Harold Moss

Harold Moss (born 1929) is an American politician and businessman who served as the 34th mayor of Tacoma, Washington.[1][2] He was the first African American member of the city's council,[2][3][4] its first African American mayor,[2][3][4] and the first African American member of the Pierce County Council.[2][4] Moss's wife, Bil Moss, has also served on the Tacoma City Council.[5]

Harold Moss
34th Mayor of Tacoma
In office January 1994 – 1996
Preceded by	Jack Hyde
Succeeded by	Brian Ebersole
Member of the Tacoma City Council
In office 1987–1994
In office 1970 – 1975
Personal details
Born	(1929-10-01) October 1, 1929 Gilmer, Texas, U.S.
Alma mater	Lewis College of Business
Military service
Branch/service	United States Army
Battles/wars	Korean War

Early life and education

Moss was born in Gilmer, Texas on October 1, 1929, and his family later soon resettled in Detroit during the Great Migration. Moss attended the Lewis College of Business before arriving in Tacoma, Washington during the Korean War as a member of the United States National Guard.[6][7]

Career

He first became politically active in the 1950s as a member of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). He served two terms as branch president, served on Tacoma's first Human Relations Commission (later Human Rights Commission), and in 1968, Moss helped create the Tacoma Urban League[2][8] and played a key role in securing public funding for its Urban Services Center.[8]

Moss was a dental technician, and ran a business, Northwest Porcelain Studios. He left this business in the hands of his assistants when he was hired by the Tacoma Chamber of Commerce and the Tacoma Area Coalition in the spring of 1968 to run the Central Area Employment Office, soliciting jobs for disadvantaged Tacoma-area residents.[9][10] He entered electoral politics in 1969 as an unsuccessful candidate for the Tacoma City Council.[2] A year later, five council members were recalled, and Moss was appointed to a seat,[2][4] which he took on October 13, 1970.[4] He was elected to a full term in 1971,[2][4] remaining a full-time employee of the Urban League throughout this period.[2] Urban League National Executive Director Vernon Jordan asked Moss to step down from his elected position in 1975 to avoid compromising the League's non-profit status.[2]

In a September 1978 domestic argument, Moss shot his son in the shoulder with a .38-caliber revolver. No charges were ever pressed, and the two later reconciled.[11]

By 1983, Moss was no longer affiliated with the Urban League. That year, he ran unsuccessfully for city council.[2] In February 1987, he was appointed to fill a council vacancy,[4][12] ran that fall for a full term, won, and was reelected in 1991.[2][13] In January 1994, Tacoma mayor Jack Hyde suffered a fatal heart attack nearly at the start of his term.[2][3] Moss, serving as deputy mayor at the time,[2][14] was appointed mayor[2][3] and served for two years.[2] During his administration, Tacoma enacted a youth curfew law.[15] Because the mayor is considered part of the city council, term limits prevented him from running as an incumbent in the 1995 election.[13] During this period, Moss also worked as a civil-rights manager for the Washington State Department of Transportation.[16][13]

Moss was subsequently elected to the Pierce County Council, serving January 1, 1997 to December 31, 2004,[2][17] including as council chair from 2002 to 2004, at which time he announced his retirement.[2] He ran unsuccessfully for mayor of Tacoma in 2001, and came out of that retirement in 2007 to launch an unsuccessful run for Tacoma City Council against incumbent Spiro Manthou.[5]

Notes

1. Chronology of Tacoma Mayors
2. Cory Campbell, "Moss, Harold (1929- )", Blackpast.org. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
3. P-I Staff and News Services, Unanimous Council Vote for Moss as New Mayor, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 26, 1994, p. B2. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
4. Notes for Series: TRUEBLOOD Image#: 1986 Date: 10-13-1970 Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine, Tacoma Public Library Image Archives. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
5. Candace Heckman, Pierce County: Baarsma leads for mayor of Tacoma, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 7, 2001. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
6. Peter Callaghan, Tacoma’s civil rights struggle on display Archived 2013-02-04 at Archive.today, Tacoma News-Tribune, September 16, 2008. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
7. "Citation: Harold Moss · University of Puget Sound". www.pugetsound.edu. Retrieved 2020-06-07.
8. Debbie Abe, "Nordstrom to Honor Tacoma Mayor", Tacoma News Tribune, September 21, 1995., p. B5.
9. Notes for Series: D154074 Image#: 3R and Image#: 4R Date: 05-07-1968 Archived 2011-07-28 at the Wayback Machine, Tacoma Public Library Image Archives. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
10. George Foster, [Moss and Vialle Lead in Tacoma], Seattle Post-Intelligencer, November 4, 1987, p. A6. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
11. John Hessburg, [Minority-Conscious Tacoma Council Set To Pick Black Member], Seattle Post-Intelligencer, February 5, 1987, p. A6. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
12. George Foster, New City Councilman Harold Moss Making Big 'Comeback' in Tacoma, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 16, 1987, p. A4. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
13. Don Carter, In Line for Mayor of Tacoma; City Council Vote Likely To Be Unanimous for Moss, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 25, 1994, p. B1. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
14. Jack Hopkins, Tacoma Mayor Hyde Dies, Apparently of a Heart Attack, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, January 18, 1994, p. A1. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
15. P-I Staff and News Services, Police Cram to Get Ready For City's New Curfew Law, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, December 30, 1994, p. B2. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
16. AP (Associated Press), Moss In Line To Be Tacoma's Mayor, Seattle Times, January 25, 1994. Accessed online 6 February 2009.
17. Council District Four, Pierce County Washington. Accessed online 6 February 2009.

External links

• Harold Moss, Tacoma Public Library image archives