Each text article in this app was recorded by a member of Black & Tan Hall. Below, learn more about each of the readers and other contributors:
Ashley recorded sections in the Preface and Acknowledgements; the Club Royale & Hotel Louisa; and Washington Hall. Ashley was also the primary researcher and writer for the Green Book Tour app content.
Elena Perez recorded sections in the Preface and Acknowledgments; and About Black and Tan Hall.
Elena Perez has been a Black & Tan Hall partner for several years and is thrilled to be able to support the audio for the Green Book Tour! When she's not building community with B&TH partners, she works as a racial and social justice organizer in Seattle/King County.
Benjamin Hunter recorded sections in the Introduction; King Street Station; and About Black & Tan Hall. Ben coordinated our voice recordings and supported the readers in the studio.
Benjamin Hunter, a Seattle-based polymath, is an award winning multi-instrumentalist, composer, creative/cultural advocate, social entrepreneur, producer, and educator. He is the founder of Community Arts Create, co-founder of the Hillman City Collaboratory, co-founder of Black & Tan Hall, and currently serves as the Artistic Director of NW Folklife. He is serves on the Seattle Music Commission, and co-chairs the Columbia Hillman Arts & Culture District. Benjamin is a 2019 Gordon Ekvall Tracie Memorial Awardee, a 2020/2021 Artist-in-Residence at On The Boards, and is a 2020 Artist Trust Fellowship Awards recipient.
Camilo Estrada recorded the entry on the Green Dot Barbershop. Camilo also helped to coordinate audio recordings and provided studio support to our readers.
Camilo Estrada was born in Seattle and currently lives in Rainier Beach. He joined B&TH for the opportunity to collaborate with a bunch of amazing people towards the goal of creating a space that will help facilitate, maintain and grow the cultural heritages of the people who have traditionally lived in the South End and Central District of Seattle. He is active in Seattle's music community and composes for and leads the band The New Triumph.
Asha Noble read the entry on Ruth Whiteside's Beauty Parlor and Beauty School.
Asha is also one of the Good Jobs Fellows with Black & Tan Hall. She will obtain her Bachelor's degree from University of Washington in Arts Media & Culture and Minor in Environmental Studies in 2022. Being born and raised in the Central District of Seattle, this project was personal; for over two generations her family has been affected by ‘red lining’ and gentrification in the Pacific Northwest.
Christina Chan read the entry on the Atlas Hotel.
Christina is one of the Good Jobs Fellows with Black & Tan Hall. She is an artist who creates visual storytelling within the community, and she owns a jewelry business, Dyme Designs, that is influenced by her Chinese cultural roots.
Joe Seamons is a musician and educator of the Pacific Northwest whose non-profit, The Rhapsody Project, works to celebrate music and heritage through an anti-racist lens. When he is not frailing the banjo or accompanying his jazz-singing wife Briar on guitar, Joe tours internationally in a multi-instrumental duo with fellow songster, Ben Hunter. Together, they were awarded 1st place in the 2016 International Blues Challenge, as well as recognition by the Ethnic Heritage Council for excellence in performance and significant contributions to the development and presentation of the traditional cultural arts in the Pacific Northwest.
Maria Stockard McDaniel read the entry on Jackson's Liquor Store.
Maria (she/her pronouns) was born and raised in Seattle and several family members were patrons of the Black & Tan, Honeysuckle and Birdland in the 40s, 50s and 60s. She remembers hearing all their stories about these vibrant clubs and the numerous black owned businesses. Maria became a Black & Tan Hall Partner because she wants the community built around music in the Central District to resurface in Southeast Seattle to bring people together again, while keeping a portion of Seattle’s forgotten history alive.
Karen Stringer recorded the audio on the Coast Hotel page. Karen was a public school teacher until recently. She is an aspiring Caribbean food trucker and enjoys singing Calypso songs that were written between 1900 and 1970.
Bio pending.
Karen Toering recorded the segments on the Black & Tan Club / Alhambra Cabaret page. Karen’s background includes work as a grassroots organizer, cultural worker and consultant for non-profit arts and social justice organizations.
Sean Divine is a founding member of BB award winning band, the Jelly Rollers, and performs and records with various projects on either side of Puget Sound, including the Backwoods Hucksters and the Hounds of Townsend. In his spare time, Sean takes naps and folds laundry.
b atwell, additional audio editing
Thank you, b!
Jennifer Lawrence Bennett created the hand-drawn map that will soon be digitized and added to the Green Book Tour.
Jennifer is an artist and teacher who has resided in Seattle for over twenty years. She has witnessed the development, gentrification, and population change in her Hillman City neighborhood that created the impetus for the Black & Tan Hall. Wanting to be a part of a team that honors diversity, gives voice, and offers a meaningful place for all, she was called into this unique business model.
Naomi is a content strategist, writer, former comparative literature professor, and Rainier Beach resident. As a Seattle transplant, she was thrilled to learn about local history while working on an accessibility audit and UX improvements for the Seattle Green Book Tour app.
[Readers, please note that any remaining UI issues come from working within the constraints of the software. Thanks, Naomi, for all your work on this! -Ashley]