Topic: People's Histories
This is the complete text of a promotional brochure written in 1912 by real estate developer Ole Hanson (1874-1940). The brochure extols the wondrous virtues of living in idyllic Lake Forest Park, loc...
Beloved for its convenience and breathtaking views but derided as an architectual eyesore, the Alaskan Way Viaduct ferried motorists through downtown Seattle for more than six decades before it was to...
This reminiscence of an old friendship was written by Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand (1916-2011). Both she and her friend, Margaret (Bavin) Medley (1915-2006), were graduates of Seattle's Roosevelt Hig...
Sixteen men, all foreign-born, were killed on November 6, 1910, in an explosion at the Lawson Coal Mine in Black Diamond in east King County. The following is excerpted from the "State Inspector of Co...
This is a harrowing account of a legal abortion which resulted in complications that received inadequate care. It is written by Janet Creighton and excerpted from the June 1974 issue of From the Groun...
Chris Legeros was a longtime reporter and anchor at KIRO 7 in Seattle, spending 31 years at the CBS affiliate. He started his 39-year journalism career at WTCN TV and WWTC radio in Minneapolis and in ...
This People's History relates the history of the Leonard Gayton family. The jazz drummer, jazz singer, and band leader Leonard Gayton (1908-1982) was the fourth child of the early African American res...
In this People's History Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand (1916-2011) reflects on the lessons learned while working at Seattle's Green Lake State Bank, where she worked for 10 years from the time she was...
Natalie Notkin (1900-1970) was the Foreign Books librarian at The Seattle Public Library's Central branch from 1927 to 1932. Born in Kherson, Russia, Notkin emigrated in 1921, earned an undergraduate ...
This is a quarterly branch report written by Green Lake Branch librarian Ruth A. Dennis. In the report reprinted here, Dennis explains that the circulation numbers at her branch are down, particularly...
This People's History is an interview with Margaret Reed conducted by Jyl Leininger on April 7, 1999, in Seattle, Washington. Margaret Reed describes herself as an every-day individual. "Believe me, I...
This is an excerpt from an article by novelist Tom Robbins on the lightshows of the 1960s. It appeared in Seattle magazine in 1967, and is reprinted with permission of Tom Robbins.