Showing 1 - 20 of 165 results
About Washington State -- Frequently Asked Questions and Their Answers
This essay offers a brief introduction to the state of Washington, its jurisdictional development and government, and its official symbols.
File 5315: Full Text >
Adams, Brock (1927-2004)
Brock Adams represented the state of Washington for 12 years in the U.S. House of Representatives during the 1960s and 1970s and for six years in the U.S. Senate as well as serving as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation. He began his career as a lawyer in Seattle, and in 1961 was appointed to the position of U.S. Attorney. In 1964 he was elected as a Democrat to the U.S. House of Representatives. In Congress he criticized the Vietnam War, became a key player in restructuring the nation's railroad system after Penn Central collapsed, and worked for support of AIDS research. Persistent allegations of sexual harassment and rape forced him to withdraw from politics in 1992.
File 5739: Full Text >
Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition (1909): Woman Suffrage
During the first week of July 1909, suffrage proponents from across the country gathered in Seattle to participate in the 41st Annual Convention of the National American Woman Suffrage Association and to celebrate Woman Suffrage Day at Washington's first world's fair, the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific (A-Y-P) Exposition, currently underway on the University of Washington campus. The Washington Equal Suffrage Association convention, held the day before the National convention, drew suffragists from around the state. The suffragists, their conventions, and their appearances in area clubs and churches received copious coverage in local newspapers and captured the attention of thousands of Washingtonians attending the A-Y-P Exposition. Suffragists used the A-Y-P as a massive public relations opportunity and this exposure was an important component in how Washington women achieved the vote on November 8, 1910.
File 8587: Full Text >
Alexander, Stella (1881-1960)
Stella Alexander was a woman ahead of her time. She broke into the previously exclusive boy's club of Issaquah politics when she was elected to the town council in 1927, and in 1932 was elected to a two-year term as mayor of the town (located in east King County). A large woman who seemed to enjoy confrontation, Alexander soon alienated her town council and eventually, the citizens she was elected to lead. The fire department resigned en masse; the police judge resigned; part of the town counsel refused to work with her; bedlam reigned in Issaquah politics in 1933. Three recall petitions were filed against the mayor; she nimbly dodged the first two, but the third was the coup de grace, and on January 2, 1934, she was recalled. In a grand finale, she refused to turn over the keys to the town hall.
File 8474: Full Text >
Allied Arts of Seattle
Allied Arts of Seattle is one of the city's most influential advocates for urban design and the arts. It grew out of the Beer & Culture Society, a small circle of academics, architects, and artists who first met in early 1952. On October 3, 1954, they convened a Congress of the Arts that established Allied Arts as a permanent organization to advocate for public funding of the arts, better urban planning and architecture, and other civic improvements. Allied Arts has since played leadership roles in promoting the creation of the Seattle Arts Commission; the development of Seattle Center; the preservation of Pike Place Market, Pioneer Square, and other historic landmarks; and other causes.
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American Jewish Committee, Seattle Regional Office
The Greater Seattle Chapter of the American Jewish Committee was formed in January 1946. The organization was an affiliate of the national organization established in New York in 1906 following a wave of Russian pogroms. In 1946, just after World War II and the disastrous holocaust in which millions of Jews were killed, waves of Jewish immigrants were pouring into America. The national organization took on the mission of safeguarding the rights and freedoms of Jews worldwide.
File 666: Full Text >
Barnett, Powell S. (1883-1971)
Powell S. Barnett, a Seattle musician, baseball player, and community leader, was the organizer and first president of the Leschi (neighborhood) Community Council. He was a leader in organizing the East Madison YMCA and was the first black person to become a member of the once all white Musicians Union.
