Archives West Finding Aid

Powell S. Barnett, musician, baseball player, and community leader, was born in Brazil, Indiana, on August 2, 1883, and moved to Roslyn, Washington, in 1889. His father, an ex-slave, was one of many Black miners recruited to work in the coal mines of Washington state. As a teenager Powell also worked in the Roslyn coal mines and played in the "colored" band. Barnett came to Seattle in 1906, and was very muchi nterested in improving race relations and civic unity, Powell Barnett became a leader in the community. He organized the Leschi Improvement Council and became its first president in 1967. A firm believer in racial integration, he was instrumental in uniting Blacks and whites in the YMCA and the USO. He was a sousaphone player and the first Black person to become a member of the once all-white Musicians Union, Local 76. He was a star baseball player and organized a semi-pro baseball Umpires Association in Seattle, serving as executive secretary from 1944 until 1961 and securing affiliation with the National Association of Umpires. In 1969, the 4.4-acre park on Martin Luther King Jr. Way between East Jefferson and East Alder Streets was named for Powell Barnett. Powell Barnett died on March 16, 1971, having lived most of his life in the Leschi Community. He is buried at Mt. Pleasant Cemetery.