WA’s first Black mayor leaves legacy of hard work and hope

When William Amos Craven’s children were little, they would visit him at Roslyn’s Mount Olivet Cemetery, where he worked as a caretaker.

The Craven children, sometimes begrudgingly, would help him work and in return be rewarded by Craven with a treat, usually with a milkshake or ice cream cone.

It was a lesson, KC Craven, 45, said. Doing the work was always worth it.

Craven became a civil rights pioneer in 1975, when he was appointed as the first Black mayor in Washington history. Craven, who was a part of the last Black family in Roslyn, Kittitas County, fiercely advocated for the mostly white small town, winning the mayoral seat in a landslide the following year.

“I didn’t run for this job as a Black man, but as a man. I wanted an equal chance to try – if I can’t do it, the people will vote me out in September,” Craven said after being appointed mayor. But the people didn’t vote him out and he served until 1979.

Now, after years of service, Craven will rest in the town he loved. He died on June 25 of age-related illness at 86. He leaves a legacy as a dedicated local leader, mentor and community member.

“His passing is a real loss – a man who helped shape the town through presence, not words. He didn’t seek attention, but you always knew he was there, doing the work that mattered,” KC and Corrine Craven, William’s third child, wrote in his obituary.

The Craven family arrived in Washington in the late 1880s, when Craven’s grandfather was recruited to work in Roslyn’s coal mines during a labor strike. William Craven was born on Sept. 18, 1938, the second child of 13.

Although Craven was first widely recognized for his role as mayor, he was taking care of Roslyn long beforehand. After graduating high school in 1956, Craven became a janitor for the local middle school and Cle Elum-Roslyn High School. And, as his father did, he tended Mount Olivet Cemetery as a gravedigger and, later, a caretaker.

Mount Olivet was formed in 1888 after Black miners were excluded from burial in the town’s original cemetery and instead laid to rest in an adjacent piece of land. Alongside 26 other cemeteries formed by different fraternal, ethnic and religious groups, Mount Olivet is now part of the Roslyn Historical Cemeteries. In 1978, in part because of Craven’s efforts, Roslyn Historical Cemeteries was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Now, after years of stewardship, the cemetery will be able to look over him instead, when Craven is interred there this weekend.

Corrine was around 4 years old when her father was elected mayor. She recalls taking phone calls of people asking for “Mayor Craven” and rushing to get her dad on the line. While she remembers some of the celebrations of her father, Corrine, now 51, said she didn’t have a full sense of the accomplishment until she grew older.

“I began to understand what it meant as I went out into the world and started reading and understanding the history of African-American people,” Corrine said.

Even if she didn’t fully grasp her father’s accomplishment as a child, Corrine said, her father did. He understood what winning the election meant, and the hope it carried. And he remained steadfast in his position as mayor. After all, Craven was the kind of man to do the job, no matter what it was, said 57-year-old Tony Craven, the eldest of the sons.

After finishing his term as mayor, Craven returned to work at the cemetery while remaining an active caretaker in the community, cutting grass for the elderly, shoveling coal and fixing fences.

“It didn’t matter if he was a custodian, teacher or mentor, people always respected him, from the troublemakers to the valedictorians,” KC said.

He was the type of man to always put others before him, KC said, even when others weren’t willing to do the same. Growing up as one of the few Black people in Roslyn and marrying Virginia Smith, a white woman, people did not always treat Craven and Smith kindly.

But, Corrine said, her father would not hold hatred against people, instead telling them, “I know who I am, and you’ll watch and see who I am.”

KC said his father refused to be defined by the bigotry he faced because of his race, teaching his kids that the only person who could determine their lives was them.

Craven passed along his commitment to Washington to his children as well, all of whom work or have worked in public service.

In July 2001, William’s son, Tom Craven, died alongside three other firefighters in the Thirtymile Fire, which burned 9,300 acres along the Chewuch River.

In 2021, former Washington Gov. Jay Inslee proclaimed Feb. 20 as “William Craven Day” and installed a plaque in Roslyn to honor his legacy.

Funeral services will be held 2 p.m. Saturday at Roslyn Presbyterian Church. A burial will follow at Mount Olivet Cemetery, with a reception afterward at the Roslyn Eagles club.

He is survived by five of his six children: Tony, Corrine, Timmy, Teddy and KC, as well as five grandchildren. Craven was preceded in death by his wife, Smith, and Tom.