Albert "Al" Smith grew up at Fifth Avenue and Jefferson Street above a grocery store and attended O’Dea High School in Seattle’s First Hill neighborhood. After sailing around the Pacific Rim as a steward on merchant vessels, Smith returned to Seattle with a new camera and a desire to capture his home city on film. What started as a hobby soon became an art and a profession, with Smith starting his own photography business, called "On The Spot." The MOHAI exhibit "Seattle on the Spot: The Photographs of Al Smith" was a glimpse into Seattle’s African American community and the Central Area neighborhood, the local jazz scene, as well as the life and the work of this unique artist.
This collection was a joint project of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State and the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) to collect oral history interviews in connection with the 2017 MOHAI exhibit "Seattle on the Spot: The Photographs of Al Smith." The collection consists of eight interviews: Howard Giske, Carol Peoples-Procter, Jackie Lawson, Delores Davis, Carver Gayton, Gertrude Peoples, Shirley Wilcox, and Barney Hilliard.
View selected transcripts from the collection in
All of the interviews are available in digital format as .mp3 files made from master .wav files.
Transcripts are available for all interviews; restrictions may apply.
The collection is open to the public by appointment.
The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.
Seattle on the Spot Oral History Project, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle
Created jointly by Black Heritage Society of Washington State and the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI); copies of the interviews are held by both repositories.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.
Interview with Howard Giske, Curator of Photography at MOHAI, about the Al Smith Collection and MOHAI's plans to preserve it.
Interview conducted by Al (Butch) Smith, Jr.
Interview with Carol Peoples-Procter of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State, about Al Smith, his photos, and the project to preserve them.
Interview conducted by Al (Butch) Smith, Jr.
Interviews with Jackie Lawson, past President of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State about her memories and perceptions of Seattle photographer Al Smith and his photography of Seattle's African American community in the Central Area. Jackie Lawson's cousin Chris Jones joins the second part of the interview.
Interview conducted by Al (Butch) Smith, Jr.
Interview with Delores Davis about life in Seattle's African American community in the Central Area in the mid-twentieth century.
Interview conducted by Howard Giske and Chris Jones.
Interview with Carver Gayton about his recollections of Al Smith and his photographs of the African American community in Seattle's Central Area.
Interview conducted by Howard Giske and Al (Butch) Smith, Jr.
Interview with Gertrude Peoples about her recollections of Al Smith his and his photographs of the African American community in Seattle's Central Area.
Interview conducted by John Peoples (her son).
Interview with Shirley Batiste Wilcox about her recollections of Al Smith his and his photographs of the African American community in Seattle's Central Area.
Interview conducted by Carol Peoples-Proctor and Chris Jones.
Interview with Barney Hilliard, a saxophonist, about Seattle's African American music scene and life in the Central Area in the mid twentieth century.
Interview conducted by Howard Giske, Paul de Barros, and Chris Jones. Paul de Barros joins Howard Giske for the first interview, and Chris Jones on the second.