With it being Martin Luther King Jr.
Day I thought we could go back into the Seattle Municipal Archives
to get some local perspective.
These 1964 photos show a Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) sponsored protest of the Lake City and Aurora offices of Picture Floor Plans Inc after a May 1963 investigation found it had discriminated against non-white buyers. Click
here for an in-depth narrative of the Seattle Open Housing Campaign from 1959-1968. And click on the thumbnails for more resolution.
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| CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) sponsored demonstration at realtor office of Picture Floor Plans, Inc. May 1964. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives.
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| CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) sponsored demonstration at realtor office of Picture Floor Plans, Inc. May 1964. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives. |
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| CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) sponsored demonstration at realtor office of Picture Floor Plans, Inc. May 1964. Photograph courtesy Seattle Municipal Archives. |
Is the top photo on Aurora at Green Lake? I swear the motorcycle shop still has the same “Aurora Cycles” sign up. I have no idea if that’s what the place is still called, but the font on the sign seems the same.
(runs off to Google Street View) Yep, that’s the place. It looks like the Aurora Suzuki used the “Aurora” sign that already existed on the building, which I would guess used to be the same Aurora Cycles, since the font is the same. The reality office is now a 7-11.
What a great historical find!
I recognize that old building in the background in the first image. Its on the corner of Aurora and Winona Ave.
Here’s a link to what it looks like today: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=beth's+seattle&sll=47.681801,-122.34375&sspn=0.037271,0.077248&ie=UTF8&ll=47.682957,-122.344437&spn=0,359.382019&z=11&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=47.682634,-122.344552&panoid=wc5vlSuEILxbHVEfCvGgOw&cbp=12,676.7240869432038,,0,5.000000000000001
I always wondered what that building looked like in better days.
I’m really craving a steak now and it’s only quarter to ten in the morning!
Nice work Matt and Lesley!
@ Barb: I’m craving a four-bedroom house with basement for zero down and SEVENTY-FIVE DOLLARS A MONTH.
But, you know, not from evil discriminatory realtors. Fascinating pictures, and of an event and a general period of Seattle’s history that gets virtually no attention…excellent post!