Reporting by Cesar Canizales

Wednesday was a day of celebration in South Seattle, as a new mural honoring the lives of the founders of Tiny Tots Development Center, the Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic and Seattle Children’s was unveiled. 

The women who were honored—Odessa Brown, who fought for children’s health and the namesake of the pediatric clinic, Helen Hicks, founder of Tiny Tots, and Anna Herr Clise, founder of the Children’s Orthopedic Hospital now known as Seattle Children’s – all touched the lives of countless Seattleites over decades.

While Karimu Odessa Easter never got to meet her grandmother Odessa Brown, the matriarch had a big influence on Karimu’s life and many others. 

“She was a very caring, loving and humble people person who loved her family, who loved her people, and who wanted to make sure that people had access to quality health care, that people had opportunities and knew how to be prepared to enter the workforce and empowerment empowering way,” said Easter.

Easter works in the health care industry—just like her grandmother.

“Her legacy has impacted me greatly. It's amazing because it has given me the confidence to step out there and do the things that I'm passionate about. I'm very passionate about health and all of those things,” she said.

Easter says her grandmother was a trailblazer and the family’s matriarch, who died at a young age, but her children all learned from their mother— and all of them went into fields where they could help other people. 

“The painting is actually beautiful. I love that it incorporates the three different institutions. I love that it has the historical context for the area of Seattle. Looking at this picture, it's so funny because Odessa looks just like my mom. So when I see that, I see my mom. And then my youngest daughter has the same eyes as Odessa and my mom,” Easter said.

Helen Hicks founded Tiny Tots Development Center in 1969, and her daughters all helped in the enterprise. 

Dr. Jacqualine Boles, director of Family Services at Tiny Tots and one of Hicks’ daughters, continues to grow her mother’s legacy.

“She was such a trailblazer for education. Our mother made sure, we wanted to make sure, no matter what, we got up in the morning, we went to school every day,” said Boles. “And you were going to get an education no matter what. She also was very instrumental in children that came from compromised backgrounds or had family issues or had struggles. She wanted to make sure they had a fair shot at a good education. That's what I want to carry on for my mom.”

The Tiny Tots location in Othello just opened last year. It is in the same neighborhood where Hicks first started Tiny Tots.

“She was very instrumental in making sure that these children were learning. My father drove the van and picked up kids and brought them to Tiny Tots,” Boles said. “She was the cook, she was the director. She was the payroll, human resources. She was the janitor. She did it all. She did it all.”

Hicks died in 2018, so this is a bittersweet moment for Boles.

“Wow. My heart is overwhelmed. I'm very emotional today,” Boles said. “And I am just so proud, so proud, so proud to be able to have this unveiling today in her honor.”

Others who knew Helen Hicks say she cared for the community, particularly the children, and she wanted to make sure that the kids received the quality education that they deserved. 

“One of her big concerns was that one of these young people had the cure to AIDS or to cancer or to world peace, had locked up in their brains. And because of the color of their skin or their economic situation would not be able to go to college in and help the world in that way. So it was about helping children get a quality education,” said Raymond Miller, Helen Hicks’ brother-in-law.

Miller also knew Odessa Brown in the 1960s and remembers her work in the community. The Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic was later opened in her honor.

“I knew that she was a fighter. She was a revolutionary. She pushed really hard for children, we had the feeding program, we had the breakfasts, and we had the lunches and also the free clinic for children and their families to come in to get health care.”

Marina Mezzogiorno-Brown, the mural’s artist, says it was an honor to create the art for the building and that speaking to the women’s families was part of the journey, so she could learn about their work and legacies.

“I really felt like I was learning from them and able to just take this quiet, meditative time with these three amazing people and in real solid work to make this city and this world. I mean, working with kids a safer place and a better place,” Mezzogiorno-Brown said. 

Boles says the painting reflects who Helen Hicks was.

“This painting depicts her. That's her eyes. That's her lips. That's her nose. That's her majesty. That's her countenance. This is her care. She loved babies and she loved children,” said Boles.