Pianist Hazel Scott was a child prodigy--a gifted pianist and performer; a talented actress; and a civil rights leader, whose landmark lawsuit against a restaurant in Pasco, Washington that refused to serve her. According to historian Dwayne Mack, Scott’s victory not only helped African Americans challenge racial discrimination in Spokane, but that it inspired civil rights organizations “to pressure the Washington state legislature to enact the Public Accommodations Act” in 1953.[fn]Dwayne Mack, “Hazel Scott: A Career Curtailed,” Journal of African American History 91, no. 2, April 1, 2006, 160.[/fn]
Scott was also the first African American performer to host their own variety show. The Hazel Scott show was broadcast on the DuMont Network from June until September 1950, when her appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee resulted in her being fired.