File 307: Full Text >
Benson, George (1919-2004), Father of the Seattle Waterfront Streetcar
George Benson was a popular Capitol Hill druggist, brass band musician, and five-term member of the Seattle City Council from 1974 to 1994. A native of Minnesota, Benson moved to Seattle in 1938 and ultimately earned a degree in pharmacy at the University of Washington. He served in the United States Navy during World War II and returned to Seattle to run the Mission Street Pharmacy with his wife Evelyn. Best known for spearheading the creation of the Seattle Waterfront Streetcar, Benson was a leader for mass transit, community crime programs, utility improvements, and gun control. He died at the age of 85 on October 25, 2004.
File 7121: Full Text >
Blethen, Alden J. (1845-1915)
Alden J. Blethen purchased The Seattle Daily Times, a newspaper with a minuscule circulation, in 1896. Moving from Minneapolis to Seattle, Blethen then built the paper's circulation by introducing large display typefaces for headlines, many photographs, more dramatic (and highly partisan) news coverage, and a color comic Sunday supplement. Blethen's Times supported William Jennings Bryan (1860-1925) for president in 1896, in opposition to the Republican Seattle Post-Intelligencer's candidate, William McKinley (1843-1901). (McKinley won the election to become the 25th president of the United States.) Blethen's Times passionately supported Cuban independence from Spain, leading up to the Spanish American War. Blethen's descendants continue (in 1999) to publish The Seattle Times.
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Bone, Homer Truett (1883-1970)
Homer T. Bone, a Democratic senator representing Washington in the United States Congress (1932-1944) and later a Judge in the United States Ninth Circuit of Appeals (1944-1956), has been dubbed the Pacific Northwest's "father of public power." Bone was a pragmatic populist who vociferously championed public ownership of utilities while damning big business, especially the utility trusts. He was ousted from the Socialist Party in 1916 for being too moderate and later forayed into politics under the Republican and Farmer-Labor banners before alighting as a Democrat. As a Democratic senator, he pushed the bills to build the Bonneville and Grand Coulee dams as well as that creating the National Cancer Institute. He was progenitor of a coterie of progressive politicians who would further nourish his vision and indelibly flavor Washington state's socio-political character for decades. Senator Warren G. Magnuson (1905-1989) was his most notable political descendent.
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Building Seattle -- A Slide Show History of Seattle's Capital Improvement Projects
This is a Slide Show photo essay on the history of Seattle's Capital Improvement Projects. Written By Walt Crowley and curated by Paul Dorpat, with Chris Goodman.
Presented by Seattle City Councilmember Martha Choe.
File 7083: Full Text >
Burton, Philip (1915-1995)
Philip Burton was a Seattle lawyer for more than 40 years, a voice for the disadvantaged, and a fighter for reforms to end discrimination
in education, housing, and employment. His legal actions led to the desegregation of Seattle Public Schools.
File 321: Full Text >
Busing in Seattle: A Well-Intentioned Failure
In 1972, the Seattle School District launched the first phase of what became a decades-long experiment with mandatory busing to integrate its schools. Initially limited to a few thousand middle school students, by 1981 nearly 40 percent of all the district’s students were being bused for racial reasons. School officials defended busing against several legal challenges but gradually scaled back the program in response to waning public support. The district’s own data showed that busing disproportionately burdened children of color, undercut academic achievement, inhibited parental involvement, contributed to so-called "white flight,” and did little to reduce racial isolation in the schools. By 1999, when mandatory busing finally ended in Seattle, it was widely regarded as "one of those well-intentioned social experiments that don't work" (Morrill Interview).
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Campbell, John E. (1880-1924)
John E. Campbell (1880-1924) of Everett served as a member of the Washington State House of Representatives in the 1909 and 1911 sessions. He was elected to the state Senate in 1912, representing the 38th District, and served as state senator from 1913 to 1915. As a young man he worked as a logger. He began his political career as a progressive Republican, and by 1910 had declared himself a political Progressive. A strong supporter of labor issues, he bought an interest in the Labor Journal, and served as its business manager from 1905 to 1911, in partnership with editor Ernest Marsh. Campbell authored the Washington women's eight-hour work day bill in 1911 and a bill providing for a female Deputy Labor Commissioner, as well as various railroad workers' and workman's compensation bills. After he left politics he returned to journalism to manage the Port Angeles Herald from 1917 to the early 1920s and then worked for the Washington State Department of Fisheries. At the time of his death at the young age of 43, Campbell was deputy in Everett for the State Department of Labor and Industries. He died of spinal meningitis in 1924 and is buried at Everett's Evergreen Cemetery.
