 ABOUT
US
History
of African Americans in the Seattle Fire Department
In 1889, the Seattle
City Council passed an ordinance that
created the non-volunteer Seattle
Fire Department. At this time
there were no minorities or women in
the Seattle Fire Department.
In 1911 under fire
Chief Stetson assurance, sixty six
negros were prepared to take
the civil service exam, and
consideration was given to opening a
new fire house manned entirely by
negros.
(Seattle Sun Newspaper 1911-12).This
was derailed by a faltering economy
and the start of WWI.
It wasn’t until January
5, 1959, when Claude Harris was
hired as Seattle's first Black
Firefighter.
Claude Harris remained
the only African American in the
Department until 1967, when Howard
Levert and Gerald Jones
were hired, bringing the total to
three. The remainder of the 1960s saw
more African Americans hired as
Firefighters. During this time the
African American firefighters formed a
formal/informal organization to
address their needs and concerns. The
organization would later become known
as the Seattle Black Firefighters
Association, which has been, and
remains a member in good standing with
the International Association of Black
Professional Firefighters.
Seattle Black
Firefighter Association was started in
1968 by Claude Harris as an informal
group, that discussed the common
problems of the few blacks in the
dept.
In 1968, Fire Chief
Gordon Vickery instituted the
Trainee Program that prepared
applicants for employment and careers
in the Seattle Fire department. When
trainees graduated from the program
they entered the department as Recruit
Firefighters. During this time over
100 African Americans entered the
program, with more than two-thirds
graduating to become full-fledged
firefighters. The trainee program
lasted from 1968 until 1977.
In the fall of 1980 the
Seattle Fire department hired Janet
Beal the first African American
female firefighter. In 1981, the U.S.
Supreme Court upheld the Affirmative
Action/Selective certification
process, which was ratified by the
Washington State Supreme Court.
In July of 1985
Claude Harris became the first
African American Fire Chief for the
City of Seattle, and remained in that
position until he retired in December
of 1996.
In the 1990s the number
of African Americans appointed
declined to 23 total. The reason was
we had reached the Affirmative Action
guidelines.
With the election of
Charles Hawkins as the first
African American President of the
Seattle Firefighter’s Union, Local 27,
positive steps were made to
participate in the Department’s
recruiting program to actively target
under-represented groups.
April 2004 saw the
appointment of the second African
American Chief of the Seattle Fire
Department, Chief Gregory Dean.
We are optimistic that in this New
Millennium Chief Dean will renew the
concentrated targeted recruitment of
minorities and women.
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