PIC No. 33:
• Title: Tributes: Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites
• Author: Mary T. Henry
• Publisher: HistoryLink (Nov. 1, 2022, 72 pages)
• Management Bucket #10 of 20: The Hoopla! Bucket
Welcome to Issue No. 33 of PAILS IN COMPARISON, the value-added sidekick of John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. This blog features my “PICs”—shorter reviews of helpful books—with comparisons to other books in my 20 management buckets (core competencies) filing system.
Every Major City Needs a Mary Henry!
Prediction! Entrepreneurial authors from across the nation will soon be “borrowing” the brilliant concept and format of this wonderful book—and local residents, students, and families will soon be celebrating the people whose names grace their city’s unique sites and streets.
Author Mary T. Henry humbly credits her students at South Shore Middle School in Seattle, where she served as librarian in the 1970s and 1980s. She thanks them “…for alerting me to the fact that they were unaware of the people for whom the places they visited were named.” In Tributes, she explains why this inspired her to research and write her first book profiling 22 people and their landmarks.
I was born in Seattle and watched the city grow and mature for 21 years before leaving in 1968 for seminary in the Chicago area. So reading Mary Henry’s second book with 53 tributes to “Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites” was a delight—and a trip down memory lane!
A Seattle friend sent this book to my wife and I quickly borrowed it! My “Plan A” was brilliant: read-a-page-a-day and, over 53 days, slowly savor the Seattle sites, streets, and parks—while learning why these landmarks bear the names of these amazing men and women. Impossible!
The 53 one-page profiles, enriched by the illustrations of Mary Henry’s daughter-in-law, Marilyn Hasson Henry, are so interesting—you can’t read just one. Plan B: I consumed the whole book in one sitting! You will too! I couldn’t put it down.
The fascinating tributes are arranged alphabetically—so, of course, I started in the back with Lenny Wilkens (excuse me, Dr. Lenny Wilkens now!). This Seattle SuperSonics basketball star (1960s and 1970s) also coached the Sonics and guided his team to the NBA Championship in 1979. If you’re on Thomas Street, near what was then the Seattle Coliseum, you’ll travel along “Lenny Wilkens Way”—a recent honorific by the city council. (Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell wrote the foreword to this book.)
Did you know that Jimi Hendrix (1942-1970), “the internationally acclaimed guitarist and rock star,” was born in Seattle and attended Garfield High School? The author appropriately honored Hendrix with two pages to highlight four Seattle landmarks: Jimi Hendrix Park, Jimi Hendrix Viewpoint, Jimi Hendrix Music Experience (at the Museum of Pop Culture), and the Jimi Hendrix Statue. (The library at Garfield H.S. is also graced by a bust of this Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legend.)
The Quincy Jones Performing Arts Center at Garfield H.S. is just one of many tributes and awards (28 Grammys!) for Quincy Jones, the “record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger and film and TV producer” who also attended Garfield H.S.
Henry notes that “of the 53 individuals honored, 10 are Seattle natives.” I was pleased to read the page for Rev. Dr. Samuel Berry McKinney (1926-2018) who pastored Mount Zion Baptist Church for 40 years. In my Seattle days, I so appreciated his ministry and his unique gifting for civil rights and community leadership roles. I did not know that “he was responsible for bringing his classmate, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to Seattle in 1961.”
McKinney was the first Black president of the Church Council of Greater Seattle and was the co-author of Church Administration in the Black Perspective. Henry notes three landmarks that honor Dr. McKinney.
The spouses of pastors are rarely appreciated enough, so kudos to the author for highlighting Louise Jones McKinney (1930-2012) for her educational leadership (principal of several Seattle Public Schools), philanthropy, and partnership “with a group of minority women who operated several businesses” at SeaTac. You can visit the Louise Jones McKinney Reading Room at the Douglass-Truth Branch Library.
I could go on and on about this fascinating book—but you’ll enjoy your own journey through the sites, streets, and landmarks that feature “Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites.” (I love the well-chosen word, “Grace.” See my review of Grace Ambassador.)
Read the profile of Roberta Byrd Barr, Seattle’s first Black woman who was a high school principal (Lincoln H.S.). And don’t miss the tributes to Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, Medgar Evers, Walter Hundley, Thurgood Marshall, and Henrietta Mathews. The diversity of these profiles is stunning—including the sweet tribute to first grader Peppi Braxton (1963-1971) who was killed in a bicycle accident. “The students at Leschi voted to have their playground named for him”—Peppi’s Playground.
Do you agree with me? Every major city in the nation needs a Mary Henry to write 50 or more tributes to the “Black People Whose Names Grace [Our City’s] Sites.” And yes—while every major city has immense problems and challenges, Mary Henry’s book (and more books, we pray) will be epistles of grace to educate and encourage the next generation.
For more on the author, read this article and click here to enjoy her delightful Feb. 15, 2023, talk and Q&A, “History Cafe: Paying Tribute to Seattle’s Black Landmarks and Their Namesakes,” hosted by the Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI).
Oh! Did I mention that Mary Henry is 99 years old? This is the second book I’ve recently reviewed by a 99-year-old author! (Check out Henry Kissinger’s latest book at 99!).
PAILS IN COMPARISON: Reading this book reminded me of several other must-read books in the Hoopla! Bucket, plus other buckets/core competencies. Why the Hoopla! Bucket? Because “we harness the power of hoopla! for celebration” and these Black people whose names grace Seattle should be celebrated!
[ ] BOOK: Leaders: Myth and Reality, by General Stanley McChrystal (US Army, Retired), Jeff Eggers, and Jason Mangone. (See the chapter, “The Heroes: Zheng He and Harriet Tubman.” Read my review.)
[ ] MOVIE: HARRIET (2019, PG-13, 2 hours, 5 minutes, Amazon Prime) - Memorable Line: “The hole in my head just made God’s voice more clear.” (Read my mini-review.)
[ ] BOOK: Before and After Jackie Robinson, A Story of the Brooklyn Dodgers Told Through the Lens of Tickets and Passes, by Dan Busby (Read my review.)
To order from Amazon, click on the title for Tributes: Black People Whose Names Grace Seattle Sites, by Mary T. Henry and illustrated by Marilyn Hasson Henry. For more book reviews, visit John Pearson’s Buckets Blog and subscribe to Your Weekly Staff Meeting. And thanks to our friend, Meri Nelson, for sending us this book—and for introducing us to the Marvelous Mary Henry!
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