The Northwest African American Museum's time has come. It has come in response to a more than 20-year call to create an African-American museum at the abandoned Colman School that sits atop the Interstate 90 tunnel at 23rd Avenue South and South Massachusetts Street in Seattle.

The response is fueled by the community's desire to have a place to learn about and tell the many stories of our arrival and settlement in the Northwest. There, on top of the hill, the museum will be a bridge that physically and symbolically connects the past with the present.

How many among us know that blacks migrating to the Puget Sound area came as early as the 1840s? Some found work in the coal mines of Black Diamond and Roslyn. Many left the Deep South at the end of Reconstruction to escape the evils of apartheid, including the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and similar groups. Others who came sought gold in the Klondike region of Alaska in the late 1890s.

We will tell how World War II fueled the next major migration with its wartime jobs at Boeing and in the Bremerton Naval Shipyards, and what it meant to the lives of the young families that settled here.

The latest surge of people of African descent to populate this region is a result of the political upheavals in the East African nations of Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia beginning in the 1970s, through the 1980s and 1990s.

History and culture are dynamic. If the details are not captured and recorded, the story is lost.

The black families that came to the Seattle area have influenced many aspects of our Northwest culture and economy. The museum will reflect our shared story through artifacts, documents, oral histories, photos and ephemera that record the impact these movements had on their immediate communities and the Northwest as a whole.

Over the years of black presence in the Northwest, individual icons have emerged who have influenced Northwest lifestyle throughout the Puget Sound area and beyond:

William Grose, an African-American entrepreneur, came to Seattle in the 1860s, opened a restaurant and hotel and emerged as one of Seattle's wealthiest citizens. He also financially assisted many who became notable leaders in the community. Two of whom he helped included businessman and civic leader Henry Yesler and shipbuilder Robert Moran. Grose is the first and only African American inducted into the Puget Sound Business Hall of Fame. His induction took place in October of 2004.

Horace Cayton Sr. established one of the first African-American-owned newspapers in Seattle, The Seattle Republican, in 1894. At one point, it had the second-largest circulation of any newspaper in Seattle.

Quincy Jones, whose family moved to Bremerton from Chicago in 1943, has become an international media mogul. The Garfield High School graduate and 29-time Grammy Award winner also produced "Thriller," the largest-selling record album in the history of the industry.

Jimi Hendrix, the great rock and soul guitarist, is another Garfield graduate. His family history in the Northwest dates back to the early years of the 20th century. His creativity on the guitar revolutionized popular music the world over.

Ray Charles, the "Genius," had his first record produced in Seattle. Much of his creative foundation in music resulted from his friendship and collaboration with his teenage friend Quincy Jones during the late 1940s and early 1950s while in Seattle.

Jacob Lawrence, whose art rose out of the legendary Harlem Renaissance during the 1930s, emerged as one of the greatest American painters. He, and his wife Gwen Knight, both lived and created art for the last 30 years of their lives in Seattle.

Each of the above icons has left indelible marks on the African-American community and the Northwest, but many have influenced the world with their art and expertise.

The common element of each is that their works and contributions resonate, not only with the African-American community but a broad array of cultures. The entire Northwest will be able to celebrate and take pride in the showing and the telling.

Culturally specific museums will never take the place of major art museums or local state history courses, but they can augment and enhance those institutions.

The Northwest African American Museum will be a repository, a clearinghouse, and a cultural hub where stories are not only told but kept and passed on to future generations.

Carver Gayton, who holds a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Washington, is director of the Northwest African American Museum.