The Booker T. Washington Community Center (1937 - 1949)
Address: 959 East Hartson Spokane, WA
Malone arrived in Spokane from Alabama with a degree from Tuskegee University. She briefly housed the BTWCC in the basement of the Calvary Baptist Church, then used her own money to purchase and move into the house at 959 East Hartson, creating one of “only places in Spokane at which colored people felt they were welcome at any time and occasion.”
She and her staff taught courses to encourage Black pride including history, dressmaking, piano, and etiquette. The center hosted parties, provided meeting space for local clubs, and fielded youth sports teams. The BTWCC was a safe place for young people – including esteemed civil rights attorney Carl Maxey – to hang out together, dance, sing, play games, and socialize. Malone also curated an extensive collection of African American literature for the center’s library, all within the walls of this modest two-story house.
Though most federal programs failed to reach minority communities, WPA funding supported BTWCC’s employment of several African American women and day care for more than 30 children including Spokane author and historian Jerrelene Williamson who remembers feeling “loved” and “welcomed” there.
Seeing another need, the BTWCC provided lodging for a variety of Black visitors who couldn’t find temporary housing elsewhere. Guests included soldiers from Geiger Air Force Base and entertainers putting on plays like Porgy and Bess. As WWII began transforming the country, Malone welcomed hundreds of Black soldiers – who weren’t allowed at the all-white USO – to 949 East Hartson for Saturday barbecues in the backyard.
Rosa D. Malone came to Spokane in 1937 with a degree in home economics from the Tuskegee Institute with an appointment by the WPA to help with depression area relief programs. (Images of America: African Americans in Spokane, p. 57).
A feature article in the Spokesman Review on January 5, 1941 provided a deep dive into the work of the Booker T. Washington Community Center and dubbed Rosa Malone the “guiding spirit” of the center.
Current image of the former Booker T. Washington Community Center at 959 East Hartson in Spokane.
Carl Maxey, who rose to fame as a fierce legal advocate for Black Spokane, is pictured in his youth at the back right enjoying a sing-along with other teens at the Booker T. Washington Community Center in a photo shoot for the January 5, 1941 edition of the Spokesman Review.
The Booker T. Washington Community Center circa 1930s. Children and care providers on the front porch. Local author and historian Jerrelene Williams is pictured in front of the door. (Images of America: African Americans in Spokane, p. 59)
Though it looks today like a single-family home in a middle-class residential neighborhood, the house located at 959 East Hartson was once a haven for Spokane’s Black community. Named for the iconic Black educator and leader, the Booker T. Washington Community Center (BTWCC) was founded in 1937 by Rosa. D. Malone via a Works Progress Administration (WPA) appointment.
Though still Malone’s private residence, the BTWCC temporarily shut down as she pivoted to building and directing the George Washington Carver USO for Black service members.
After the war, Malone re-opened the BTWCC. She was met by attacks from the local NAACP calling her and the center racist segregationists. Her detractors pressured the Community Chest, BTWCC’s primary funder, to withdraw financial support.
There are a number of theories about what sparked this attack. Perhaps the old guard in the Black community didn’t like a relative newcomer deciding the civil rights agenda. Maybe the all-male power brokers wouldn’t tolerate a woman with so much influence paving the way forward.
Whatever the cause, the result was a court battle that divided the Black community and delivered a death blow to the Booker T. Washington Community Center. While no records show Malone or her organization as racist or segregationist, she lost the case and was made to pay $300.
In February 1949, she closed the center and rented the building out to Morning Star church. The house served as church headquarters for just two years and eventually regained its former identity as a private family home.
Teens demonstrate the jitter bug in the festively decorated common area at the Booker T. Washington Community Center for photographers of the Spokesman Review for a January 5, 1941 feature story.
A group of seven teen girls sing songs of the season at the Booker T. Washington Community Center. Photographers of the Spokesman Review captured this image for the January 5, 1941 feature story on the work of the center.
References:
Kershner, J. Segregation in Spokane: Longtime Black Residents Recount the Injustices and the Victories. Columbia Magazine, Winter 2000-200: Vol. 14, Number 4. Accessed June 7, 2021. https://www.washingtonhistory.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/winter-2000-01_001.pdf
Mack, D. A. (2014). Black Spokane: The Civil Rights Struggle in the Inland Northwest. University of Oklahoma Press.
Mack, D. A. (2007, January 19). Frank A. Stokes (? – 1950). BLACKPAST. Accessed June 23, 2021. Frank A. Stokes ( ? -1950) • (blackpast.org)
Mouser, J. (2017, August 15). The Booker T. Washington Community Center (1937 – 1948). BLACKPAST. Accessed on Jun23, 2021. The Booker T. Washington Community Center, Spokane, Washington (1937-1948) • (blackpast.org)
Tinsley, J. (2018, December 17). Then and Now: George Washington Carver USO Club. The Spokesman-Review. Then and Now: George Washington Carver USO Club | The Spokesman-Review
Williamson, J. (2010). Images of America: African Americans in Spokane. Arcadia Publishing.
No byline. (1937, March 30). Housewives Put on Style Shows. The Spokesman Review. Accessed June 22, 2021. 30 Mar 1937, 6 - The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.com
No byline. (1939, May 30). Community Center Provides Much for Spokane Negroes. Spokane Chronicle. Accessed June 22, 2021. 30 May 1939, 17 - Spokane Chronicle at Newspapers.com
No byline. (1939, November 25). Install Pastor at St. Paul’s. The Spokesman Review. 25 Nov 1939, 6 - The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.com
No byline. (1940, February 3). National Negro Week Program is Announced. The Spokesman Review. Accessed June 23, 2021. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80258062/the-spokesman-review/
No byline. (1942, August 29). Negro Soldiers Given Barbecue. The Spokesman Review. Accessed June 21, 2021. 29 Aug 1942, 6 - The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.com
No byline. (1943, May 12). Carver Center to Have Beauty. The Spokesman Review. Accessed June 21, 2021. 12 May 1943, 6 - The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.com
No byline. (1944, October 16). Carver Center to Honor Cast. The Spokesman Review. Accessed June 21, 2021. 16 Oct 1944, 14 - The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.com
No byline. (1946, October 14). Negroes’ Center Gets Chest Help. Spokane Chronicle. Accessed June 21, 2021. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/80245370/101446/
No byline. (1948, January 23). Mrs. Malone Named in Suit. Spokane Chronicle. Accessed June 21, 2021. 23 Jan 1948, 5 - Spokane Chronicle at Newspapers.com
No byline. (1948, January 24). Says He Was Called “Red,” Sues for $10,000. The Spokesman Review. Accessed June 21, 2021. 24 Jan 1948, 6 - The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.com
No byline. (1948, November 20). Stokes Denies Commie Charge. The Spokesman Review. 20 Nov 1948, 3 - The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.com
No byline. (1948, November 25). Chest Aid Item in Slander Case. The Spokesman Review. 25 Nov 1948, 1 - The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.com
No byline. (1948, May 11). Community Chest Support Restricted. Spokane Chronicle. Accessed June 21, 2021. Clipping from Spokane Chronicle - Newspapers.com
No byline. (1950, July 10). Negro Baptists Plan 51st Meet. The Spokesman-Review. Accessed June 22, 2021. 10 Jul 1950, 16 - The Spokesman-Review at Newspapers.com