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Carroll, Charles Oliver "Chuck" (1906-2003)
During the 1950s and 1960s, Charles O. "Chuck" Carroll was, arguably, the most powerful man in Seattle and King County. As King County Prosecutor he was the effective head of all law enforcement in the county and in complete control of who would or would not be prosecuted for crimes. He was also head of the Republican Party in King County and in a position to approve or disapprove political appointments and candidacies. The exposure of a police payoff system in Seattle in the late 1960s generated allegations that he was responsible for the corruption. These questions led directly to his defeat in the primary election in 1970 and to his departure from public life.
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Cayton, Horace (1859-1940)
Horace Cayton was the African American publisher of the Seattle Republican, a newspaper directed toward both white and black readers and which at one point had the second largest circulation in the city.
File 309: Full Text >
Cedar River Watershed (King County) -- Environmental Overview
The Cedar River watershed, located in the eastern central portion of King County, Washington, is nearly 24 miles long, and roughly 10 miles wide. It has been in use as Seattle's main water supply since 1901. This has resulted in many changes to the land, water, forests, and animal habitats within the 91,400-acre environment.
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Chase, James E. (1914-1987)
James E. Chase was a popular and respected Spokane civic leader who went from shoe-shiner to the first African American mayor in Spokane's history. He was born in Wharton, Texas, in 1914, to a poor family. The Great Depression put an end to his high school education when his all-black high school closed. He worked for the Civilian Conservation Corps in El Paso and then he and three friends rode the rails to Spokane in 1934 to look for new opportunities. Chase shined shoes at a local barbershop and in 1939 went into the auto body repair business. He did repair work for the Army air base in Spokane during World War II. He became president of the Spokane chapter of the NAACP in 1950, a post he held for 17 of the ensuing 19 years. He and his wife Eleanor Barrow Chase (1918-2002), from a prominent Spokane black family, were strong believers in civic involvement. James Chase was elected to the Spokane City Council in 1975, the first black council member since the 1890s. He ran for mayor in 1981 and won by a landslide, a historic feat in a city with a black population hovering between 1 and 2 percent. He served a successful term as mayor, but ill health in 1985 prevented him from seeking a second term. He died of cancer in 1987. His impact on Spokane can be measured in the many ways his name lives on, through the James E. Chase Middle School, the Chase Art Gallery at Spokane City Hall, and the Chase Youth Commission, dedicated to improving the lives of the city's youth.
File 8788: Full Text >
Chief Seattle (Seattle, Chief Noah [born si?al, 178?-1866])
Chief Seattle, or si?al in his native Lushootseed language, led the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes as the first Euro-American settlers arrived in the greater Seattle area in the 1850s. Baptized Noah by Catholic missionaries, Seattle was regarded as a "firm friend of the Whites," who named the region's future central city in his honor. He was a respected leader among Salish tribes, signing the Point Elliott (Mukilteo) Treaty of 1855, which relinquished tribal claims to most of the area, and opposing Native American attempts to dislodge settlers during the "Indian Wars" of 1855-1856. Chief Seattle retired to the Suquamish Reservation at Port Madison, and died there on June 7, 1866. This essay includes a sound recording of the correct pronunciation of Chief Seattle's name, provided by Skagit elder Vi Hilbert (1918-2008).
