Big Sky Chronicles - Miles York

Tonight in honor of Black History Month - we're taking a look into the life of Miles York, a turn of the 20th Century Helena business owner and resident.

Ellen Baumler, Interpretive historian for the Montana Historical Society says, "Montana had a very significant population of black people who came here very early and it's kind of a forgotten population because population has dwindled."
 
Miles York was among the African Americans who made Montana their home at the turn of the century. York came to Helena in the 1880's where he would start a family. In 1913 York began his own cleaning and laundry service, but the lack of interest from the community forced him to look for work in other fields.
 
"He had that business probably from about 1913 until 1915 and then he went back to working in a barbershop. He had a business sharpening razors and shining shoes,"says Baumler.

During the early years of Helena's history, the York family along with other African American families played a prominent role in the community.

"In 1910 there were probably more than half a dozen large families that were very well entrenched in the community and contributed to the community here." says Baumler.

Miles York played a significant role in helping develop the Helena community until his untimely death.

“In 1925, Miles died of pneumonia and the family picked up and moved to Seattle. The wife became a domestic in a private household. Two of the older boys became waiters on a steamboat and the younger children were then in school,” says Baumler.

Mention of Miles York in several newspaper clippings referred to him as a highly respectable member of the community and that respect paved the way for many other African Americans to accomplish great things.

You can find out more about Miles York and the lives of other notable Helenan’s by visiting the library of the Montana Historical Society or Helena As She Was.

Story by Drew Steele, Beartooth NBC.
Sponsored by Big Sky Plumbing & Heating of Helena.
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