 (University Press of Kansas, 1993).

Quintard Taylor is the Scott and Dorothy Bullitt Professor of American History and professor emeritus at the University of Washington. Quin'Nita Cobbins-Modica is assistant professor of history at Seattle Pacific University. Albert S. Broussard is Cornerstone Faculty Fellow and professor of history at Texas A&M University. Norm Rice was Seattle's mayor from 1990 to 1997.

"A powerful chronicle of the African American presence in Seattle over the last century."

from the foreword by Quin'Nita Cobbins-Modica:

"In this masterful and meticulously researched account spanning a century, Taylor weaves together a rich cultural legacy of a people, separated from the most populous black sections of the nation, who fashioned a vibrant community with very little resources."