Topic: Society
Homelessness was both a local and a national problem prior to America's entry into World War I. Unemployed and homeless men, known variously as hoboes and "ginks," responded to their condition by orga...
This story of two sons impersonating two Huck Finns was written by their mother, Dorothea (Pfister) Nordstrand (1916-2011). In 2009 Dorothea Nordstrand was awarded AKCHO's (Association of King County ...
The Industrial Workers of the World, or IWW, was founded in 1905 in Chicago, and by 1908 had become influential among migrant laborers in the Pacific Northwest. Members were dubbed "Wobblies" and soon...
When the nieces of Bridget Aylward arrived in Seattle, there was already a fledgling Irish club here, then called the American Association for Recognition of the Irish Republic. (Bridget Aylward retir...
This People's History was contributed by John Keene, president of the Irish Heritage Society. Besides playing Gaelic football, Irish dancing had been one way that people born in Ireland could pass on ...
By 1982, the Irish-American Club, Irish Festivities, and the Seattle Gaels were all going strong, but many times their activities clashed. Because of the cross-membership, there was much duplication o...
Until a few years ago, the numbers of young Irish-born people annually migrating to Seattle had increased substantially, attracted by its hip reputation and lifestyle as well as the employment opportu...
Most early Japanese immigrants to the Pacific Northwest came to work in the labor-intensive industries of timber, railroad construction, fish processing, and agriculture. As they became more settled t...
From 1903 to the early 1930s, nearly half of the residents of Mukilteo were Japanese immigrants or of Japanese descent. Japanese men relocated to Mukilteo to work at the Crown Lumber Company, which re...
Melody Barker shares her great grandfather John Williamon's slightly scandalous story.
In 1907 Herman M. Draper (1858-1927) and his wife, Annie Draper (1860-1927), founded a privately run orphanage, the Children's Industrial Home and Training School -- initially in Seattle's Ballard nei...
KAYE 1450 AM (as of 2022 KSUH-Hankook) is a small, Puyallup-based radio station that has at times taken the national stage. From its start in 1951, it has attracted a string of owners, none from large...
The Caroline Kline Galland Home, located in the Seward Park neighborhood of southeast Seattle, is a skilled nursing home for Jewish seniors. For more than 90 years Seattle's Jewish community has ralli...
During World War I Americans of all ages were asked by the United States government to knit wool socks, sweaters, and other garments to warm American soldiers at home and abroad. Most of this knitting...
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...
When humans began creating laws for each other to follow, the legal profession was born. As the number of people increased and life became more complex, the number of both laws and lawyers multiplied....
Mary Kay Letourneau, at one time a respected elementary school teacher in Burien, became a convicted sex offender whose illicit relationship with a student has repelled and fascinated people around th...
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 people's history recalls life and society in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s. The main author is Carol Richman, and this segment also includes reflections by Mary Kenny and ...
This people's history recalls recalls the civil rights movement and civil unrest in Seattle's Madrona neighborhood in the 1960s and 1970s. The main author is Carol Richman, and this segment also inclu...
Jimmy Marks, leader of a small Romani community in Spokane, became known for heaping curses on city leaders following a 1986 raid on his home and the home of his father, Grover Marks, in which police ...
If one person in the history of Seattle reflects the significant way in which religion infused itself into the social and political life of the city, it would be the Reverend Mark Matthews. Matthews p...
Carl Maxey was Spokane's first prominent black attorney and an influential and controversial civil-rights leader. He was born in 1924 in Tacoma and raised as an orphan in Spokane. He overcame an almos...
McNeil Island, located in southern Puget Sound, was named in 1841 by Lt. Charles Wilkes of the United States Exploring Expedition in honor of William Henry McNeill. McNeill (the name, but not the isla...