Walter Hubbard Jr. was a Seattle-based civil rights and labor union leader, political activist, and national leader in the Roman Catholic Church. He was involved in the promotion of justice and equality in intergroup relations and participated in activities to secure worldwide
Walter Hubbard Jr. was a Seattle-based civil rights and labor union leader, political activist, and national leader in the Roman Catholic Church. He was involved in the promotion of justice and equality in intergroup relations and participated in activities to secure worldwide interracial justice. His vision of a church and world without racism was reflected in his life’s work.
Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, he had little formal education but acquired extensive knowledge through his love of reading. When World War II broke out he was drafted into the Army and was stationed at Fort Lewis in 1943, before going overseas to fight in the Battle of the Bulge.
First Years in Seattle
In 1951, he and his family moved to Seattle. He found employment at 60 cents an hour as a skilled cloth cutter at the Sportcaster Company, a subcontractor for Sears. As a young person in New Orleans he had gained intimate knowledge of the garment industry because his two older brothers worked at a shirt factory there. He learned how to spread, cut, and mark the cloth.
In Seattle he became active in the labor union as a member of the United Garment Workers Union Local 77, serving as president and later as a business representative. Mr. Hubbard also worked for the state liquor board and became an officer in its union.
Civil Rights Activities
As was the case with many black people moving to Seattle during the 1950s and 1960s, housing was an issue. Due to zoning and redlining, African Americans were more or less confined to the Central Area. Mr. Hubbard was denied the purchase of a home in the Madrona neighborhood and in West Seattle because of racial discrimination. He finally moved his family of four into a duplex with one bedroom. This experience prompted him to begin working for open housing and actively supporting the civil rights movement.
He became a member of the Central Area Civil Rights Committee, a powerful committee made up of civil rights leaders including Edwin T. Pratt (1930-1969) of the Seattle Urban League, E. June Smith and Charles Johnson of the Seattle Chapter of the NAACP, Rev. John Hurst Adams (b. 1927) of First African Methodist Episcopal Church, and Walter Hundley (1929-2002) of Congress for Racial Equality (CORE). This committee, formed in the early 1960s, determined the local civil rights agenda and presented a unified front.
Walter Hubbard was an important member because as a parishioner of St. Therese Catholic Church, he was able to mobilize the Catholic community. “Whenever boycotts or marches were scheduled, Walt was always counted on to produce a Catholic contingent.” said Judge Charles Johnson. Mr. Hubbard chaired the committee from 1969 until 2002
The Central Area Motivation Project (CAMP), which was the first totally new community action program in the country to receive funding from the Office of Economic Opportunity, received his volunteer efforts. It was CAMP that assisted in the planning of Model Cities. He also worked closely with the Model Cities Program and served as chair of its advisory committee from 1972 to 1974.
A firm believer in integrated education, he worked successfully for the Freedom School boycott of Seattle schools in the spring of 1966. He felt that the boycott was a success because it fostered a dialogue between the community and school leaders, both public and parochial.
In 2001, Mr. Hubbard launched the Institute for Public Service Training believed to be the first of its kind. Curriculum was to be taught over six-to-10-week blocks alternating from the University of Washington campus to Seattle University. The aim of the institute was to inspire black college students to go i