A museum shaped by hands, histories

"Shaped by many hands," reads a panel at the entrance of the Northwest African American Museum, an acknowledgment that the museum has come to life through the efforts of hundreds of people, including civic and community leaders, activists, volunteers, historians, government officials, planners, architects, artists, construction workers, corporate sponsors, donors and museum professionals. Here's a look at three key staff members:

Carver Gayton, executive director

Gayton, 69, is a former state employment-security commissioner, Boeing executive, FBI agent and longtime educator. He's the great-grandson of an escaped Kentucky slave who became a prominent abolitionist. Gayton's Seattle roots date to 1888, when his grandfather, John Thomas Gayton, left Mississippi to work as a valet for a white doctor moving here.

"We have an important story to tell: If you have pride in yourself and your culture, you can accomplish anything in the world."

Barbara Earl Thomas, deputy director / curator

Thomas, 59, is a Seattle native, a writer and artist with a bachelor's degree and master's degree in fine arts from the University of Washington. She's worked in administrative and marketing positions in the arts and has been program director for the Seattle Arts Commission, director of Seattle's Bumbershoot festival and marketing manager for The Elliott Bay Book Co. Her maternal grandfather came from Shreveport, La., to work in a Seattle shipyard.

"I really hope that what makes the museum worthwhile is that it is both personal and a place where you make discoveries."

Brian Carter, education director

Carter, 28, is a Yakima native with a history degree from Stanford and a master's in museum studies from the University of Washington. He did his graduate-school entrance essay on the need for an African-American museum in the area, and when he learned one was in the works, he had to get involved, first as a volunteer, and most recently full-time. His mother's family came from Spain via Colorado; his father came to Eastern Washington to join an uncle who worked at the Hanford nuclear reservation. Carter traveled around the Northwest to help develop the museum's content.

"Everywhere we went, people had these great stories."