Susie Revels Cayton (January 1, 1870 – July 28, 1943) was an American writer, editor, activist, and leader in the African-American community in Seattle at the start of the 20th century.

[4][5][6][7] The Revels family connection to Rust College was strong: her father taught theology classes there, and her sisters Ida and Maggie were also alumnae.

[8] After a period of long distance letter writing[5] she followed him to Seattle in 1896, living in separate lodgings until they could be married in July of the same year.

[8] She had started writing for his Seattle-based newspaper, The Seattle Republican, before leaving Mississippi, and eventually became associate editor in 1900[9] and continued working at the paper until it folded in 1913.

This (and some unsuccessful real estate speculation) led to a general decline in the Cayton's fortunes after 1907 or so, with them selling their Capitol Hill house in 1909 (pushed out in part by increasing pressure for residential segregation) and shuttering The Seattle Republican in 1913.

[15]In 1919, at the age of 49, Susie Revels Cayton was forced to seek employment as a "domestic" as the family experienced economic hardships.

[16] In her sixties, she became politically active and joined the Communist Party, after being introduced to the organization by her son, Revels Cayton, and was considered "one of the state's most prominent African American radicals".

[5] She joined the Communist Party in reaction to Depression-era Seattle, believing that only radical political change could address economic inequality.