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Friends of Discovery Park cordially invites you to an important event at the Park on the morning of Saturday, October 19. 

As part of our 50th anniversary, we are marking the 80th anniversary of a 1944 civil rights tragedy at Fort Lawton. This long-overlooked chapter in American history, in which 28 Black soldiers were wrongfully convicted during World War II, will be memorialized with the unveiling of two new historical signs in Discovery Park.

Jack Hamann, author of On American Soil, will be among those speaking; it was his 2005 book and Congressman Jim McDermott’s subsequent advocacy that led the Army to reopen the case, which resulted in overturning all convictions and dishonorable discharges.

With grant funding from the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Friends of Discovery Park is installing new educational signage. One sign will be installed at the Visitor Center; the other at the site where Fort Lawton’s segregated barracks once stood. This signage is part of a larger effort by Friends of Discovery Park and Seattle Parks & Recreation to improve park signage.

This commemoration is a powerful reminder of the racial injustices of the past, and we hope the new signage will honor those whose lives were forever altered by this tragic set of events.

The Board of Directors and I will be present to reflect on this important event, and to mark a half-century of stewardship for Seattle’s largest and greatest park.

Please join us!

Event: 80th Anniversary Commemoration of the 1944 Fort Lawton Civil Rights Tragedy
Where:
Discovery Park Visitor Center, located at the park’s east entrance
3801 Discovery Park Blvd, Seattle, WA 98199
When: Saturday, Oct 19, 2024, 10 a.m. to noon