Lillian Walker, Washington State Civil Rights Pioneer: A Biography and Oral History. By Lillian Walker & John C. Hughes. Olympia, WA : Washington State Legacy Project, Office of the Secretary of State, c2010. 198 p.
Recommendation by:
Rand Simmons, Acting Washington State Librarian, Tumwater, WA.
“It was 1944, the apex of World War II, and on the home front the Navy was keeping an eye on its Negroes. Twelve hundred worked at the Bremerton shipyard, including 300 newcomers in the first eight weeks of the year. They were angry because many businesses, including cafes, taverns, drug stores and barber shops, displayed signs saying, “We Cater to White Trade Only.” One of the dissidents was 31-year-old Lillian Walker, whose husband worked at the shipyard. She was the recording secretary of the Puget Sound Civic Society, a civil rights coalition formed by the newly chartered Bremerton branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.” (Excerpt from Lillian Walker: Civil rights pioneer, John C. Hughes, http://www.sos.wa.gov/legacyproject/oralhistories/lillianwalker/default.aspx.)
This is the definitive biography of Ms. Walker, a civil rights pioneer in Washington State. It is both a biography and an oral history and eminently readable. Readers interested in race relations, civil rights history and the civil rights of African American women in particular will enjoy this book. This book is about the history of Bremerton, Washington and will appeal to those with an itch to read well written local history as well as to those who love to read biographies.
ISBN-13: 978-1889320229