File 5071: Full Text >
Chow, Ruby (1920-2008)
Ruby Chow was dubbed a "living legend" (Rhodes) for her 50-year career as a restaurateur, Chinese community pioneer, civic activist, public official, and a major bridge between Seattle's Chinese community and the city at large. For Chinese communities from San Francisco to Taiwan,Ruby Chow and her husband Ping were "Seattle tourist attractions" (Chin). A high school dropout who rose to the pinnacles of power and public service, her life story was punctuated by firsts: first Chinese restaurant in Seattle outside Chinatown; first Chinese frozen food business; world's first female board member of a Chong Wa Benevolent Society chapter, world's first female president of a Chong Wa chapter, first Asian American member of the King County Council. She served three terms on the Council, retiring in 1985, but continued her civic activities. She lived with her husband, Ping, in Seattle's Seward Park neighborhood. Ruby Chow died on June 4, 2008.
File 8063: Full Text >
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Showing 1 - 20 of 791 results
Continental Congress of the 13 British colonies (future United States of America) passes the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
On July 4, 1776, Britain's 13 American colonies, governed by England through the Continental Congress, pass the Declaration of Independence. This founding document of the United States of America, drafted by Thomas Jefferson between June 11 and 28, 1776, is the opening salvo of the American rebellion against British rule. The American Revolution (1775-1783) forms the context for British and Spanish exploration of the Pacific Northwest. Spain and England are traditional enemies, and Spain supports the American colonies against England during the Revolution. In 1775, Spain had claimed the Pacific Northwest. The United States will win the revolution in 1783, and will inherit Spanish claims to the region. This file contains the complete text of the Declaration of Independence.
File 5696: Full Text >
In first election by Americans in the West, the Corps of Discovery votes to winter on the south side of the Columbia River on November 24, 1805.
On November 24, 1805, the Corps of Discovery, led by Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, votes to spend the winter on the south bank of the Columbia River. All members of the expedition are allowed to participate. This is the first election by Americans in the West, and the first election to include a woman, a Native American, and an African slave.
File 7539: Full Text >
Congress creates Territory of Oregon on August 14, 1848.
On August 14, 1848, Congress establishes the Territorial Government of Oregon. The United States had enjoyed sovereignty over the region, which included present-day Washington, Oregon, and Idaho, since 1846. In 1843, local residents had declared their own "provisional government."
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First criminal trial in future Washington Territory convenes on October 2, 1849.
On October 2, 1849, Chief Justice William P. Bryant of Oregon Territory convenes the first criminal trial in the future Washington Territory at Fort Steilacoom to try six members of the Snoqualmie tribe for murder. Two defendants are convicted and they will be hanged the next day.
File 5684: Full Text >
Donation Land Claim Act, spur to American settlement of Oregon Territory, takes effect on September 27, 1850.
On September 27, 1850, the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850 takes effect. The act creates a powerful incentive for settlement of the Oregon Territory by offering 320 acres at no charge to qualifying adult U.S. citizens (640 acres to married couples) who occupy their claims for four consecutive years. Amendments in 1853 and 1854 continue the program, but cut the size of allowable claims by half.
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Oregon Territorial Legislature forms Pacific County on February 4, 1851.
On February 4, 1851, the Oregon Territorial Legislature forms the new Pacific County. The county starts quite small and will soon increase in size. The county seat begins in Pacific City, near what is now Ilwaco, and moves several times, ending up in South Bend.
File 7865: Full Text >
Settlers of North Oregon convene a convention at Cowlitz Landing to form a separate territory on August 29, 1851.
On August 29, 1851, settlers of North Oregon convene a convention at Cowlitz Landing to form a separate territory. The attendees resolve that lawyer John Chapman should draft a memorial to Congress asserting that "the inhabitants North of the Columbia River receive no benefit ... whatever from the Territorial Government of Oregon" (Ficken, 26). Congress will ignore the plea for another year.
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Seattle Beginnings: first Seattle Post Office opens on October 12, 1852.
