[music]
Audio recordings are a rich resource in the Seattle Municipal Archives.
Almost all recordings are of City Council regular and committee meetings.
The audio recordings
enable voices from the community, often not available elsewhere, to be heard.
The audio also often records the relationships
among City Council members and their decision making process.
Public hearings were held regularly to hear comments from residents of Seattle
on a variety of topics, from utility rates to civil rights.
In addition to City officials, department representatives
and concerned residents, many community groups are represented at meetings
such as the NAACP, Seattle Gay Alliance, and Radical Women.
Audio recordings are frustrating for activists exactly because
they are so rich.
There is no easy way to produce transcriptions.
Lists of speakers are not easily available.
It is only the careful work of archivists, listening to each recording
and indexing them,
that enables the voices on the recordings to be discoverable by others.
It is time consuming, but exciting because you never know
whose voices you'll hear, especially at public hearings.
At a public hearing chaired by Jeannette Williams on April 23rd, 1970,
regarding the establishment of what became the Women's Commission.
One woman gave public comment for 12 minutes.
She spoke eloquently about the unique role of women,
about peace and poverty, and how racism was ignorance.
She gave specific recommendations about the proposed Women's Commission.
She introduced herself as Mrs. Raymond J. Gautier.
The website Black Past told me
her name was Freddie Mae Hurd Gautier, and she lived from 1930 to 2001.
Although she had aspirations to enter politics, she never held a public office.
She helped found the Benefit Guild, worked to register voters,
and was an activist in her community.
She worked for the Central Area Motivation Program and became director
of the Model Cities Group Home Program that provided homes for delinquent youth.
She did much more. I had never heard of her.
I love this audio recording of Freddie Mae because it brings her to life.
Teaching me, with the help of Black Past, about a significant Seattle resident
that contributed powerfully to our community. In this recording,
we hear why she felt so passionately
about the Women's Commission and her views on women and society.
This is only an excerpt of her 12 minute public comment.
You can hear the entire speech in audio event 162 starting at minute 13.
Enjoy.