Carver Clark Gayton, Local and National Education and Civil Rights Leader, Writes Autobiography: Odyssey of a Seattle Native Son

Carver Clark Gayton, a renowned Seattle and national leader in education and civil rights, will release his autobiography, Odyssey of a Seattle Native Son, on April 22. To celebrate the book’s publication, an event will be held that evening at 7 p.m. at the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle. During the event, Gayton will be in conversation with HistoryLink Executive Director Jennifer Ott, reflecting on his impactful civic life. 

Gayton’s story bears witness to Seattle’s experience of race and the importance of family, teachers, teamwork and building bridges in the context of the civil rights movement. Odyssey of a Seattle Native Son is a timely story, written by a Seattle native with deep perspective on the last century.

From his family roots in slavery and abolition, his young life in the Seattle public school system, his sports career as a University of Washington Husky football player and assistant coach, to his long career at Boeing and his civic activities, Gayton draws on his experiences to highlight the tension of being Black in America.

“Twenty years of friendship with Carver have shown me how fundamentally I misunderstood the relationship between lore and man,” writes 4Culture Executive Director Brian J. Carter in his foreword to the book. “There is not an inevitability to the era-shaping experiences and accomplishments recounted in this autobiography. [Carver’s] poise and conviction . . . [are] wages earned for a lifetime in service of elemental values—loyalty, kindness and duty.”

Gayton’s odyssey is shaped by the necessity of taking a stand and by the inspiration and hope drawn from leaders like his great-grandfather Lewis Clarke, who wrote, “You and your generation and those who are coming after you can never know or feel what we who have been slaves endured. You are surrounded by golden opportunities such as I never dreamed would come.”

Gayton is a longtime leader in education reform and workforce training. In addition to his nearly two decades at Boeing, his past positions include FBI agent, director of Affirmative Action Programs at the University of Washington, commissioner of the Washington State Employment Security Department, and executive director of the Northwest African American Museum. He lives in Seattle.