Camp George Jordan

July 13, 2007 
/ Contributed By: Jacqueline Lawson

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Camp George Jordan

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Camp George Jordan was a United States Army facility established in Seattle, Washington, during World War II.ย  It was generally known as a Black army camp, because it was segregated in such a way that the African Americans were housed on one side of the street โ€“ referred to as โ€œCamp Jordan properโ€, and the white personnel on the other side.ย  It was located on the south side of Spokane Street between 1st and 2nd Avenues.

Originally referred to as the First Avenue Camp, Camp Jordan was established by the U.S. Armyโ€™s Port of Embarkation Administration in July 1942.ย  It was eventually operated as a trucking company to transport troops to and from Fort Lawton and Fort Lewis to the ships for overseas duty.

In November 1943, the First Avenue Camp was officially named in honor of a member of the 9th U. S. Cavalry (โ€œBuffalo Soldiersโ€), Sergeant George Jordan, an African-American recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor โ€œin recognition of his valor and bravery above and beyond the call of dutyโ€ at the Battle of Tularosa in New Mexico in 1880.

Camp Jordan remained an active facility throughout World War II until it was declared surplus in March 1947.

About the Author

Author Profile

Jacqueline E. A. Lawson is a genealogist and is a Research Aide at the Pacific-Alaska Region, National Archives in Seattle. She is a founder of the Black Heritage Society of Washington State, Inc.; a co-founder of the Black Genealogy Research Group of Seattle, and a member of the Washington State Pioneers Association. Her publications have included: The Harveys โ€” Out of North Carolina (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, Inc., 2000); Letโ€™s Take A Walk โ€” A Tour of Seattleโ€™s Central Area, As It Was Then (Seattle: Self-Published, Third Edition, 2005); An Index of African Americans Identified in Selected Records of the Bureau of Refugees Freedmen, and Abandoned Lands (Bowie, Md.: Heritage Books, Inc., 1995; The Black Heritage Society of Washington State, Inc. Twenty Years: A Chronology of Events 1977 to 1997 (Seattle: Self-Published, 1997); Camp George Jordan (Seattle: Self-Published, 2007).

CITE THIS ENTRY IN APA FORMAT:

Lawson, J. (2007, July 13). Camp George Jordan. BlackPast.org. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/camp-george-jordan/

Source of the Author's Information:

Personal interview with Marjorie Polk Sotero, Seattle, Washington, for
the Black Heritage Society, 2002; Personal interview with Rev. Eugene
Drayton, Seattle, Washington, September, 2006; Declassified material
housed at the National Archives and Records Administration
-Pacific-Alaska Region (Seattle) [including Port of Embarkation General
Orders]; Ulysses Lee, โ€œUS Army in World War II, Special Studies,โ€
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 66-60003, First Printed 1966.

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