News Article

‘The Other Black Northwest: Beyond Portland and Seattle’ 

University of Washington Professor Quintard Taylor, Jr., a renowned historian of African Americans in the West, will discuss “The Other Black Northwest: Beyond Portland and Seattle” in a multimedia presentation and lecture at 3:45 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 6 at Gonzaga University’s Wolfe Auditorium in the Jepson Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Renowned University of Washington Historian Quintard Taylor

The presentation by Taylor, the 2008 Castles lecturer, will provide audiences with a broader understanding of African American history in the Pacific Northwest. As Taylor points out, the vast majority of contemporary African Americans in this region reside in Portland or Seattle and their suburbs. Yet African American history in the Northwest hardly begins or ends with those urban hubs.

Taylor will explore the “other” black Northwest, looking specifically at rural and small town communities — such as Walla Walla and Roslyn, Wash., or Vernonia and Pendleton, Ore. — in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Also, he will examine the growth of black communities during World War II in places such as Vancouver, Bremerton and Pasco, Wash., as well as the unique civil rights experience of Spokane. The presentation will remind all that African Americans’ Northwest history is not confined to its largest cities.

About Quintard Taylor, Jr.
Quintard Taylor, Jr., Ph.D., originally from Brownsville, Tenn., received a bachelor’s degree from St. Augustine’s College in Raleigh, N.C., and earned his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota. He has more than 30 years of teaching experience in African American history, specifically African Americans in the American West.

Taylor has authored two books, “In Search of The Racial Frontier: African Americans in the American West, 1528-1990,”and “The Forging of A Black Community: Seattle’s Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era.” Also, he has edited two anthologies, “Seeking El Dorado: African Americans in California”and “African American Women Confront the West, 1600-2000.” He haswritten more than 50 articles on western African American history, 20th century African American history, and African and Afro-Brazilian history. His current projects include “Urban Archipelago: A 20th Century History of the African American Urban West,”for the University of Arizona Press and the recently published “From Timbuktu to Katrina,” a two-volume reader in 19th and 20th century African American history for Wadsworth-Thomson Publishers. He is co-author of the forthcoming “Dr. Sam: The Autobiography of Dr. Samuel Kelly, Soldier, Educator and Advocate.”

The James B. Castles Heritage Endowment
Through the James B. Castles Endowment, CCRH sponsors annual public programs about the Columbia River Basin that are funded through a generous endowment from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, of which Castles was a founding trustee and 20-year board member. Born in Montana, Jim Castles spent his life pursuing and promoting the art, culture and heritage of the Columbia and the American West. He valued public, informal education that stimulated discussion about the history of the region he loved. The James B. Castles Endowment fund supports free public programming by the Center for Columbia River History.
The Castles Endowment Lecture brings regional and national specialists in Columbia River Basin history, literature, art or politics to Portland State University, Washington State University, Vancouver and other locations in the Basin. This annual program is free and open to the public.

For more information contact Donna Sinclair, program manager for the Center for Columbia River History, at (360) 258-3289, visit its Web site or send an e-mail message to info@ccrh.org.

About the Center For Columbia River History
The Center for Columbia River History (CCRH) is dedicated to examining the hidden histories of the Columbia River Basin and to helping people think about the historical record from different perspectives through creative public history and direct engagement with Columbia River Basin communities. CCRH collaborates with other historical and cultural institutions, and offers its programs to schools, libraries, historical societies and public groups. CCRH offices are located on the Vancouver National Historic Reserve.