Diversity poster with Chinese translation (Photo from seattle.gov)
Seattle’s Historic Preservation program completed a three-year project documenting the history of Southeast Seattle. The finished product is a series of posters, essays, and reports which focus on the era after World War II and looks at the historical roots of the area’s ethnic diversity.
The project was completed with the efforts of community historians from El Centro de la Raza, the Northwest African American Museum, Washington State Jewish Historical Society, and the Wing Luke Museum of the Asian Pacific American Experience. These organizations combined traditional historic preservation methods with community-based research to produce reports about the Latino, African American, Jewish, and Asian American communities in Southeast Seattle. Historian Mikala Woodward with the Rainier Valley Historical Society prepared an in-depth series of essays and reference documents that explores the area’s history through many different lenses. A series of essays, timelines, and a new map are now available on HistoryLink. Posters with photographs and historic text are available in English, Chinese, Somali, Spanish, or Vietnamese at the Southeast Neighborhood Service Center. (end)