This collection contains papers from Bella Taylor McKnight, a prominent civic leader in Seattle. She was a part of many organizations including the Ohio branch of the NAACP and the Christian Friends for Racial Equality group.

The founder of the first African American-owned architecture firm in Seattle and the first Black man to practice architecture in Washington State, Benjamin F. McAdoo was also a local community leader and advocate for the advancement of low-income resident housing solutions. This collection houses his project files, business and personal papers, and architectural drawings.

Correspondence, speeches and writings, reports, case files, and subject series from Charles Smith. Smith worked as a Professor of Law at the University of Washington and was the first Black man to serve as the Washington State Supreme Court Justice from 1988-2002.

Daisy Lee Tibbs Dawson was a peace activist and educator and the only African American to be memorialized in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial. This collection contains materials related to Daisy Lee Tibbs Dawson's life

Papers of author and historian David Keller who wrote The Blue Note: Seattle's Black Musicians' Union, A Pictorial History, a book about the American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Local 493 in Seattle, Washington.

Edward Pitter was an Afro-American community leader of Seattle, Washington. Pitter was involved in politics, especially the Democratic Party and the Colored Democratic Association of Washington during the 1920's.

Eliza McCabe was a civic leader in Tacoma, WA. She was President of Washington Federation of Colored Women's Organizations, Northwest Region of National Association of Colored Women, and Washington State Association of Colored Women, ca. 1949-51.

Dentist and civic leader of Seattle, Washington. Dr. Felix Cooper was a dentist with an interest in civil rights issues. He worked with the following organizations: Christian Friends for Racial Equality, Civic Unity Committee (Seattle); Family Society of Seattle, Meals for Millions, Mount Zion Baptist Church, National Association of the Advancement of Colored People, Roosevelt College of Chicago, Washington State Dental Association, and Young Men's Christian Association of Seattle. He was also one of the founders of the Seattle Urban League.

The collection contains materials that document three generations of the Gayton Family. The family has been prominent in Seattle's African American community since the early 1900s. John T Gayton held several judicial positions within Washington.

Correspondence, clippings, programs, and announcements, relating to Roston's career as a black soldier in the Spanish-American War. Roston was also a labor union organizer and founder of Colored Marine Employees Benevolent Association.

John F. Cragwell was a late 19th century entrepreneur and amateur photographer who arrived in Seattle, Washington with his wife, Mary, in 1891. Cragwell was a committee member of the Local No. 1 of the National Council of Afro-Americans, which was established in 1899 and preceded the defunct Afro-American League. He was one of the early prominent African American entrepreneurs and barbers in Seattle with a staff of eleven.

Papers of Nettie J. Asberry, a Tacoma African American activist and president of the Washington State Association of Colored Women's Clubs.

This collection includes materials from Norman B. Rice, Seattle's first African American mayor, who served from 1990-1997.

Research materials gathered for Thomas's M.A. thesis on George Washington Bush, reputedly the first Black settler in the Washington Territory.

Papers of Powell Barnett, an African American immigrant and activist. The collection also includes a tape recording of an interview.

Personal papers of R. Y. Woodhouse. Woodhouse served for 15 years as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Urban League of Metropolitan Seattle, becoming the first (and only) woman of color executive in the history of the agency.

Papers of Ralph Hayes, a Seattle teacher and historian of African American history. Hayes researched the history of Black people in Washington and published Northwest Black Pioneers.

Richard "Rick" Rice was born in 1940 and grew up in Huntington Beach, California. Rice attended the University of California at Berkeley before moving to New York City and then to Seattle in the early 1970s. Rice was active in the student, anti-war, and civil rights movements of the 1960s and 1970s. This collection contains materials relating to Rick Rice's activism and career in various industries.

Walter T. Hubbard is a leader in Seattle's African American community. As president of the Central Area Civil Rights Committee, a coalition of Black civil rights organizations and advocates, from 1969 to circa 2002, Hubbard sought to promote justice and equality in interracial relations and participated in activities to secure worldwide interracial justice.

Personal Papers of Arline Steward Yarbrough (1912-1999), a prominent African American businesswoman, civil servant, and club woman. Her husband, Letcher L. Yarbrough, was the president of the Seattle branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People in the mid-1940s and later state president.