The opening of a post office is an important marker of the beginning of a community. On October 12, 1852, the first Seattle Post Office is established. Arthur A. Denny (1822-1899) is appointed postmaster.
File 384: Full Text >
Oregon Territorial Legislature creates King County and names Seattle county seat on December 22, 1852.
On December 22, 1852, the Oregon Territorial Legislature approves creation of King County and names Seattle as the seat of its government. The legislation is sponsored by Col. Isaac Ebey (1818-1857) to honor Vice President-elect William R. King (who will die just weeks later).
File 1755: Full Text >
Oregon Territorial Legislature creates Pierce County on December 22, 1852.
On December 22, 1852, the Oregon Territorial legislature in Salem creates Pierce County. It does so by partitioning off a portion of Thurston County. Pierce County, along with Island, Jefferson, King, Thurston, Pacific, Lewis, and Clark, becomes one of Washington Territory's original counties when Washington Territory is separated from Oregon Territory on March 2, 1853.
File 7981: Full Text >
U.S. President Millard Fillmore establishes Washington Territory on March 2, 1853.
On March 2, 1853, U.S. President Millard Fillmore signs a bill creating the Territory of Washington out of the Territory of Oregon. The new territory’s boundaries are: north, 49 degree North Latitude; south, approximately due east from the mouth of the Columbia River; east, the Rocky Mountains; west, the Pacific Ocean. The eastern part of the territory would later become part of the states of Idaho and Montana.
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Island County's first Commissioners' meeting takes place in Coveland on April 4, 1853.
On April 4, 1853, the first Island County Commissioners' meeting takes place in Coveland, the newly designated county seat, located on Penn's Cove northwest of Coupeville on Whidbey Island's east coast. The meeting is held at the home of Commissioner John Alexander. The other two commissioners attending are John Crocket and Samuel D. Howe.
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Plats filed for Town of Seattle on May 23, 1853.
On May 23, 1853, Arthur Denny (1822-1899), Carson Boren (1824-1912), and Dr. David S. Maynard (1808-1873) file the first plats for the Town of Seattle and establish the present-day street grid in Pioneer Square and downtown Seattle.
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1853 Census: First census of Washington Territory counts a population (exluding Indians) of 3,965 in 1853.
In late summer or fall of 1853, United States Marshall J. Anderson has the responsibility of taking the first census in Washington Territory. He counts a population of 3,965, of which there are 1,682 males eligible to vote. The census is conducted to establish legislative districts for the Territorial Legislature. It excludes Indians, who are far more numerous than settlers.
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Governor Isaac Stevens selects Olympia as capital of Washington Territory on November 28, 1853.
On November 28, 1853, Isaac Stevens (1818-1862), the first governor of Washington Territory, issues a proclamation that names Olympia as the capital of the new Territory. Olympia, founded in 1850, is located in Thurston County on the shores of Budd Inlet, the southernmost extension of Puget Sound. At the time, it is among the largest settlements in the Territory. Although it is subsequently surpassed in population and commercial prominence by other cities, Olympia retains its position as capital of the Territory and later of Washington state.
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Arthur Denny proposes white-woman suffrage amendment in the Territorial Legislature's first session on February 28, 1854.
In 1854, Arthur Denny (1822-1899), one of the founders of Seattle, proposes an amendment at the first session of the territorial legislature "to allow all white females over the age of 18 years to vote." It is defeated by a single vote. Lawmakers make a small concession, granting every taxpaying inhabitant over 21 years of age the right to vote in school elections.
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Washington Territorial Legislature creates Sawamish (Mason) County on April 15, 1854.
On April 15, 1854, the Washington Territorial Legislature forms Sawamish County out of Thurston County. The new county is named for the tribe of Native Americans who inhabit the bays and inlets of southern Puget Sound and it extends to the Pacific Ocean. In 1864, the county will be renamed after Charles H. Mason (1830-1859) the territory's first Secretary of State and acting governor.
