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Thayer, Helen (b. 1937), Sportswoman, Explorer

Helen Thayer was the first woman and oldest person to make a solo journey to the magnetic North Pole. She competed internationally as a world-class discus thrower, and in 1975 became the U.S. National...

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The 1936 Berlin Olympics and the Washington Huskies' Road to Rowing Glory

The 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin were designed to demonstrate the superiority of German athletes, or in the words of the nation's chief propagandist, the Aryan "master race." The Nazi sports apparatus...

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The 1978 August Mardesich/Larry Vognild Campaign

The year 1978 saw an unprecedented Washington primary campaign, one that pitted powerful pro-business incumbent State Senator August Mardesich against retired firefighter and pro-union newcomer Larry ...

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The Battle of Roanoke Reef (Lake Union, Seattle)

A 1967 proposal to build a seven-story, 168-unit condominium on a 480-by-100-foot concrete platform to be constructed above the waters of Lake Union at the foot of East Roanoke Street in Seattle's Eas...

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The Bruise: A Seattle Reminiscence by Dorothea Nordstrand

Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand (1916-2011) wrote this affectionate reminiscence about a sisterly altercation that took place in Seattle around 1928. Dorothea's older sister was Florence (Pfister) Burke...

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The Dalles Lock and Dam

The Dalles Lock and Dam (The Dalles Dam) is one of the 10 largest producers of hydroelectric power in the United States. Since its first generator went online in 1957, the dam has produced more than 9...

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The Day I Saved Seattle: A Personal Memoir of Vietnam Protest by James Knisely

In May 1970, Seattle (along with much of the nation) was in the midst of weeks of protests that erupted when U.S. forces entered Cambodia on May 1. Protests escalated after National Guardsmen fired on...

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The Driver's License: A Seattle Reminiscence by Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand

In this reminiscence, Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand (1916-2011) relates the story of how she learned to drive in Seattle. The year was 1936, just 36 years after the first auto arrived in Seattle in 19...

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The Dutchman (Seattle)

In the early morning of January 9, 2009, a raging fire burned down The Dutchman rehearsal and recording studio in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood. The rundown industrial warehouse had been a vibrant cente...

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The Eric Johnston Story

Eric Johnston (1895-1961) was a Spokane businessman, head of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, President of the Motion Picture Association of America, and an appointed official in the Truman and Eisenhowe...

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The Exposition: A Contemporary Report on the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition by Mateel Howe (1909)

This is a contemporary report on the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition, Washington's first world's fair. The exposition took place between June 1 and October 16, 1909, drawing more than three million pe...

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The Great Seattle Fire, Part 1

On June 6, 1889, at about 2:45 p.m., what became known as the Great Seattle Fire started when a pot of glue burst into flames in a small cabinet shop on Front Street (today's 1st Avenue). The blaze qu...

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The Great Seattle Fire, Part 2

On June 7, 1889, the sun rose over a stunned and devastated Seattle. The day before, a massive fire had ravaged the city's commercial core and its waterfront. Seattle had been booming, and over the pr...

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The History of Coffee in Seattle

Thanks to Seattle's damp and soggy weather, coffee has always been a cherished commodity. The city's first commercial roasting operations began producing fresh-roasted coffee more than 100 years ago, ...

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The Hospital on Profanity Hill -- A History of Harborview Hospital (Seattle)

This history of Harborview Medical Center and its predecessor hospitals by Josephine Ensign, who teaches health policy and health humanities at the University of Washington, is part of her larger work...

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The Kingdome: The Controversial Birth of a Seattle Icon

The first protean ideas for a Seattle domed stadium arose 12 years before the Kingdome's long-anticipated groundbreaking in 1972. Although many local sports fans and business leaders enthusiastically ...

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The Klineburger Brothers and the High Lonesome Ranch (Sammamish)

In 1954 three Klineburger brothers -- Gene (b.1920), Bert (b.1926), and Chris (b.1927) -- bought the Jonas Brothers taxidermy studio in Seattle and by the early 1960s turned it into one of the largest...

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The Mountaineers

The Mountaineers is a Western Washington-based organization that has had a major impact on outdoor recreation and wilderness preservation in the state. Started in Seattle in 1906 primarily as a mounta...

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The Mullan Road: A Real Northwest Passage

In the spring of 1859, after five years of study and survey, the U.S. War Department appropriated funds for the construction of a military wagon road between Fort Walla Walla in Washington Territory a...

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The New Deal and the Arts in Seattle (1933-1939)

During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government took unprecedented steps to support the visual arts, music, writing, and theater. Separate agencies dedicated to each were established ...

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The Northwest's Influence on the Growth of Wilderness Recreation

The mountain wilderness that rims the Puget Sound Basin has beckoned adventurous residents since the late 1800s. Hiking, backpacking, and mountain and rock climbing grew steadily there until Worl...

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The Pfisters: founders of my Seattle family, by Dorothea Nordstrand

This is the story of a "working man," Joseph Pfister (1883-1947), born in Wisconsin to immigrants from Switzerland, and his wife, Mary (Gierhofer) Pfister (1888-1962), born in Austria and brought to A...

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The Pioneer Story of Nancy Russell Thomas (1892)

This story was published in the Tacoma Ledger on November 13, 1892. It was submitted by Liz Russell. Nancy Russell Thomas was born on September 15, 1832, in Ashland, Ohio. She came west with her paren...

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The Railroad at Cedar Falls: Dorothy Graybael Scott's Story

This account of life at a Cedar Falls railroad camp (in east King County) was originally recorded on June 15, 1993 as a part of the Cedar River Watershed Oral History Project. Dorothy Graybael Scott m...

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