• Visit
    • Museum Accessibility
    • Community Access
    • Group Visits and Tours
    • Programs
      • History Café
      • MOHAI Mercantile Literary Series
      • First Thursday
      • Denny Lecture
      • Al Young Educator of the Year
      • Everyday Heroes
    • MOHAI Mercantile
    • Gourmondo at MOHAI
  • Exhibits
  • Events
  • Collections and Research
    • Collections Search
    • Themed Collections
    • Research Library
    • Image Ordering
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Curator’s Fellowship
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Membership at MOHAI
    • Gift Memberships
    • Corporate Support
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • Self-Guided School Year Explorations
      • Creating Our Community
      • Cracking the History Code: Salish Stories
      • Cracking the History Code: Settling Around the Sound
      • Hands on History
      • Self-Guided Summer Field Trips
      • Homeschool Group
    • Portable Museum Program
    • Scholarships
    • Education FAQ
    • Primary Source Analysis
    • Online Curricula
    • Teen Programs
    • Idea Lab
    • Discovery Packs
    • Summer Camps
  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • The MOHAI Blog
    • Contact MOHAI
    • Opportunities
    • Leadership
    • Private Events
  • Donate
  • Tickets
  • Membership
HomeCollections and ResearchCollections Search

Collections Search

Explore stories in Northwest history through highlights from MOHAI’s collections. Search by keyword below or browse the entire online collection by entering the asterisk symbol (*). Filter your search by type of materials.

Download lower resolution images directly from an item page. MOHAI offers high-resolution digital reproductions of photographs and other materials from our collections for personal and professional use.

We have many more items in our collections and not everything you see online is on view at the museum. We have additional materials online at the University of Washington’s Digital Collections.

MOHAI Statement on Harmful Content

Search by Collection

Not finding what you are looking for?
Ask the MOHAI Collections Staff

869 results for: Performing Arts and Music

Share:
Image of
Musical sound recording

"See You in Seattle (at the Big World's Fair)" souvenir record from the Seattle World's Fair, 1962

Among the myriad souvenirs marketed at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair were fair-related songs, sold in the form of souvenir sheet-music and as musical recordings. At least 200 fair-themed songs were composed by professional and amateur songwriters, with more than fifty of these released as vinyl discs.The Washington State Commerce and Economic Development Department commissioned a fair-related song for their…
ID Number:1987.59.115
Date:1962
Image of
Musical sound recording

"Big Paul Bunyan" souvenir record from the Seattle World's Fair, 1962

Among the myriad souvenirs marketed at the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair were fair-related songs, sold in the form of souvenir sheet-music and as musical recordings. At least 200 fair-themed songs were composed by professional and amateur songwriters, with more than fifty of these released as vinyl discs."Big Paul Bunyan" tells the story of the American lumberjack legend over both sides…
ID Number:1987.59.116
Date:Circa 1960
Image of Seattle Theatre building, circa 1928
Photograph

Seattle Theatre building, circa 1928

This image shows the Seattle Theatre (later the Paramount Theatre) at 9th Avenue and Pine Street. Opened on March 1, 1928, the building was designed as a combination of theater, commercial, and residential spaces, lavishly decorated in the Beaux Arts style. The ornate architectural cut cast stone decoration on the building exterior was fabricated by the Pacific Stone Company of…
ID Number:1991.22.2.5
Date:Circa 1928
Image of Detail of Seattle Theatre exterior, Seattle, circa 1926
Photograph

Detail of Seattle Theatre exterior, Seattle, circa 1926

This image of the Seattle Theatre (later the Paramount Theatre) at 9th Avenue and Pine Street is a close-up of the roof line, highlighting the decorative architectural details. Opened on March 1, 1928, the building was designed as a combination of theater, commercial, and residential spaces, lavishly decorated in the Beaux Arts style. The ornate architectural cut cast stone decoration…
ID Number:1991.22.2.6
Date:Circa 1926
Image of Coliseum Theater at night in deep snow,  Seattle, 1916
Photograph

Coliseum Theater at night in deep snow, Seattle, 1916

This image of the Coliseum Theatre on Pike Street and 5th Avenue was taken shortly after the building's opening on January 8, 1916, during the second-deepest blizzard in Seattle's history. The Big Snow of 1916 came after an exceptionally cold January during which about 2 feet of snow had already accumulated. In early February a storm hit which added an…
ID Number:1991.64.1
Date:1916
Image of Symphoneve Americana fashion show program, Seattle, October 22, 1959
Document

Symphoneve Americana fashion show program, Seattle, October 22, 1959

The first Frederick & Nelson retail store opened in 1889, right after Seattle's great fire. By 1916, the company was doing so well that it built a large new store at Fifth Avenue and Pike Street, which many people thought was too far out of town. Frederick & Nelson was one of Seattle's landmark companies for over a century before…
ID Number:1993.43.14.7.1
Date:1959
Image of Program for Paul Robeson concert at Seattle Civic Auditorium, May 20, 1952
Program

Program for Paul Robeson concert at Seattle Civic Auditorium, May 20, 1952

On May 20, 1952, American actor and singer Paul Robeson overcame blacklisting, a press blackout, and a City Council ban to perform at the Seattle Civic Auditorium in a "Peoples Program" presented by the Seattle Chapter of the National Negro Labor Council.A civil rights activist and anti-fascist sympathetic to communism, Robeson was investigated and blacklisted beginning in the late 1940s.…
ID Number:1998.4.2
Date:1952
Image of Seattle Elks band at Boys Picnic, Woodland Park, 1923
Photograph

Seattle Elks band at Boys Picnic, Woodland Park, 1923

The Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE) hosted an annual picnic for boys at Woodland Park in Seattle, and on July 27, 1923, they had a special guest. President Warren G. Harding was on a Western tour across the United States, in what he called his "Voyage of Understanding." He gave a speech at Woodland Park for 30,000 assembled…
ID Number:1998.44.1
Date:1923
Image of I Am Proud to be the Mother of a Soldier Boy
Music, notated

I Am Proud to be the Mother of a Soldier Boy

The music and lyrics for "I Am Proud to be the Mother of a Soldier Boy" were written by R. N. Moffat. It was arranged by Dudley Huntington McCosh and published by R. N. Moffat in Seattle. The piece was performed at least once locally, at Fort Lawton by the Fourteenth Infantry Band. Caption information source: The Seattle Sunday Times,…
ID Number:1998.54.10
Date:1917
Image of Clarence Acox directing Jazz Ensemble at Garfield High School, Seattle, May 11, 1991
Photograph

Clarence Acox directing Jazz Ensemble at Garfield High School, Seattle, May 11, 1991

In this image director Clarence Acox leads the Garfield High School Jazz Ensemble in some swinging music of the '30s and '40s in the high school gymnasium. A native of New Orleans, Clarence Acox Jr. is a well-known jazz drummer and band director who has been teaching at Garfield since 1971. Acox has led the Garfield Jazz Ensemble to win…
ID Number:2000.107.002.17.01
Date:1991
Previous 1 … 17 18 19 20 21 … 87 Next

Land Acknowledgement

MOHAI stands on the historic and contemporary lands and shores of the Duwamish, Suquamish, Muckleshoot, and other Coast Salish Nations. We acknowledge the forced displacement of Native Communities from this land while honoring the endurance of the Duwamish people who still live here.
Address: 860 Terry Ave N, Seattle WA, 98109
Phone: 206 324 1126
  • Plan a Visit
  • Directions and Parking
  • Accessibility
  • Group Tours
  • About

Sign up to Receive our Newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright 2026, Museum of History & Industry. All Rights Reserved