The People's Wall Explained

The People's Wall
Italic Title:no
Artist:Dion Henderson
Metric Unit:cm
Imperial Unit:in
City:Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Mapframe:yes
Mapframe-Zoom:13

The People's Wall on 20th Avenue just south of Spruce Street in the Central District / Squire Park neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, U.S., is a mural that was commissioned in 1969 by the Seattle chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and painted in 1970 by artist Dion Henderson.

Description and history

The mural stood on the east side of what was then the BPP chapter headquarters in Seattle, the second building to serve that purpose (which it served from 1969 to either 1971[1] or 1972[2]). The building was torn down very shortly thereafter, but as of 2023 the retaining wall and mural remain. The mural was retouched in 2008 by Seattle artist Eddie Walker.

The wall is dedicated to nine fallen Panthers: Sydney Miller, Welton Butch Armstead, Albert Postel, Larry War, Lewis Jackson, Maud Allen, Carolyn Downs, Jim Graves and Henry Boyer.[3]

Eddie Walker, who retouched the wall in 2008, was a key figure in founding the Ethnic Cultural Center at the University of Washington, Seattle,[4] and painted the portraits of Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth that hang in Seattle's Douglass-Truth Library.[5]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Second Headquarters of the Seattle Black Panther Party and The People's Wall . HistoryLink.
  2. Web site: The People's Wall . Revisiting Washington . Washington Trust for Historic Preservation . 2023-05-03.
  3. Web site: Discover the Art All Around Us! . 2 May 2020 . Leschi Community Council . 2023-05-03 . Seattle.
  4. Sudermann . Hannelore . The Kelly ECC at 50 . University of Washington Magazine . March 2022 . 2023-05-03.
  5. Karen Gordon, et. al., Web site: Report on Designation - Douglass-Truth Library . City of Seattle . 2023-05-03 . 16 . Public art in the library includes two mural portraits, painted by Eddie Walker, which depict Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth.. Landmark Designation.