Luella Ruth Brown Boyer Brent, aka Madame Boyer, was a successful Black businesswoman during the early years of Everett and Seattle, Washington. During a time of rampant discrimination, when few economic opportunities existed for people of color or women, Boyer was a successful entrepreneur and an outspoken member of her community.
Born in 1868, her father’s lineage traces back to the first African hostages brought as slaves to Jamestown, Virginia in 1619. Her parents moved from Iowa, a free state, to Missouri, a slave state, in 1864 during the Civil War.
Though Boyer’s parents could not read or write, they encouraged education in their children. Luella’s brother, Samuel, grew up to become an attorney, civil rights activist, and NAACP leader.
In 1900, Boyer married her husband John and moved to Lewiston, Idaho. Then in 1902, they moved to Everett, Washington and became involved with the small Black community in the area.
Boyer began marketing her hair care services and products professionally as “Madame Boyer.” Her name choice may have been inspired by Madame C.J. Walker, a successful Black entrepreneur who became a millionaire selling her own hair care products.
Boyer adopted a daughter in 1903 and divorced John around 1905.
Boyer’s career saw a great deal of success at this time. In 1908, she expanded her range of products to include skin care, promoting herself as a dermatologist.
Luella was a trailblazer, not only due to her business success during a time when few economic opportunities were available to Black women. She also made several notable contributions to Everett’s cultural life and spoke and wrote frequently about race and gender discrimination.
One example of Boyer’s influence on her community: In May 1902, Boyer attended a theater performance in Seattle by Bert Williams and George Walker, who were popular Black entertainers of the time period. Boyer spoke with the entertainers and convinced them to later perform in Everett, which they did, performing their box office hit musical “In Dahomey” in 1905.
Madame Boyer’s social activism was also well-documented. She was a weekly contributor to the Seattle Republican, an African American newspaper. Noted by the local Black community and the greater Everett community for being passionate on the topic of racial injustice, she often participated in the newspaper discussion and forums, and gave talks on racial discrimination and another on sex work and gender inequality as part of the newspaper’s programming.
Boyer remarried in 1910 to Bertrand Brent, a white man employed as a waiter and a janitor at Everett Public Library. Sadly, only two years later, Boyer died from diabetic complications in 1912, at age 44.
Marjorie Edwina Pitter King was the first Black woman to serve as a Washington State legislator.
She was a champion of civil rights, and described by friends and family as a “mover and shaker” and a “bulldog.”
Born March 8, 1921 to Edward A. Pitter and Marjorie Allen Pitter in Seattle, Washington, she was exposed to racism early in life when white neighbors ran the family out of their rental house on 34th Ave E and Madison St in Seattle. The family later bought a house on 24th Ave, where neighbors started a petition to try to get them to move.
Marjorie attended and graduated from Garfield High School. She then enrolled in the University of Washington’s College of Business Economics.
Her whole family delighted in numbers and accounting – she and her sisters (who also attended University of Washington) started a typing, printing, and writing business together to help defray the cost of tuition.
However, she reported accounts of appalling racism from her professors, classmates, and the University administration. She was frequently on academic probation due to low grades, which historians believe had more to do with professorial prejudice than academic performance.
After transferring to Howard University in Washington D.C., King switched tracks and began a job for the Pentagon during World War II. In 1944, she returned to Seattle and established a successful tax business called M and M Tax and Consultant Services, which she ran for 50 years before retiring in 1995. King frequently went out of her way to provide services for immigrants and their families through her work as a tax consultant.
She was an active member of the Colored Democratic Club Incorporated for Washington State and King County, and the Colored Woman's Progressive Democratic Club of King County, which was established by her mother. Marjorie and her family passed out literature, attended rallies, and campaigned for candidates.
She continued her involvement through her adulthood, with a particular focus on organizing youth activities. In 1946, she received a personal letter from Eleanor Roosevelt thanking her for organizing a group of young Seattle Democrats.
She served as chairwoman of the 37th District Democratic Party, treasurer of the Washington State Federation of Democratic Women, Inc., and on the rules, credentials, and platform committee of the King County Democratic Party. She attended the 1964 National Democratic Convention and battled to seat the Mississippi Freedom Party. At the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago she was tear-gassed during the uprising that occurred.
When Senator Ann T. O’Donnell (1936 – 1965) died suddenly, a fight ensued over the appointment of her successor whose term would end in 1966. The Democratic County Executive Board recommended Marjorie King to complete O'Donnell's term.
Marjorie King completed the term and then ran for position No. 2 from the 37th District, though she was defeated by David Sprague.
Though King did not run for political office again, she continued her involvement with the Democratic party and organizing youth.
House Resolution No. 2005-4614 recognizes Marjorie Pitter King as the first Black woman to serve in the legislature following the proclamation of Washington statehood.
In addition to her political life, Marjorie Pitter King served as a board member of the YMCA and the Seattle Urban League. She was the president of Alpha Omicron Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority; and a member of the Black Heritage Society and the Luther Human Relations Institute.
Marjorie Pitter King died on January 28, 1996.
Tags: Washington, history