Seattle City Councilmember Bruce Harrell

Proclamation issued on August 31, 2012

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WHEREAS, Sister Louise Jones McKinney was born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1930 — during a time of adversity and progress. While in Cleveland, she graduated from Case Western Reserve University. She met Samuel McKinney in church and the two later married, moving first to Providence, R.I., where he pastored, before relocating to Seattle in 1958 to lead Mount Zion Baptist Church; and

WHEREAS, Louise McKinney adored her family — her husband and daughters Lora-Ellen McKinney and Rhoda McKinney-Jones, as well as her grandson, Kent McKinney Jones. She was a mother and sister to her son-in-law, Sam Henry Jones, Jr. and brother, John (Sonny) Jones, Jr.; and

WHEREAS, Louise McKinney has shown an extraordinary commitment to her community by serving as a philanthropist, patron of the arts, and longtime educator who believed that all children were capable of learning, no matter their station in life; and

WHEREAS, Louise McKinney was a teacher and principal at a number of Seattle schools. In this capacity, she prodded and nudged institutions to do right by all our children – especially African American youth – and established scholarships to ensure the brightest among them got a fair shot; and

WHEREAS, Louise McKinney gave young people the hope to believe in themselves and the idea that they could achieve anything; and

WHEREAS, Louise McKinney has had a tremendous impact on the lives of those she touched – she never faced a challenge too large for her to pursue and her community was the benefactor of her unswerving commitment to God and humanity; and

WHEREAS, Louise McKinney was a citizen of the World — everywhere she went, she left her mark in areas from religion to education to civil rights; and

WHEREAS, Louise McKinney will be remembered for her unrelenting and indomitable spirit of action — she inspired a generation to succeed and yielded herself to become a source of inspiration for her community and for Seattle; and

WHEREAS, Louise McKinney has left us, but her legacy will be cherished and not forgotten.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT PROCLAIMED BY THE SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL AND MAYOR MICHAEL McGINN THAT FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2012, IS

Louise Jones McKinney Day
in Seattle. We call upon all residents and educators to join in and pay final tribute, honor and respect to a woman who was larger than height. Together, let us honor her life and legacy to make our city a better place by promoting equality, social and economic justice, and the basic rights for all children and youth to succeed.