Explore Seattle's Central District
Step back in time and explore the history of Seattle’s Central District, also known as the Central Area, in this Exploration Guide for students in high school. Who has lived here over the decades, and what have they left behind, both physically and culturally?
-
Seattle Neighborhoods: Central Area | HistoryLink
This HistoryLink “Thumbnail History” looks at the major architectural, historical, and cultural changes in Seattle’s Central Area over the last century and a half up until 2001. That’s now almost 20 years ago. If you were asked to contribute to an updated section covering the past 20 years, are there any special places or events that you would include?
View Seattle Neighborhoods: Central Area | HistoryLink -
Black Panther Party Seattle: Michael Dixon Oral History | Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium at University of Washington
This series of videos is an oral history of Michael Dixon, the youngest of the three Dixon brothers who founded and ran Seattle’s chapter of the Black Panther Party. While attending Garfield High School, Michael founded its Black Student Union, advocating for equality in education for Black students, while also working with the Panthers on issues of crime at and around the school. What socio-cultural similarities do you see between the 1960s and now? Are young people responding similarly to the organizing today as they did in the 1960s?
View Black Panther Party Seattle: Michael Dixon Oral History | Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Consortium at University of Washington -
Seattle Neighborhood History Project | Special Collections, The Seattle Public Library
This project is a great place for accessing historical information about Seattle neighborhoods, including the Central Area, from the Library's special collections and elsewhere. Click on the Central Area on the map or the list below, and look at the “digitized items," which include photographs, postcards, and even restaurant menus! What sorts of historical artifacts do you find yourself most connected to? Choose an “item type” from the left-hand menu and look for something that you find interesting. What draws you to this item?
View Seattle Neighborhood History Project | Special Collections, The Seattle Public Library -
Seattle's Race and Segregation Story in Maps 1920-2020 | Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project
This interactive map from the Seattle Civil Rights & Labor History Project at the University of Washington shows racial demographic change throughout Seattle each decade from 1940 - 2010. Choose different population groups and see how they change in your neighborhood throughout the decades. Why do you think this happened the way it did? What do you think these areas will look like after the 2030 Census? or 2040?
View Seattle's Race and Segregation Story in Maps 1920-2020 | Seattle Civil Rights and Labor History Project -
Seattle on the Spot: Photographs of Al Smith | MOHAI
After growing up in the Central District, then traveling the world on a steamship, Al Smith returned to Seattle, photographing the Central District’s African American community with great warmth and intimacy in the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s. Al took his camera everywhere he went, capturing everyday moments and celebrated community events. Do you think it’s important for a community to document its own way of life? Do you find yourself capturing these same sorts of moments in your own community?
View Seattle on the Spot: Photographs of Al Smith | MOHAI -
Seafair's Roots in the CD, Interview with Hayward Evans | Shelf Life Community Story Project
Ever wonder how Seattle's annual Seafair Festival got its start? Learn more from this short, lively audio recording of Hayward Evans, a past director of the Central Area Motivation Program. Then check out some of the other short interviews and podcasts on the site to hear from other people who lived and worked in the CD.
View Seafair's Roots in the CD, Interview with Hayward Evans | Shelf Life Community Story Project -
Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center | BlackPast
This historic building on 17th and Yesler, reasonably still mistaken for being a house of worship, is considered by many the center for African American arts and culture in Seattle. Originally a Jewish synagogue, the center is now home to the LANGSTON arts program, the Central District Forum for Arts and Ideas, and The Historic Central Area Arts and Cultural District. Can you think of other historic buildings in your neighborhood? Have you considered how their original use might have evolved over the decades? Why is it important to continue to use these buildings, even if their use changes?
View Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center | BlackPast -
Seattle at 150: Coloring Pages | City of Seattle
Just last year (2019) the city of Seattle turned 150. There are artifacts from the past century and a half all over the city, whether you’re seeing bricks under the pavement, old street signs, entire historic buildings, or things as mundane as manhole covers. These particular coloring pages include manhole cover designs done in 1976. Do you recognize any of these hatchcovers? What other interesting designs have you seen? What would you like to see on future municipal designs?
View Seattle at 150: Coloring Pages | City of Seattle -
Rainy Day History Podcast, Episode 4: A Voice Like Honey at Dusk | MOHAI Youth Advisors
This podcast, which is completely researched, written, and produced by the MOHAI Youth Advisors, explores the “history of objects that are personal and political and examine[s] the legacies that the events surrounding them have left for this city.” Episode 4 looks at gentrification in the Central District and whose stories are at risk of being pushed out, focusing on the story of Seattle jazz icon Ernestine Anderson. Are there any special, personal items or spaces in your life whose history you’d cover in your own podcast episode?
View Rainy Day History Podcast, Episode 4: A Voice Like Honey at Dusk | MOHAI Youth Advisors -
PlayBack Local Music Collection | The Seattle Public Library
The Seattle Public Library’s PlayBack is an online platform that showcases and shares current local music, making 50 new albums available for free download and streaming each year. Have you attended any local music performances at the Central District’s great parks and venues? Do you recognize any of these local artists? Can you find any local artists that are associated with your neighborhood? How do you think these artists will be remembered in the community in the future?
View PlayBack Local Music Collection | The Seattle Public Library