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Seattle's 1 Percent for Art Program

In 1973, Seattle passed a 1 Percent for Art ordinance, which sets aside 1 percent of capital-improvement-project funds for the commission, purchase, and installation of artworks in a variety of settin...

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Seattle's First Female Officers on the Beat

This essay by Adam C. Eisenberg on Seattle's first female patrol officers hired and trained to be cops on the beat equal to men (nine women hired in 1976), originally appeared in the Seattle Post-Inte...

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Seattle's Little City Halls

Creation of Seattle's Little City Halls, now formally known as Neighborhood Service Centers (NSC), was inspired by a 1972 trip to Boston by aides to Mayor Wes Uhlman. The early program, while popular ...

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Seattle's Sister City Program

President Dwight Eisenhower created the Sister City program in 1956 to encourage the people-to-people exchange between Americans and citizens of other countries. Seattle was quick off the mark with th...

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Shaping Seattle's Central Waterfront, Part 1: Moving People and Freight

The natural harbor of Elliott Bay offered a wealth of resources to the settlers who came to its shores in the 1850s to build Seattle into a city. Its deep waters provided ample space for ships to anch...

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Shaping Seattle's Central Waterfront, Part 2: From "Back Alley" to "Front Porch"

The late 1960s and early 1970s saw a profound shift in thinking about Seattle's central waterfront. As the central business district struggled with declining customers and community groups advocated f...

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Simpson, Buster (b. 1942)

Beginning in the early 1970s, when Buster Simpson camped out in buildings about to be demolished in downtown Seattle and made art out of the readily available materials in his rapidly changing ecologi...

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Sims, Ron (b. 1948)

Ron Sims spent more than 20 years in King County government, first as a member of the King County Council elected in 1985 and then as King County Executive since 1996. Sims guided the county governmen...

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Smallpox Outbreak in New Tacoma (1881)

Smallpox struck New Tacoma, a recently platted town encompassing much of what later became downtown Tacoma, in October 1881. The outbreak sickened an official count of 80 people and killed 14 by the t...

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Smith, Sam (1922-1995)

Sam Smith was the first black person to be elected to the Seattle City Council and the second black State Legislator from King County. He has been credited with helping to bridge the political and cul...

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Snyder, Sid (1926-2012)

The son of a Kelso barber, Sid Snyder eventually rose up to establish himself as a well-loved small-town grocer, a savvy real-estate investor, and a millionaire bank founder. In addition, he gained st...

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Sohappy, David (1925-1991)

U.S. Army veteran David Sohappy Sr. (1925-1991) was a Wanapum fishing activist who became the center of a national controversy involving government regulators and tribal fishers in the Pacific Northwe...

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Sommers, Helen Elizabeth (1932-2017)

Helen Sommers was elected as a Democrat in November 1972 to represent Seattle's 36th District in the state House of Representatives. She won re-election 17 consecutive times over the next 36 years, wa...

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Sound Transit (King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties)

Sound Transit is a regional transit agency serving King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties with light rail, commuter rail, and express-bus service. Officially called the Central Puget Sound Regional Tran...

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South Lake Union: The Evolution of a Dream

This essay surveys the development of Seattle's South Lake Union and Cascade communities from 1854 to 2003, with emphasis on visions for its future including Virgil Bogue's 1911 Plan of Seattle, the 1...

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Spellman, John D. (1926-2018)

John D. Spellman was the first King County Executive and later served as governor of Washington. Elected Executive in 1969, shortly after the County's Home Rule Charter created the position, Spellman ...

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Spellman, John: King County Politics in the Sixties, Seventies and Beyond

The long career of John Spellman (1926-2018) in local and state politics began in 1967 when he was elected a King County Commissioner. His term overlapped the controversial Forward Thrust capital impr...

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Stern, Bernice (1916-2007)

Bernice Stern devoted much of her life to public service, starting at age 15, and was the first woman elected to the King County Council, where she served for 11 years, retiring in 1980. Before and af...

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Stevens, Isaac Ingalls (1818-1862)

As Washington's first territorial governor, Isaac Stevens oversaw the establishment of government in what would become Washington state. He also led the survey of a route to Puget Sound for a transcon...

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Stokes, Charles Moorehead (1903-1996)

In 1950, Charles Stokes was elected to the Washington state legislature from the 37th District in central and southeast Seattle, becoming the first black legislator from King County. The only black le...

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Sullivan, Cynthia (b. 1949)

Cynthia Sullivan, a Democrat, served for 20 years on the Metropolitan King County Council, making her one of the longest serving Council members. During that time, she had a major impact on growth man...

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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 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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