[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 213 (Wednesday, December 17, 2025)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1216]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               RECOGNIZING REVEREND DR. SAMMUEL McKINNEY

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. ADAM SMITH

                             of washington

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, December 17, 2025

  Mr. SMITH of Washington. Mr. Speaker, I rise to recognize the Rev. 
Dr. Sammuel McKinney for what would be his 100th birthday on December 
28, 2025 for the contributions he made to our Nation as a civil rights 
leader who fought tirelessly for social justice and racial equality in 
Seattle and who served devotedly as the beloved pastor of the Central 
Area's Mount Zion Baptist Church.
  The son of a Baptist minister and grandson of a Georgia sharecropper, 
the Reverend Dr. McKinney was devoted to serving his community 
throughout his life. McKinney bravely served during World War II in a 
segregated unit of the U.S. Army Air Corps. He graduated from Morehouse 
College in Atlanta after returning home from war, and then he went on 
to earn a divinity degree from Colgate in 1952. He settled down in 
Seattle, where he came to lead the congregation of one of Seattle's 
oldest and largest African American churches for forty-three years as 
pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church. He was not only a spiritual guide, 
but a community builder who tripled the size of his congregation during 
his time as pastor at Mount Zion. McKinney was a founding member of 
Seattle's First Human Rights Commission, which successfully fought for 
the Seattle's first Fair Housing Act, establishing protection for 
tenants of protected classes and marginalized communities. A lifelong 
champion for racial justice, McKinney founded Liberty Bank, Seattle's 
first black-owned financial institution which countered racially biased 
restrictions on loans to African Americans and expanded opportunities 
for homeownership in Seattle.
  McKinney was a friend to many, including the noted fellow pastor and 
civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The pair had known 
each other from childhood but grew closer friends at Morehouse College. 
Dr. King visited Seattle only once, after his old friend requested that 
he come to give a speech in 1961. During his visit, Martin Luther King, 
Jr. spoke of McKinney's influence in the civil rights movement and his 
commitment to racial equality.
  Mr. Speaker, I thank the Rev. Dr. Sammuel McKinney for a lifetime of 
service to the United States of America and to the city of Seattle. I 
am deeply grateful for his important efforts towards protecting our 
country, advancing social justice, and fostering economic development. 
His legacy will not be forgotten.

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