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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.

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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.

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506 results for: Government and Public Services

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Image of Black Panthers protesting on steps of Capitol building, Olympia, February 28, 1969
Photograph

Black Panthers protesting on steps of Capitol building, Olympia, February 28, 1969

The Black Panther Party for Self Defense established its Seattle chapter in the spring of 1968, after Aaron Dixon, Elmer Dixon, Anthony Ware, Gary Owens and several other future Panthers attended a memorial service in San Francisco for 17 year-old Bobby Hutton, who had been killed in a shootout with local police. While in Oakland, the Seattle youth met BPP…
ID Number:2000.107.022.21.02
Date:1969
Image of Vivian Caver, Seattle, September 9, 1975
Photograph

Vivian Caver, Seattle, September 9, 1975

Vivian Caver (1928-2021) was a civil rights activist from Seattle. She was born in Tennessee and grew up in Washington. While a student at the University of Washington, Caver worked for the Seattle Urban League as it fought to integrate department store workforces in Seattle. In the 1960s, she set up race relations councils in white neighborhoods to make housing…
ID Number:2000.107.033.27.01
Date:1975
Image of Vivian Caver at press conference, Seattle, February 1980
Photograph

Vivian Caver at press conference, Seattle, February 1980

Vivian Caver (1928-2021) was a civil rights activist from Seattle. She was born in Tennessee and grew up in Washington. While a student at the University of Washington, Caver worked for the Seattle Urban League as it fought to integrate department store workforces in Seattle. In the 1960s, she set up race relations councils in white neighborhoods to make housing…
ID Number:2000.107.033.27.02
Date:1980
Image of Three Chinese women receiving citizenship papers, February 10, 1979
Photograph

Three Chinese women receiving citizenship papers, February 10, 1979

On February 10, 1979, three long-time Seattle residents received their naturalization papers from Federal Court clerk Joe T. Ramame to become American citizens. The women were all born in China, and had lived in Seattle for 28-47 years. Here, Ramame hands Sau Chee Chin her naturalization papers, while Lee Shee Eng and Lim Tan-ying Eng wait behind her. Tan-ying Eng's…
ID Number:2000.107.036.09.06
Date:1979
Image of Baba Jeanne Mangaoang speaking at Congressional hearing, Washington, D.C., June 16, 1954
Photograph

Baba Jeanne Mangaoang speaking at Congressional hearing, Washington, D.C., June 16, 1954

Baba Jeanne "B.J." (Sears) Mangaoang (1915-2007) was a Seattle woman who remained active in Communist Party (CP) politics, the fight against the Red Scare, and advocated for peace and social justice throughout her life. She was introduced to the CP as a student at the University of Washington in the early 1930s, formally joining the Party in 1938. She worked…
ID Number:2000.107.046.27.01
Date:1954
Image of Demonstrators protesting cutting of federal funds to refugees, Seattle, September 26, 1991
Photograph

Demonstrators protesting cutting of federal funds to refugees, Seattle, September 26, 1991

This image depicts Refugee Advocacy Action Coalition demonstrators in front of the Jackson Federal Building in downtown Seattle, protesting against the cutting of cash and medical assistance to refugees from 12 months to 8 months. They are joined by Van Dan, left, a refugee from Vietnam, who arrived in the U. S. just three months prior, and speaks very little…
ID Number:2000.107.048.01.01
Date:1991
Image of Lucette Lightfoot and her daughter at voting booth, Seattle, September 20, 1988
Photograph

Lucette Lightfoot and her daughter at voting booth, Seattle, September 20, 1988

Washington voters went to the polls on Tuesday, September 20, 1996 to vote in the primary election. Here, Lucetta Lightfoot (center) votes at the Catharine Blaine Elementary School in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood. Her daughter Cara, aged 7, takes a look at the voting booth while her mother casts her ballot. Caption information derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and…
ID Number:2000.107.055.27.01
Date:1988
Image of Jim Ellis, Seattle, September 1974
Photograph

Jim Ellis, Seattle, September 1974

James Reed "Jim" Ellis (b. 1921), a Franklin High School graduate and Seattle lawyer, is widely regarded as one of the most visionary civic activists in King County history. In the late 1950s he spearheaded the clean up of Lake Washington, leading to the creation of the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle (Metro), which became a regional transportation system. In the…
ID Number:2000.107.056.08.02
Date:1974
Image of Tom Gibbs and Molly Boone checking water monitoring system, Seattle, August 31, 1963
Photograph

Tom Gibbs and Molly Boone checking water monitoring system, Seattle, August 31, 1963

Charles V. "Tom" Gibbs (1932-2019) was an engineer whose historic projects in the 1960s ended the constant flow of raw sewage into Lake Washington and Puget Sound. Born in Oregon and raised in Winlock, Washington, Mr. Gibbs received civil engineering degrees in 1954 and 1966 from the University of Washington (UW). He and his wife, Jean C. Gibbs, later endowed…
ID Number:2000.107.074.15.01
Date:1963
Image of Larry Gossett and Roberto Maestas at City Council meeting, Seattle, November 10, 1972
Photograph

Larry Gossett and Roberto Maestas at City Council meeting, Seattle, November 10, 1972

Larry Gossett (1945-) was born and raised in Seattle, and by the late 1960s was one of Seattle’s best known young black radicals. In 1967 he was active in the Seattle chapter of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and in 1968 he co-founded the University of Washington Black Student Union (UW BSU). Gossett served as executive director of CAMP,…
ID Number:2000.107.077.01.01
Date:1972
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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
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