John Henry Ryan

Last updated

Frances Haskell
Member of the WashingtonHouseofRepresentatives
from the 38th [1] district
SpouseElla Ryan
OccupationNewspaper editor

John Henry Ryan (1865 - 1943) was a businessman, newspaperman, and state legislator in the U.S. state of Washington. [2] [3] He was a member of the NAACP. [4]

Contents

Ryan and his wife, Ella, published The Weekly and then The Forum newspapers. [5]

Biography

He was born in Chillicothe, Ohio and was one of 12 children born to George R. and Mary Elizabeth (Gatliffe) Ryan. [2] His grandmother was Cherokee. [3]

He married Ella Alexander and moved to Spokane, Washington in 1889. [2] They briefly moved to Seattle before settling in Tacoma, Washington in 1903. [2] The Ryans briefly published The Weekly, the city's first black-owned newspaper, but abandoned the paper to start The Forum in July 1903. [3] John and Ell were charter members of the Tacoma NAACP and the Republican Party. [2] Ryan compiled Ryan's Legislative Manual published in 1907. [3]

Ryan was elected to the 38th district of the Washington House of Representatives in 1921 as a member of the Farmer–Labor Party. [1] [3] He was the only African American serving in the Washington House of Representatives at the time. He helped defeat a proposal for an anti-intermarriage bill. [2] [6]

Ryan would serve in the 38th district from 1921 to 1925, and again from 1931 to 1933 as a Republican. [1] He then served in the Washington State Senate for the 28th district from 1933 to 1937 as a Democrat. In that session, he opposed a proposed bill that would require fingerprinting vagrants. [3] Ryan served in the House again for the 28th district from 1941 to 1932. [1]

He changed his name to Senator J. H. Ryan. [3] He published Ryan's Weekly. [3]

Ryan died on January 20, 1943, in a private nursing home. [3]

See also

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Washington State Members of the Legislature" (PDF). Washington State Legislature. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Lowe, Turkiya (January 21, 2007). "Ella & John Ryan". Black Past. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kershner, Kate (June 13, 2011). "Ryan, John Henry (1865-1943) and Ella (1866-?)". History Link. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  4. ↑ Taylor, Quintard (June 7, 2022). The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle's Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era. University of Washington Press. ISBN   9780295750651 – via Google Books.
  5. ↑ Hornsby, Alton (August 31, 2011). Black America: A State-by-State Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. ISBN   9780313341120 – via Google Books.
  6. ↑ Taylor, Quintard (July 1, 2011). The Forging of a Black Community: Seattle's Central District from 1870 through the Civil Rights Era. University of Washington Press. ISBN   978-0-295-80223-7 – via Google Books.
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