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Walla Walla County is formed on April 25, 1854.
On April 25, 1854, the Washington Territorial Legislature forms Walla Walla County out of Skamania County. The county seat is set "on the claim of Lloyd Brooks," at what will become the city of Walla Walla. The county encompasses the area north of the Columbia and east of the mouth of the Deschutes River, including parts of the future states of Idaho and Montana -- 450 miles by 200 miles. Walla Walla will not be organized as a political unit until after Native American tribes are subdued in 1858.
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West Seattle Beginnings: Alki Post Office opens on April 29, 1854.
The opening of a post office is an important marker of the beginning of a community. On April 29, 1854, the Alki Post Office is established. Charles Terry (1830-1867) is appointed postmaster.
File 385: Full Text >
Makah leaders and Territorial Gov. Stevens sign treaty at Neah Bay on January 31, 1855.
On January 31, 1855, at Neah Bay near Cape Flattery at the tip of the Olympic Peninsula, 42 Makah leaders sign a treaty with Isaac Stevens (1818-1862), governor and Superintendent of Indian Affairs of Washington Territory. The leaders, representing four of the five traditional Makah villages, give up most of their ancestral lands, keeping only a small reservation at Cape Flattery, in return for a promised $30,000 in annuity payments and a guarantee of the right of hunting, fishing, sealing, and whaling.
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Showing 1 - 20 of 29 results
"Waiting For the Big One" by Walt Crowley
A condensed edition of this essay was published in The Seattle Times Sunday Opinion Section on October 30, 2005. This version offers a fuller tour of Washington's "tectonic" political shifts and elections.
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A Brief History of Primary Election Rules in Washington State
The method of nominating partisan candidates for public office and the structure of the primary in Washington state have been subjects of controversy and legislation throughout the past 100 years. The current dispute about the blanket primary is related to these past changes in the nominating process. Secretary of State Sam Reed and his staff wrote this history of primary election rules, which is reprinted from the Washington Secretary of State Website.
File 5738: Full Text >
A History of the Seattle Mayor's Desk
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels shares an undated "history" of his official desk, which dates back to 1928. The anonymous typescript was found in the desk by Mayor Nickels and is an artifact in its own right.
File 3959: Full Text >
Braman, James d'Orma (Dorm), (1901-1980)
This biography of James d'Orma "Dorm" Braman, Seattle City Council member beginning in 1954, and Seattle mayor from 1964 to 1968, was written by his son, Jim Braman.
File 3919: Full Text >
Breaking In a New Mayor
In this op-ed essay for The Seattle Times, Walt Crowley compares the “transition” of Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to that of Wes Uhlman, Charles Royer, Norm Rice, and Paul Schell. Crowley was an aide to Uhlman from 1972 to 1977 and served as deputy director of the former Office of Policy Planning under R. W. Woody Wilkinson. The essay focuses on the competition for control of policy-setting between the Seattle City Council and the Mayor under the City Charter. It was published on February 11, 2002.
File 3743: Full Text >
CHECC: Its role in the transformation of Seattle, 1967-1978, Part 1
A broad-based citizen-activist movement spearheaded the numerous political and social changes that took place in Seattle during the 1960s and 1970s. Although many organizations participated, this account (updated in February 2009) focuses on the role played by one of them -- Choose an Effective City Council (CHECC). It was written by CHECC participant Peter LeSourd. This is Part 1 of a two-part essay.
File 8139: Full Text >
CHECC: Its role in the transformation of Seattle, 1967-1978, Part 2
A broad-based citizen-activist movement spearheaded the numerous political and social changes that took place in Seattle during the 1960s and 1970s. Although many organizations participated, this account (updated in February 2009) focuses on the role played by one of them -- Choose an Effective City Council (CHECC). It was written by CHECC participant Peter LeSourd. This is Part 2 of a two-part essay.
