Leonard Clarence Gayton (1908-1982) was born in Seattle in 1908, the youngest son of John T. and Magnolia Gayton. He attended Hazelwood Grammar School and graduated from Garfield High School in 1927. A jazz drummer and bandleader, he joined forces with Evelyn Bundy to form the Garfield Ramblers in 1926, which later became the Evelyn Bundy band. He was a regular performer in Seattle’s jazz clubs, including the 908 Club, Plantation, New Harlem, Chinese Gardens, and on cruises to Alaska and California.
Gayton married Emma Pigford in 1931 and had 4 children. During the Depression, Gayton gave up the musician lifestyle and worked as a reporter for the Northwest Herald and the Northwest Enterprise. In 2008 selections of his writings were posthumously edited and published by his son, Thomas Leonard Gayton, in Lyrics by Leonard.
(Source: Historylink.org, Jackson Street After Hours by Paul de Barros)
Tape recorded interview conducted by Larry Gossett on 2 Feb 1968. Leonard Gayton discusses his father who arrived in Seattle in 1888. Leonard spent his early youth, age 3 to 10, in Hazelwood. He discusses Black social life in early Seattle. Intermarriage between Black and white people was prevalent in his youth, as was discussion between communist groups and Black people in the late twenties. He mentions Clarence Anderson, an early Black lawyer. He discusses the first big influx of "new" Black people in 1945-1956. Black population in Seattle in 1942 was 2500. He talks about the Black people in mining towns (Newcastle, etc.) who were brought there by the companies. The KKK was strong in the Longview-Chehalis area. He says that the KKK's efforts were directed mostly at Jews and Catholics, not Black people. He talks about Al Hall, a long-time court house employee.
Open to all users. Digital recordings and transcript are available in Special Collections Reading Room.
Creator's literary rights transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.
Donated by Mr. Gayton interviewed by Mr. Gossett, 2/2/1968
These interviews were conducted by Larry Gossett as part of the Afro-American Project (1968-1970), in which student field workers recorded conversations with residents of the African American community, primarily in Seattle.