Rodney White (died August 27, 1913) was a Black pioneer in

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

who settled in Tahuya. After his death, the swamp where he built his homestead was named after a racial slur. It was officially renamed the "Rodney White Slough" on October 27, 2022.

Life

While much of White's early life is unknown, he was born into slavery in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

sometime in the mid-19th century. After being freed, White made his way to

Roslyn, Washington Roslyn is a city in Kittitas County, Washington, United States. The population was 893 at the 2010 census. Roslyn is located in the Cascade Mountains, about 80 miles east of Seattle. The town was founded in 1886 as a coal mining company town. D ...

before being hired for a mine construction job in Mason County. He filed a claim under one of the

Homestead Acts The Homestead Acts were several laws in the United States by which an applicant could acquire ownership of government land or the public domain, typically called a homestead. In all, more than of public land, or nearly 10 percent of th ...

for land and crossed the Puget Sound, from

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

to Tahuya, on September 2, 1890. Two members of his party drowned while attempting to land the ferry in heavy winds. He quickly built a reputation for being a hard worker with "a heart of gold" and worked on his homestead until his death from pneumonia on August 27, 1913. By the time of his death, his homestead had grown to nearly 160 acres. His two

donkeys The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...

, Baltimore and Babe, were given to the Woodland Park Zoo after his death.

Legacy

After White's death, the

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

where he had built his homestead was given the derogatory name "Nigger Slough." This name appeared on maps until 1992, when the

United States Board on Geographic Names The United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) is a federal body operating under the United States Secretary of the Interior. The purpose of the board is to establish and maintain uniform usage of geographic names throughout the federal governm ...

renamed the area Grass Lake. On October 27, 2022, the Washington State Committee on Geographic Names renamed the swamp "Rodney White Slough" in White's honor. The move followed a campaign by local activists with the Living Arts Cultural Heritage Project. The change was finalized by the

Washington State Department of Natural Resources The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) manages over of forest, range, agricultural, and commercial lands in the U.S. state of Washington. The DNR also manages of aquatic areas which include shorelines, tidelands, lands und ...

on January 19, 2023, along with changes to several other geographic features to remove references to racial slurs.

References

{{Reflist 1913 deaths Mason County, Washington American freedmen