Title: Seattle's downtown before the Great Fire, Seattle, 1883
Date: 1883
Caption: My name is Manuel Lopes – I am African-Portuguese. I was the first Black man in Seattle, and I arrived in 1852, just a year after the settlement was founded. I was born in the Cape Verde Islands, off the west coast of Africa. My name is Portuguese - so “Lopes,” like Lopez, except with an “s.” I shipped onto a whaler when I was just a kid, and sailed the Atlantic and Pacific, hunting whales. I left the ship in San Francisco and worked my way to Seattle. I liked the look of the place – there was no barber here, and I knew how to cut hair. I took the money I’d saved, and sent for a barber chair from back East. It came clear ‘round Cape Horn. Then I set up shop as Seattle’s first barber. I had brought my snare drum with me from California. For many years, Kelly played the fife and I played the drum, and the two of us headed every parade in Seattle. Salt and pepper, people called us. For a while, I ran a restaurant here on Commercial Street – I really liked cooking for loggers, miners, sailors – tough guys. I stood outside and played the drum when meals were ready, and they all came a-runnin’. I fed ‘em whether they could pay me or not. Never got rich that way, but sure made friends. -Manuel Lopes

Notes: To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact photos@seattlehistory.org or phone us at 206-324-1126. Please refer to the Image Number and provide a brief description of the photograph.
Digital Collection: Museum of History & Industry Photograph Collection
Image Number: SHS470

Title: Unknown Woman Holding Infant on Her Lap
Date: Unknown
Caption: I came to Seattle in 1890. I was born twice, bought twice, sold twice, and set free twice. Born of woman, born of God; sold in slavery; sold to the devil; freed by Lincoln, set free by God. I was born in the State of Missouri, January 7, 1859, to slave parents. When I was one month old, I, my sister – who was one and a half years old, and my mother, who held me in her arms, were sold in slavery to the highest bidder. -Emma Ray

Photo Collection: Black Heritage Society of Washington State, LeEtta King Collection
Image Number: BHS.97.02.2.48a

Notes: To order a reproduction or inquire about permissions, contact: TheBoard@blackheritagewa.org. Please cite the Image Number.

Title: Congregation outside Mt. Zion Baptist Church, July 24, 1934
Date: ca. 1934
Caption: The two oldest Churches - first AME organized in 1886 and then Mount Zion in 1890 – they were pillars in the community. Seattle folks expected the pastors of these two churches to give leadership in other communities as well as our own. -Rev. Samuel McKinney

Photo Collection: Black Heritage Society of Washington State, LeEtta King Collection

Image Number: 2001.14.2.31b

Notes: To order a reproduction or inquire about permissions, contact: TheBoard@blackheritagewa.org. Please cite the Image Number.

Title: Emma and Husband, Ray
Date: unknown
Caption: Mr. Ray was fortunate enough to get a job as porter in one of the large dry goods stores in Seattle: McDougal and Southwick. As soon as the gold rush boom struck, business picked up right away and in a short while the city was full of strangers, preparing themselves to go to the Klondike. Thousands of them outfitted from just this one store, and they left thei old clothing and things behind them. And I'm sorry to say that many of the men leaving for the North left their Bibles behind, too. We kept all their old clothes in our attic, and distributed them to the poor people in Seattle. -Emma Ray

Notes: To order a reproduction or to inquire about permissions contact photos@seattlehistory.org or phone us at 206-324-1126.
Collection: Museum of History & Industry Book Collection
Image Number: none

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