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A Life Cut Short

Fifty years ago this week, on January 26, 1969, civil rights leader and Seattle Urban League Executive Director Edwin Pratt was killed by a shotgun blast outside his home in Shoreline. The assassin was never found. Pratt’s funeral at St. Mark’s Cathedral remains the largest in that church’s history.

Pratt was born in Miami in 1930 and later received a bachelor’s degree from Clarke College in Atlanta and a master’s degree in social work from Atlanta University. After graduating he worked for the Urban League in Cleveland and Kansas City, Missouri, before becoming community-relations secretary for the Seattle Urban League in 1956. Five years later he was named the league’s executive director.

During his tenure Pratt championed equal housing in the fight against restrictive covenants and housing discrimination. He also supported the Triad Plan, a proposal developed by an Urban League committee for reorganizing Seattle’s de facto-segregated elementary schools. And after President Lyndon B. Johnson launched the War on Poverty in 1964, the Seattle Urban League was one of the first agencies to receive funds from the Office of Economic Opportunity, which led to the creation of the Central Area Motivation Program.

Shortly before he was killed, Pratt spoke out against discriminatory hiring practices in the construction industry — a cause that would pick up steam later that year. There has been much investigation and speculation into who may have murdered Pratt, but a half-century after the crime the case remains open and unsolved. Pratt has since been commemorated by Edwin Pratt Park, the Pratt Fine Arts Center and, most recently, the Shoreline School District’s Edwin Pratt Early Learning Center. 

A Battle in Seattle

On the morning of January 26, 1856, hundreds of Native American warriors came over the ridge of First Hill and attacked the tiny village of Seattle in present-day Pioneer Square. During the skirmish the settlers returned the Indian fire, reinforced by marines and a howitzer from the U.S.S. Decatur, anchored in Elliott Bay. Sporadic gun volleys continued until 10 o’clock that night, when the attackers retreated, leaving behind two dead settlers but none of their own — not even a trace of blood.

Rising tensions had led to bloody acts by both newcomers and Indians before the “Battle of Seattle,” but the attack marked the climax of active resistance led by Chief Leschi and other tribal leaders against the Indian treaties dictated by Territorial Governor Isaac Stevens over the previous two years. Leschi was eventually captured, and his half-brother Quiemuth surrendered soon after. Quiemuth was murdered in late 1856 by persons unknown, and Leschi was hanged in 1858 over the protests of many pioneers. It wasn’t until 2004 that Leschi was finally exonerated.

NEWS THEN, HISTORY NOW

Shaken Up

On January 26, 1700, a massive earthquake struck the Pacific Northwest, sending a tsunami across the Pacific that slammed into Japan. Several sources there recorded the event, making it the earliest documented historical occurrence in what later became Western Washington. It is estimated that the temblor was at least 9.2 on the modern Richter scale, making it the region’s most powerful recorded earthquake … so far.

Speaking Out

On January 24, 1909, a large religious revival was held in Spokane when 10,000 faithful followers listened as evangelist Billy Sunday preached about the Lord and the evils of liquor. The following year, Sunday returned to Washington and and preached in Friday Harbor, one day before its citizens voted whether to become “wet” or “dry.” They chose the latter.

Turned Down

On January 29, 1912, Tacoma unveiled the Bogue Plan  for developing the city’s waterfront. Prepared by engineer Virgil Bogue — who was also known for naming the town of Pasco and advocating for public ports — the plan failed to gain sufficient public support, a fate shared by Bogue’s more grandiose plan for Seattle, rejected that same year.