With and as Black History, we forge our Black Future

Black history holds a record of our people’s triumph and struggle.

The stories it carries about the freedom we’ve imagined and the organizing we’ve done attests to the strength of our courage in the face of ongoing racism. A prominent thread in many of our stories is the transformative power of community — strengthened during hardships and cultivated through the deep love we have for one another. 

This Black History Month, we reflect on the work of three Black women Washingtonians — Dorothy Hollingsworth, Vivian Caver, and Roberta Byrd Barr — ancestors who were builders of community and shapers of our present-day realities. We lift up their names and stories as we celebrate Black history and Black futures this February. Their words linger as steady guides, and their actions are precedents for each of us to embody and build upon. We share them here with the invitation for all reading to do so.

“Believe in yourself, have a goal, identify it, tell others about it, and start pursuing it.” — Dorothy Hollingsworth

The work of educator, activist, and pioneer Dorothy Hollingsworth speaks to a lifelong commitment to organizing for equity.

After graduating from college and working briefly as a third-grade teacher, Hollingsworth moved to Seattle, Washington, to be close to her husband’s family. From the moment she arrived, she began building community with members of her sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, Inc., and other Black Washingtonians active in the Seattle Madison Branch YMCA, the First African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the Seattle National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) chapter. Beyond formal local networks, Hollingsworth was also known to organize her own social clubs with family friends, curating space in her home for safe social gatherings at a time when Black people’s joy and convening were policed and restricted by segregation.

In 1959, Hollingsworth graduated from the University of Washington with her master’s degree and became a social worker for Seattle Public Schools. By the early 1960s, she was an active part of the local civil rights movement, often teaming up with others to secure equitable education and back open housing initiatives. True to her commitment to equity, she became the first director of Seattle Public Schools’ Head Start program in 1965, a federal anti-poverty initiative created to support students and families with low incomes. She then became the first Black woman to be elected to Seattle’s school board in 1975, serving for six strong years, including overseeing the city’s newly implemented busing program to desegregate schools.

Dorothy Hollingsworth’s activism, community building, and social work and education expertise converged to support educational and housing outcomes for Black students and families across Washington state. Her life remains a model for all of us today. She used her influence and power to champion resources long denied and gracefully brought others into the work. Her actions show what’s possible when we bring all of our parts to the community table in the work toward liberation.

“I am grateful for the honor to serve.” — Vivian Caver

The life lived by late community leader, civil rights advocate, and campaign organizer Vivian Caver shows that she equated public service with love and gathering people with possibility.

The daughter of a social worker and a school leader, Caver was a lifelong champion of equity whose organizing began as a student and continued until her death in August 2021. In the mid-1940s, she graduated from Garfield High School and then Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland. After that, Caver returned to Seattle to attend the University of Washington and, while there, was an active member of the Seattle Urban League, participating in their efforts to integrate Seattle’s department store workforce.
Caver’s organizing continued throughout her life. In the mid-1960s, she created 27 race relations councils in white neighborhoods to support open housing for people of color who faced discriminatory policies. The councils went on to successfully petition the Seattle City Council and secure the City Council’s ability to investigate housing discrimination claims. From this, the City Council created the Seattle Human Rights Commission in the late 1960s and hired Caver. In 1970, she was promoted to assistant director and, in 1975, she was elevated to director, serving a total of 13 years until 1981. Following her tenure, she worked as an administrator for the Girl Scouts of Western Washington, helping to recruit more girls of color into their programming. 

A ceaseless campaigner, Caver had a large influence on politics as two-time chairperson of the 37th District Democrats. In 1994, she was appointed state representative for the 37th district, where she contributed to the passing of bills related to youth violence reduction, small business empowerment, single-family homeownership,senior and disability retiree tax benefits, and more.

Vivian Caver’s commitment to mobilizing community for a better tomorrow laid the foundation for the progress we’re making today. Caver’s public service was fueled by a love for community that led her to many roles across the ecosystem and, in each one, she brought vision and action. Her work is a remarkable example of how facilitating togetherness supports lasting transformative solutions.

“Individuals make the difference.” - Roberta Byrd Barr

Educator, civil rights activist, television personality, and stage actress Roberta Byrd Barr lived a full life that left an indelible mark on history.

Born and raised in Tacoma, Washington, Byrd Barr attended segregated schools staffed only by white teachers. After a decade-plus in New Jersey, Byrd Barr moved back to Washington state in 1959 and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Washington. After college, she began teaching at Jefferson Elementary School and later became a librarian at John Muir Elementary School.

In 1966, Byrd Barr notably led the Freedom School at Seattle’s East Madison YMCA, set up as part of a community-led school boycott protesting school segregation. Byrd Barr served as vice principal at Franklin High School and then principal of Lincoln High School, becoming the first woman and Black individual to do either in Seattle Public Schools. 

She understood and integrated the power of the arts and culture into her career and activism. Byrd Barr’s acting and television career began in the early 1960s with her role in A Raisin in the Sun, and continued with a television program that broadcasted her telling stories to children. Between 1965 and 1972, Byrd Barr moderated Face to Face on KING TV. It was the first network television program that aired stories of Black people, ranging from the experience of segregated schools to perceptions of the Vietnam War. Byrd Barr brought her empathy and fearless honesty to the media, amplifying narratives and topics often overlooked by other media outlets.

Together with her sorority, Alpha Kappa Alpha, Byrd Barr helped save the Douglass-Truth Library, primarily serving Black and brown people, from shuttering its doors. She also started the “Negro Life and History colletion” at the library. Byrd Barr championed civil rights through her involvement in the Seattle NAACP, Seattle Urban League, and the Central Area Motivation Program, which is named after her today. In 1966, Governor Evans appointed her to the State Board Against Discrimination.

Byrd Barr is known for creativity, courage, and fortitude. She elevated Black stories, participated in boycotts against school segregation, challenged systemic inequities, and much more. Her legacy is one of invitation, reminding all of us to tap into our vastness and call in others to this liberation work. Harnessing our gifts, privilege, and networks can support the thriving of all of us.

As we press forward, working cooperatively to secure Black well-being across Washington state, we do so rooted in the stories of Black Washingtonians before us. Learning from our history helps us  carve new possibilities for our communities as we forge a liberatory Black future.