A public conscience, influenced by Christianity and other religions, played a key role in pre-1960s civil rights movements in multi-racial Seattle and other western cities.

The book explores the nature of public conscience, the influence of the generation that came of age in the Progressive Era on the modern civil rights movements, the nature of women's leadership, the dynamics of civil rights in a multi-racial context, and the way in which religion plays a role in broader social movements. These two ecumenical groups can be credited with contributing to Seattle's relatively peaceful engagement with the civil rights movement compared to other cities in the United States during the 1960s.