Edwin T. Pratt: A Living Legacy
Recommended
This event is in the past
May 9–Aug 28, 2019
Northwest African American Museum
Central District (Seattle)
$7
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Edwin T. Pratt moved to the Pacific Northwest in 1956 to work for the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle. In 1961, he became the organization's executive director. A champion for the black community here, Pratt was murdered in front of his home in Shoreline in 1969. This is the part of his story most media outlets are infatuated with—a noble and important black man's violent death—but his impact as an ardent supporter of desegregation and access to equitable housing and education for people of color in the city is largely skipped over. This year, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of Pratt's assassination, the center is paying tribute to the civil rights icon. The show consists of art contributed by artists who have received the Pratt Scholarship over the past four years. It also includes items of historical interest, like Pratt's own typed and handwritten notes, which now belong to the Black Heritage Society. The overall effect is terrifically didactic, with many walls dedicated to illuminating Pratt's contributions to Seattle's history.
by Jas Keimig