Week 4: January 26 - February 1
January 26, 1993
On January 26, 1993, Rosa Gourdine Franklin (b. 1927) was sworn in as Washington state’s first African American woman senator.
Franklin served in the Senate for 20 years with a broad track record of bipartisan success and was elected Senate President Pro Tempore by her peers in 2001 — the first Black woman to serve with this distinction in the United States.
January 27, 1944
On January 27, 1944, nearly the entire student body of East Stanwood High School walked out in protest of what they view as the draconian administration of Superintendent Alfred Tunem (1896-1972).
The strike lasted for nearly a week, and made frontpage news as far away as Seattle.
January 31, 2006
On January 31, 2006, Governor Christine Gregoire signed a law that adds “sexual orientation” to existing prohibitions on discrimination in employment, housing, lending, and insurance.
Washington was the 17th state to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and the seventh to apply the protection to transgender people.
Even before the signing ceremony, opponents filed ballot measures seeking to overturn the new law.
This post is in partnership with HistoryLink, and Warren Seyler, former chairman Spokane Tribe of Indians, the Black Muse Resource Center, and the Living Arts Cultural Heritage.
We encourage you to engage in further research through your local historic societies, museums, archives, and community.
