263 results for: Politics and Politicians
Ephemera
City of Seattle Democracy Vouchers for Seattle City Council District 2, 2019
In 2015, voters in Seattle passed a campaign finance reform initiative which limited contributions from lobbyists and contractors, and began a first-of-its-kind public financing system called "Democracy Vouchers." Four vouchers worth 25 dollars each are distributed annually to eligible Seattle residents, to be used to support participating candidates of their choice. In 2021, the vouchers may be used to support…
ID Number:2019.86.1
Date:2019
Ephemera
State of Washington voter pamphlet, 1914
In the 1910s, Washington voters made several progressive changes to their system of elections. In 1910, male voters ratified Amendment 6 to the state constitution granting women the right to vote. Additional amendments in 1912 implemented a system of direct legislation calling for a process of initiatives, referenda, and recalls. With these changes, the November 1914 election was the first…
ID Number:2020.3.1
Date:1914
Photograph
Amelia Garza, Grandview City Councillor, February 13, 1992
Amelia Garza (1937-2003) was an advocate for migrant workers in the Yakima Valley. She sat on the Grandview City Council for 13 years and was the first Latina to serve on the council. Garza also founded many community organizations in the Valley to assist residents with health services, education, and literacy. She focused her activism on the needs of people…
ID Number:2020.42.3.19.01.10
Date:1992
Poster
Poster supporting John Dore for Mayor, circa 1936
John Francis Dore (1881-1938), a controversial politician in the unsettled days of the Great Depression, was twice elected Mayor of Seattle. In his successful 1932 campaign, Dore won the support of labor and the unemployed with his proposed tax cuts and relief programs. In 1934, he lost re-election by pleasing business interests and alienated labor when he requested federal troops…
ID Number:2021.42.1
Date:Circa 1936
Correspondence
William Pickering's letter to Arthur Denny about Lincoln assassination, Washington, DC, May 4, 1865
Early in 1865, Governor William Pickering made the long journey from Olympia, Washington Territory, to Washington DC on territory business. British-born Pickering had been appointed governor of Washington Territory by Abraham Lincoln, whom he had known in Springfield, Illinois. This is one of a series of letters that Governor Pickering wrote to Territorial Register of Deeds Arthur Denny during the…
ID Number:MS.COLL.1489.1
Date:1865
Photograph
George Hewitt testifying before Canwell Committee, Seattle, 1949
George Hewitt was an ex-Communist from New York who testified that Burton W. James and Florence Bean James, founders of the Seattle Repertory Playhouse, were members of the Communist Party. Committee members in photo are Robert L. Rutter, Sydney A. Stevens, Thomas H. Bienz, Albert Canwell, and Grant C. Sisson.Handwritten on image: Un-American Activities hearing.Handwritten on sleeve: Communists - Washington…
ID Number:PI21665
Date:1949
Photograph
Protestors outside Canwell Committee hearings, Seattle, 1948
The Committee on Un-American Activities, also known as the Canwell Committee, held hearings in 1948 in the Seattle Armory. Organizations under investigation included the Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Building Service Employees Union, the Washington Pension Union, and University of Washington faculty. After being accused of Communist involvement many individuals lost their jobs and organizations were shut down. Protest signs read:…
ID Number:PI21683
Date:1948
Photograph
Armed policemen during longshoremen's strike, Seattle, July 20, 1934
In the early 1930s, the International Longshoremen's Association, led by San Francisco-based Harry Bridges, tried to unionize all West Coast dockworkers to improve pay and working conditions. In 1934, after employers refused to recognize the union, West Coast longshoremen went out on strike for 98 days, seriously disrupting trade. At Seattle's Smith Cove, picketing strikers blocked access to the piers…
ID Number:PI24007
Date:1934
Photograph
Margaret Starkweather registering to vote, Seattle, September 26, 1964
On September 26, 1964, Margaret Starkweather had her son, Roscoe, bring her down to the Holly Park Wigwam store to register to vote for the upcoming November election. Mrs. Starkweather said "getting her signed up" was his birthday present to her; she would turn 105 years old shortly after the election. Asked for the secret to her longevity, Mrs. Starkweather…
ID Number:PI25072
Date:1964
Photograph
Inauguration of Governor Elisha Peyre Ferry, Olympia, November 11, 1889
Elisha Peyre Ferry (1825-1895) was the first governor of Washington State. Ferry was a Republican lawyer who had twice been Governor of Washington Territory, the only one to serve two terms. On Washington's admission as a state on November 11, 1889, he became its inaugural governor. In his first summer, he had to supervise the rebuilding of three major cities…
ID Number:SHS174
Date:1889