This research examines the cultural climate that existed in Seattle’s Central District and on Jackson St. in the 1940’s-1960’s and the music produced at the time, jazz music. I examine Seattle’s changing laws (like racial restrictive housing covenants and prohibition), newer freedoms in the Black community (like desegregation), the influence of the Great Migration, and changing national attitudes toward racism and equality. I parallel those changes with evolutions in the styles of jazz produced throughout this period, and the social, political and economic landscape becomes evident in the music, to the extent that the way jazz sounded at a certain time reflected the social, political and economic atmosphere. I look at these issues through the lens of Floyd Standifer, a well-known Seattle trumpet player, who began his career in the 1940’s and was active in the Seattle jazz community until his death in 2007. Standifer witnessed some of the most radical changes in the socio-political landscape of Seattle throughout the ‘40’s through ‘60’s that I examine. The malleability he demonstrated in his music is testament to the changing social climate, population increases in the Black community, new freedoms, and the changing desires of community members and music venue patrons. In the shift from “rags” to jazz to rock ‘n’ roll, I demonstrate how jazz can be seen as political and reflects how music lies at the heart of the African American resistance to oppression during this period.

The 1960s was an era of political and social transformation in America. Seattle, as most people do not know was a segregated city for most of its history. Racial discrimination applied not to just African Americans but also Asians, Chicanos, etc. People of color could not attend certain schools, restaurants, and could not live outside certain city boundaries. The Northwest African American Museum preserves local artifacts from the Civil rights movement in Seattle. Maid Adams, a Seattle C.O.R.E member during the 1960s donated two protest signs used during the movement. These posters were extremely crucial in the movement. They represent how protesting instigated social change and paved the way for future activism.