Honoring the legacy of Sam Smith

We at SEED are pleased to share that our next affordable housing building will be named after Sam Smith, the first African American member of the Seattle City Council and an unwavering champion of housing accessibility for all.

Samuel J. Smith was born in Louisiana in 1922. Following two years of service in the Army during WWII, he settled in Seattle’s Central District with his wife Marion King. After working at Boeing for several years, he was elected to the State House of Representatives in 1958. During his five terms, he was a vocal proponent of civil rights legislation, particularly the anti-discrimination Open Housing Law, which was passed in 1967. He then served on the Seattle City Council until 1991. Smith was renowned for being friendly and accessible to his constituents and dedicated to social and economic justice.

“Our family is honored that SEED has chosen to name their building after my father. Affordable apartments for working families in Seattle’s South End—that’s a very fitting tribute to his tireless work to end housing discrimination.”
—Carl Smith, Sam’s son

The Sam Smith apartments will be the fifth and final building in SEED’s Rainier Court community in the Rainier Valley. Explicitly designed to fight displacement and help communities remain in Southeast Seattle, the building will include primarily family sized units—with 114 bedrooms serving 150 people. Construction on the new building is expected to begin in 2025 or 2026.

“This is the culmination of community goals two decades in the making. The community wanted the land cleaned up and put to a better use, so SEED assembled 90 parcels and cleaned up polluted sites. Where there were vacant lots, now nearly 500 affordable apartments and commercial business have been created.” 
—Michael Seiwerath, SEED Executive Director

Biography and images: Seattle City Municipal Archives; Washington State Heritage Center. Learn more about Sam Smith.