Black Heritage Society of Washington State

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Special Exhibition: Pioneering Women


Title: Myrtle Garner, probably in Kansas, ca. 1885
Date: ca. 1885
Caption: Myrtle Garner was the mother of Charles Stokes, who was a pioneering African American judge and legislator in King County.


Title: Bertha Pitts Campbell, Seattle, ca. 1975
Date: ca. 1975
Caption: Bertha Pitts Campbell attended Howard University from 1909 to 1913 and then taught for two years in Topeka, Kansas. She was one of the 22 founding members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority in 1913 at Howard University in Washington, D.C. She married Earl Campbell in 1917. Their son was killed in an accident as a baby, and her husband died just a few years later. She was a lifelong activist, participating in a women's suffrage march in Washington DC in 1913; the March on Washington in 1963; and a Seattle march for the Equal Rights Amendment in 1980. She was active in the Christian Friends for Racial Equality, the Urban League, and the YWCA. In 1987 she was honored by the Washington State House of Representatives. She died in 1990 at age 100.


Title: Manima Wilson, graduation photo, Everett, 1907
Date: 1907
Caption: Manima Wilson, the daughter of Arminta Spears Wilson and Samuel Wilson, was born in 1886 in Snohomish County. She graduated from Everett High School in 1907, continuing on to attain a B.A. in education at the University of Washington, where she is believed to have been the first African American woman to graduate. She married Claude Davis about 1915 in Ontario. Their three children, Paul, Cathern, and Harriett, were born between 1916 and 1920 in Spokane. Manima died in 1949.


Title: Marjorie Pitter King, Seattle, ca. 1965
Date: ca. 1965
Caption: Marjorie Pitter King was the first African American woman to serve as a state legislator in Washington. She also was a successful businesswoman, operating M&M Accounting and Tax Service for 48 years. She attended Howard University and worked in the Pentagon during World War II. She was active in local Democratic politics for decades. King died in 1996.