Dr Omowale Satterwhite Collection

Artifacts donated by and documenting the long career of Dr. Omowale Satterwhite. Dr. Satterwhite was on the first EPA City Council, a leader of EPACCI, founder of NCDI and CDI, an educator at Nairobi College, and a co-founder of the EPA Community Archive.

Dr. Omowale Satterwhite grew up in Akron, Ohio before attending Howard University, where he became more race conscious and aspired to be the president of a predominantly black college. This career path continued to take shape as he attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois for his master’s degree in college administration. When he arrived at Stanford in 1967 to pursue a Ph.D., he got involved in counter cultural movements and the Black Power Movement. Stanford led him to East Palo Alto, where the local Black Student Union chapter met.

While serving as the assistant to the superintendent of public schools at RCSD, Dr. Satterwhite realized that education was not enough to free the race, leading him to join the EPA Municipal Council from 1972-1976. From 1979 to 1983, Dr. Satterwhite was the lead organizer and campaign manager for EPACCI, the group that lead the movement to incorporate the City of East Palo Alto. After EPA became a city, he served on the first City Council. Since then, he has continued to work with CDI and NCDI.