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Eulogy for Lud Kramer by Ralph Munro
This eulogy for A. Ludlow "Lud" Kramer (1932-2004) was given by Ralph Munro at Lud Kramer's memorial service at St. John's Cathedral in Spokane on April 16, 2004. Lud Kramer became the youngest Secretary of State in Washington history when elected in 1964 at age 32. A moderate Republican, he championed the rights of the poor and minorities and pushed for reforms in housing, prisons, and the electoral system. Lud Kramer died of lung cancer on April 9, 2004. Ralph Munro served as Washington Secretary of State from 1981 through 2001.
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Follow the Bouncing Ballot: A Seismograph of Washington Politics, 1851-2005
This timeline of Washington's volcanic politics was prepared by HistoryLink.org for The Seattle Times and published in its Sunday Opinion Section on October 30, 2005.
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For the Monorail: A 1997 Op-Ed by Walt Crowley
This op-ed piece was written by Walt Crowley after the passage, on November 4, 1997, of Initiative 41, a Seattle initiative that called for an expanded monorail. It appeared in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on November 11, 1997. Walt Crowley, Executive Director of www.historylink.org (this website), is a journalist and historian, author of Routes: A Brief History of Public Transportation in Seattle, Rites of Passage: A Memoir of the Sixties in Seattle, and the National Trust Guide for Seattle, among other books. Crowley worked for Mayor Wes Uhlman's administation in the Office of Policy Planning and has been a frequent television commentator. In 1998, he served on the unpaid Elevated Transportation Company (ETC) Board of Directors. He left a few months later to launch www.HistoryLink.org. This opinion piece pre-dates his involvment with the ETC.
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Frank Fitts: An episode in his life that led him to be a dedicated Public Power Advocate
Frank Fitts (1884-1967) grew up in Seattle at the turn of the twentieth century. He was a founder of the Phinney Ridge Improvement Association which worked to extend electrical service in Seattle's North End. He was an early member of Friends of City Light, organized by James Delmage "J.D." Ross (1872-1939) to support municipal ownership of Seattle's electrical utility. After the recall of Mayor Frank Edwards in 1931, Fitts became a Seattle City Councilman. He later worked for the Bonneville Power Administration. In 1963, he typed this account of how he first met and became a life-long advocate of public power and Seattle City Light.
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George Benson: Seattle's Favorite Unpolitician
This appreciation was written by Walt Crowley in 2003 while assisting George Benson in organizing and publishing a memoir for his family. A popular Capitol Hill druggist, brass band musician, and five-term member of the Seattle City Council, Benson is best remembered as the father of the Seattle Waterfront Streetcar. He died at the age of 85 on October 25, 2004.
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Gordon Clinton, Mayor of Seattle 1956-1964
On March 30, 2004, HistoryLink Executive Director Walt Crowley interviewed Gordon Clinton, who served as Seattle's mayor from 1956 to 1964. This was during a pivotal period in the region's history: Metro was formed to clean up water pollution; Seattle became one of the first cities to join President Dwight D. Eisenhower's Sister Cities Program; the Space Needle and Monorail were constructed; and the 1962 Century 21 World's Fair took place.
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John Spellman: King County Politics in the Sixties, Seventies and Beyond
The long career of John Spellman (b. 1926) in local and state politics began in 1967 when he was elected a King County Commissioner. His term overlapped the controversial Forward Thrust capital improvements package, the overarching bond initiative that funded the Kingdome (the domed stadium imploded in March 2000). In addition, as the first King County Executive Officer elected during the institution of the Home Rule Charter of 1968, Spellman was instrumental in constructing King County's first highly centralized, streamlined, and professional governmental system. More than 30 years later, he discusses his role in local politics and in the Kingdome's history and fate. This interview was conducted by Interview conducted by Heather MacIntosh for HistoryLink.org in March 2000, Seattle, Washington.
