Mount Baker's MLK Jr Scholarship: 40 Years of Neighborhood Legacy

(July 2025)

In 1985, Mount Baker residents Richard Monroe, Marilyn Cooks and Craig MacGowan rang the doorbells of three Franklin High School seniors and surprised them with a scholarship to college. 

“We told them that a group of neighbors had organized a scholarship fund and they’d been selected. And oh boy, were they surprised,” Marilyn said, with a laugh.

“It was a passing of the hat on an impromptu idea,” Richard said. “We said, let’s raise some money and give some scholarships in Martin Luther King, Jr’s name.”

The students, who hadn’t known about the scholarship, each received $500, and were the very first recipients of what soon became the Martin Luther King, Jr. Scholarship Fund. 

One of those three recipients in 1985 was Brent Jones, the former Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools. 

Today, 40 years later, the MLK, Jr. Scholarship Fund has awarded scholarships to over 300 high school seniors throughout Southeast Seattle. The scholarships in recent years have awarded up to $16,000 per student for them to attend two-or four-year accredited colleges. Since 2019, the Fund has partnered with The College Success Foundation (CSF), which manages a formal application process and provides other non-financial support. Scholarships are awarded to those who show financial need and academic promise, have overcome obstacles, contribute to their Southeast Seattle community, and are from ethnic or racial groups that are underrepresented in higher education. 

It all started on 34th Avenue

Richard Monroe, a founding member of the Scholarship Fund, said that it all began not long after Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday became a federal holiday. 

“We thought, it’s a wonderful step that the country has taken, but as a neighborhood, we can do something too,” he said. Richard moved to 34th Avenue in Mount Baker in 1969 with his late wife, Sandra, raised three kids, and two of them, (Jake and Nick), attended Franklin.  

Fellow founding member Marilyn Cooks and her late husband Arthur moved to Mount Baker in 1979. Marilyn ran a daycare business out of her home for 15 years, became a social worker, and raised two children (Janita and Arthur) who attended Franklin. Richard and Marilyn lived a block apart and socialized regularly with others on 33rd and 34th Avenues, (including the MacGowans, McBrooms and the Straleys), for block parties and holiday parties.

One day, neighbor Gary Edwards, gathered them around his dining room table on 34th Avenue to brainstorm how to support diversity in Mount Baker. “During that meeting, Craig MacGowan suggested that we give some scholarships to a few African American students living in the neighborhood,” Gary said, who led the Mount Baker Community Club Board at the time. 

And with that, the wheels were set in motion. 

Founding member Craig MacGowan, his wife Patricia, (the Executive Director of MESA at University of Washington), and other friends in academics reached out to local schools and churches to find eligible students. Craig, who passed away in 2022, was an award-winning teacher of marine science at Garfield, where he also chaired the Science Department. (As an alum of Franklin High School, Craig was inducted into the Hall of Fame there for his work in education.) 

Hugh Straley was on the original committee and helped Richard Monroe with the fundraising campaign. “We all felt strongly that education was the most important opportunity for success and happiness in life,” Hugh said. “We were lucky to live in a diverse neighborhood and wanted to share our resources with promising youth who might not otherwise have the same opportunities as our children. Dr. King was our inspiration.” 

Through Richard’s leadership and the Community Club’s sponsorship, the team cobbled together a list of Mount Baker donors, including local businesses, and over the years, that list grew. Some neighbors even included the Scholarship Fund in their estates, including the McBroom family, who donated to the Fund on behalf of Dick McBroom, a trial lawyer who won court cases to desegregate schools, and who served as president of the Mount Baker Community Club in 1971.

“Considering Dick’s commitment to civil rights and to the Mount Baker Community Club, when he died, it seemed entirely appropriate to make a donation to the MLK, Jr.  Scholarship Fund in his honor,” said Judy McBroom, Dick’s sister-in-law. In fact, like other families in the neighborhood, various generations of McBrooms have been involved with the MLK, Jr. Scholarship Fund over the years: Judy’s late husband, Doug, a judge on the King County Superior Court, was a long-time member of the Scholarship Committee. After he passed away, Judy joined the Committee along with one of their daughters, Maurin Kay McBroom (Mo).

At the first annual MLK, Jr. Scholarship Awards Ceremony in 1985, Norman Rice, who was president of Seattle City Council and later became Seattle’s first African American Mayor (1990-1997), served as Master of Ceremonies. Norm, who had been a former Mount Baker Community Club President, continued to host the Awards ceremony for several years and remained a dedicated supporter.

Over the decades, other prominent African American leaders participated in the annual MLK, Jr. Scholarship Awards ceremonies, including a repeat speaker, Ron Sims, who served as King County Executive and was later appointed by President Obama to Deputy Secretary for HUD; George Fleming, Seattle legislator and Washington Husky football star; and educational leader Donald Phelps, who served as Chancellor of Seattle Community College district.

Patricia MacGowan still tries to attend almost all of the Award ceremonies. “Over the years, committee members have come and gone, except for Richard and Marilyn,” Patricia said. “They are the rocks of this program.”

To her, the real joy of being involved is to support the students. “They are working hard, giving back to their communities, juggling their own challenges, and might not normally be recognized,” she said. “They are the unsung heroes.”

Marilyn, now age 77, has retired from social work but stays busy helping a foster care agency. Giving back and paving a way for others is in her blood. In 1949, her mother and a few friends moved to Seattle from nursing school in Jacksonville, Florida. “Only two places would hire them, Harborview and Public Health,” Marilyn said. “So, they formed a support group for Black nurses.” Her mother, Mary Lanier, was one of the first Black registered nurses in Seattle. The support group became the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization, which gives scholarships to student nurses of African American heritage.

“I’m extremely proud that I had a part in forming the original MLK, Jr. Scholarship Fund in Mount Baker,” she said. “I know firsthand the power of people believing in you.” Marilyn still talks about the incredible support and encouragement she got from her neighbors when she decided to go back to school for social work. “As a matter of fact, after I got my master’s, those crazy people suggested that I go get my doctorate!” Marilyn laughed. “I love each and every one of them, and I’m getting emotional just talking about it,” she said through tears. “I was aware of the fact that a lot of minority students weren’t as fortunate as I was; a lot don’t have the support that they need. The MLK, Jr. Scholarship Fund helps with that.”

Today, many of the original committee members have left Mount Baker, but they still come together from across Seattle during the holidays.  Richard, now 81, recently reflected on moving to Mount Baker more than 50 years ago.

“This is a unique neighborhood, and a wonderful place to raise kids,” he said, as he wiped his eyes. “The beauty of the Fund is what it says about the neighborhood and the people who live in it.”

The MLK, Jr. Scholarship Fund is a sponsored program of the Mount Baker Community Club, a 501c3 nonprofit. Your tax-deductible donation to the MLK, Jr. Scholarship Fund will go directly towards helping students pay for tuition, fees and other college expenses that they otherwise could not afford. To learn more or donate go to www.mountbaker.org/mlkscholarshipfund.

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This article was written by MLK, Jr Scholarship Committee Member, Ashley Chapman, based on a handful of interviews and historical documents. If you were involved with the original committee or have additional information about the early history of the Fund, please email ashlchap@yahoo.com and we will try to incorporate it into the history section.