SEATTLE — The City of Seattle will rename a portion of 43rd Avenue in the Rainier Valley neighborhood after the late Sen. George Fleming.
The Seattle City Council passed legislation Feb. 27 to rename the street "Sen George Fleming Way."
An affordable housing complex nearby also bears his name.
Fleming played football for the University of Washington. He went on to play for the Oakland Raiders and the Winnipeg Blue Bombers before returning to Washington state in the mid-1960s.
Fleming was elected first as state representative in 1969, then state senator in 1971, serving the 37th Legislative District of southeast Seattle for 22 years. He was the second Black senator ever elected in Washington state and the first to chair the Senate Democratic Caucus, according to the Black Members Caucus.
During his 22 years in the statehouse, Fleming established state offices to support women and minority business owners and was instrumental in making Dr. Martin Luther King's Day a state-wide holiday.
In 1986, Fleming helped create one of his most important and impactful legacies: the state's housing trust fund, which has since created 55,000 units of affordable housing. It’s a program that is still helping thousands of Washington families today and has become a national model for low-income housing.
The cost of installing the new street signs is estimated at $2,000 and will be paid by a third party, according to the legislation.
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