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Managing at Seattle City Light, 1973-1989: an Interview with Walt Sickler
When Walt Sickler (b. 1927) was promoted from line crew foreman to Supervisor of Overhead Construction at Seattle City Light, he brought to the utility's management his knowledge of field operations and his leadership skills. One of his collateral duties was that of labor negotiator, which tested him in the mid-1970s. In this interview conducted by HistoryLink.org staff historian David Wilma, he recalls some of the labor relations issues during the administration of Superintendent Gordon Vickery (1920-1996).
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Morris, Abe (1879-1933): Coal Operator
Abraham Morris, a Pierce County coal operator and eponym of the coal town Morristown, was born in Wales and moved to the United States with his family at the age of 2. The family arrived in Washigton state in 1890 and he began working in east Pierce County coal mines as a teenager. In 1916 he was elected to the Washington State Legislature, and served for two terms. This People's History consists of a 1917 newspaper article about Abe Morris, followed by his 1933 obituary. These materials and additional information on Abraham Morris at the end were contributed by William Kombol, manager of Palmer Coking Coal Company located in Black Diamond (King County), Washington.
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Paul Robeson's speech to 40,000 people gathered to hear him sing at Peace Arch Park on May 18, 1952.
Paul Robeson (1898-1976) was a singer, actor, and political activist. This file contains his remarks made during his historic concert at Peace Arch Park in Blaine, Washington, on the United States/Canadian border on May 18, 1952.
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President Taft's Visit to Olympia: A Contemporary (1911) Newspaper Account
This is an article printed in the Ledger in October 1911, reporting on the visit of United States President William Howard Taft (1857-1930) to the recently opened governor's mansion in Olympia. The governor was Marion Hay (1865-1933). This article exhibits typical non-neutral tone of news reporting of the day. It is transcribed from a clipping in the Emma Smith DeVoe scrapbook (Scrapbook L: 10/1/1910-12/30/1910) in the digital collections of the Washington State Historical Society. The president's luncheon visit to the governor's mansion is also reported in "Taft at Portland Talks of Columbus," The New York Times, October 12, 1911, p. 6.
File 9040: Full Text >
Remembering Wally Toner (1942-2000)
Walter Bernard "Wally" Toner Jr., one of Seattle's most respected political consultants, died on October 10, 2000 of heart failure. A Seattle University graduate, he had served as an aide to fomer U.S. Congressman Brock Adams and directed the national Young Democrats. Beginning in the early 1970s, Toner played key roles in numerous elections, including successful campaigns for former Governor Mike Lowry, Metro Transit, Sound Transit, Seattle school levies, Seattle Mayors Wes Uhlman and Norm Rice, King County Executive Tim Hill, and Congressman John Miller, and approval of the new Seahawks Stadium and 1998 Libraries for All levy. He was a close associate of public affairs advisers Bob Gogerty and Don Stark, and was a senior vice president of APCO Worldwide at the time of his death. Toner was also an active supporter of Seattle University and the Catholic Archdiocese of Seattle, and Childhaven. He had battled diabetes and other health problems for serveral years. Wally was survived by his former wife Nea Toner, father Walter Sr., son Brendan, and brothers Kip and Jerry.
File 2728: Full Text >
Remembering Walter Woodward (1910-2001)
In this People's History Gerald Elfendahl of Bainbridge Island remembers the Bainbridge Island journalist and defender of human rights Walter C. Woodward Jr. (1910-2001). Woodward was an exemplary journalist who edited and published the Bainbridge Review. Walter Woodward and his wife Mildred (Logg) Woodward (1909-1989) were the only editors on the West Coast to regularly editorialize in defense of the Bill of Rights and neighbors of Japanese ancestry who were unlawfully uprooted during World War II and interned in concentration camps by Presidential Executive Order 9066. Woodward was inducted into Washington
state's "Centennial Hall of Honor" for humanitarian and civil libertarian contributions to the state's quality of life.
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