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Oral history interview with Charles Russell, 1968
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Russell, Charles, 1917-
- Title
- Oral history interview with Charles Russell
- Dates
- 1968 (inclusive)19681968
- Quantity
- 1 sound cassette (ca. 60 min.)
- Collection Number
- 4876 (Accession No. 4876-001)
- Summary
- Tape recorded interview of Seattle African-American who faced much discrimination
- Repository
-
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu - Access Restrictions
-
Open to all users.
- Languages
- English
Biographical NoteReturn to Top
Mr. Russell was born in Seattle in 1917 and was one of 4 children.
Content DescriptionReturn to Top
Tape-recorded interview conducted by Larry Gossett, March 24, 1968.
His father was a chef on Great Northern Railroad for 44 years. The only available jobs for black in Seattle were running on the boats, railroad jobs, maintenance jobs and shoeshine jobs. Charles Russell attended Garfield High School and UW, where he was noted as a star football player. He left the UW because of discrimination on the part of his coach, James Falen and other teammembers. He was only allowed on the football team because of pressure, largely on the part of Clarence Dirks, a Seattle Post Intelligencer sportswriter. Russell left Seattle after 2 years at the UW and worked as a waiter in Sacramento, Calif. Finding conditions there even worse, he returned to Seattle and worked as a porter/waiter on the Northern Pacific Railroad. He was treated very fairly by the superintendent, William Swifell. Russell mentions the influx to the Northwest of blacks in the early 40s due to the industrialist Edgar Kaiser and increased job opportunities with better pay. After working on the railroad for 15 years, he worked on the airlines. He also mentions the role of Stokely Carmichael in creating racial pride in Seattle and the beginnings and development of Seattle's Central area in 1955.
Use of the CollectionReturn to Top
Alternative Forms Available
Listen to the audio recording of this interview on the Libraries Digital Collections site.
Restrictions on Use
Informant's/creator's rights dedicated to the public. May be used for research, instruction, publication or similar purposes.
Administrative InformationReturn to Top
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- African Americans--Washington (State)--Seattle
- African Americans--Washington (State)--Seattle--Interviews
Personal Names
- Russell, Charles, 1917- --Archives
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)