Quintard Taylor, a history professor and Jefferson Award winner, speaks about the history of African Americans settling in the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century on Thursday evening at the Fox Theatre in Centralia.
With a large image of Centralia founder, George Washington, on the projector behind him, local historian Brian Mittge, tells stories about how Washington came to found Centralia during a history talk on Thursday night at the Fox Theatre in downtown Centralia.
Quintard Taylor, a history professor and Jefferson Award winner, speaks about the history of African Americans settling in the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century on Thursday evening at the Fox Theatre in Centralia.
Quintard Taylor, a history professor and Jefferson Award winner, speaks about the history of African Americans settling in the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century on Thursday evening at the Fox Theatre in Centralia.
Local history buff and twitter aficionado, Brian Mittge, tweets a photo of Quintard Taylor, the Scott and Dorothy Builitt Professor of American History at the University of Washington, as the professor presents his keynote speech about African American settlers in the Pacific Northwest on Thursday evening at the Fox Theatre/Lewis County Historical Museum Members event in Centralia.
Quintard Taylor, a history professor and Jefferson Award winner, speaks about the history of African Americans settling in the Pacific Northwest in the 19th century on Thursday evening at the Fox Theatre in Centralia.
Lewis County Historical Museum Director Andy Skinner speaks on Thursday night at the Fox Theatre/Lewis County Historical Museum Members event.
Lewis County Historical Museum Director Andy Skinner speaks on Thursday night at the Fox Theatre/Lewis County Historical Museum Members event.
A winner of a 2015 Washington State Jefferson Award for Public Service spoke at the Fox Theatre on Thursday night, highlighting the importance of African American pioneers in the Pacific Northwest.
Quintard Taylor, a professor at the University of Washington, focused heavily on the fact that African American history plays a large part in the surrounding communities.
Those roots are apparent in Centralia, which was founded by George Washington, an African American pioneer.
Through many hardships, and facing discrimination, Washington founded Centralia in the 19th century. To date, Centralia is the largest community founded by an African American couple in the United States, Taylor said.
According to a presentation given by Brian Mittge, Washington came west in 1850 on the Oregon trail in hopes of finding new opportunities.
“Proceeding his trip west on the Oregon trail, he just encountered the opportunities that a young America presented to its young people,” Mittge said.
Born in 1817 to a white woman and an African American slave, Washington’s father was sold shortly after his birth. His mother was afraid that Washington was next, so she asked two of her friends to raise her son as their own.
After making the journey to the Washington territory, he settled in the area and ran a ferry. Washington became a successful business owner and sold land to developers who wanted to live in the area, keeping things local.
“He wanted to build a town,” Mittge said.
In the late part of the 19th century, a strong recession impacted the citizens of the area, and Washington, who in today’s economy would be worth millions, provided wagon loads of food to give some relief, Mittge said.
“His moral example, his life story has brought together so many threads of the community,” Mittge said. “That’s the man he was and our country needs that right now.”
Taylor elaborated on the importance of Centralia’s founder and others like him who came to the area to find new opportunities and success. He listed African American settlers in Seattle, Spokane and Tumwater, among others.
“African American history is all around us,” Taylor said. “Sometimes we think because we are in the Pacific Northwest and there are relatively few African Americans, that there’s not a lot of black history. There is an African American presence and it goes all the way back in our history.”
Taylor said the fact that many Centralia residents recognize and know the story of Washington speaks to the way America’s dynamic has shifted over the decades.
In 1972, the first time Taylor made his way to Centralia to learn more about Washington, Taylor said even the librarians at the local library had not heard of Washington as the founder of Centralia. Fast forward 10 years later, and a different story arises, Taylor said.
“He was rediscovered, George Washington is now known,” Taylor said. “In some ways embracing him is part of the best of America. We were at a particular place in 1972 where there was kind of a denial of the founder of the town; eventually it turned into an embrace.”
The presentation at the Fox Theatre was an effort envisioned by Scott White, the owner of the theater. As a winner of the Washington State Jefferson Award for Public Service, White met Taylor in April when they received the award, considered the state’s version of the Nobel Prize for volunteerism and public service.
White hopes to bring others into the community to build on a series focusing on historical perspectives.
The event was put on in partnership by the Historic Fox Theatre and the Lewis County Historical Museum.
