Memorial For Slain Shoreline Civil Rights Activist Needs Funds

SHORELINE, WA - On Jan. 26, 1969, Edwin T. Pratt, executive director of the Seattle Urban League, answered the door at his Shoreline home. Seconds later, the 38-year-old was dead, shot by two men who fled the scene in a car.

Pratt's murder was never solved, but his work as a civil rights activist left a permanent mark on Puget Sound. When he moved to Shoreline in 1959, his was the first black family to live in the all-white suburb. As executive director of Seattle's Urban League, he fought to end housing discrimination in Seattle, and to desegregate Seattle schools.

But Pratt's name might not known to many living in Puget Sound. A 5th grader from Shoreline has worked to change that since 2016. Sarah Haycox got the Shoreline School Board to rename a building in Pratt's honor. The district will dedicate the Edwin Pratt Early Learning Center in 2019, but Sarah is raising money to bring Pratt's family members to Puget Sound for the event.

She is also raising money to commission a mural of Pratt and to continue teaching future Shoreline residents about him. As of Thursday, Sarah's GoFundMe fundraiser was only about $2,500 shy of its $15,000 goal.

Sarah first learned about Pratt as a 3rd grader at Meridian Park Elementary when she saw a small memorial to him. She worked for the next year to gather signatures to petition the school board to rename the district's new learning center (set to be completed in December) after Pratt. The school board unanimously voted over the summer for the Pratt memorial.

Image via GoFundMe, a Patch promotional partner