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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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768 results for: Businesses and Corporations

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Videorecording

Oral history interview with Mike Dederer, July-August 1985

Michael Dederer (1905-1995) built the Seattle Fur Exchange into one of the foremost fur auctions in the country and an international presence in the industry. Born in Canada, Dederer moved with his family to Montana in 1914. Working at a department store while still in high school, Dederer had developed an interest in the fur trade. Shortly after moving to…
ID Number:1985.135.7
Date:1985
Videorecording

Oral history interview with Kenneth Fisher, April 23, 1985

Kenneth Robinson Fisher (1906-1999) was the grandson of O.W. (Oliver Williams) Fisher, founder and owner of Seattle’s Fisher Flour Mill. Fisher built his mill, the largest in the west, on the newly constructed Harbor Island in Elliott Bay at the mouth of the Duwamish waterway, one of the first industrial businesses to open on the island. Fisher ran the business…
ID Number:1985.135.10
Date:1985
Videorecording

Oral history interview with H. Dewayne Kreager, October 17, 1985

H. (Henry) Dewayne Kreager (1912 – 2001) was a banker and businessman, a Washington state native who attended college at Washington State University, Duke, and Harvard. Kreager started his professional career in Washington, D.C., working with the federal Foreign Economic Administration from 1941 to 1946, with the State Department as assistant director of the Foreign Service Institute in 1946 -1947,…
ID Number:1985.135.14
Date:1985
Videorecording

Oral history interview with Palmer G. Lewis, September 4, 1985

Palmer G. Lewis (1904-1994) founded one of the nation's major independent building-material distributorships, the Palmer G. Lewis Co., of Auburn. Mr. Lewis started his business in 1940 in Seattle, travelling to Alaska to sell building products for supply companies to the growing population there. Total sales grew from $40,000 that first year into the millions. The company eventually became a…
ID Number:1985.135.15
Date:1985
Videorecording

Oral history interview with Horace W. McCurdy, January 18, 1985

Horace Winslow (“H.W.”) McCurdy (1899-1989) was a maritime construction executive, civic leader, and avid supporter of maritime research in the Pacific Northwest. A Washington native, McCurdy was born and raised in Port Townsend, and attended University of Washington in Seattle and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After graduating in 1922, he got a job at the Puget Sound Bridge…
ID Number:1985.135.17
Date:1985
Videorecording

Oral history interview with George Nickum, September 1985

George C. Nickum (1910-1990), internationally recognized naval architect and longtime Northwest resident, headed the naval architectural firms of W.C. Nickum & Sons, and later Nickum & Spaulding Associates, before his retirement in 1986. Nickum apprenticed in the practice of naval architecture with his father, W.C. Nickum, during the Depression years. His father had designed early Seattle fireboats, including the fireboat…
ID Number:1985.135.18
Date:1985
Videorecording

Oral history interview with Elmer Nordstrom, 1985

Elmer J. Nordstrom (1904 – 1993) was co-president, with his two brothers, of the Nordstrom department store chain founded by his father, John W. Nordstrom. Born in Seattle, Nordstrom graduated from Broadway High School in 1923, and from the University of Washington. In 1928, John W. Nordstrom retired and sold his shares of the store he owned with Carl Wallin,…
ID Number:1985.135.19
Date:1985
Videorecording

Oral history interview with William S. Street, 1985

William S. "Bill" Street, (1904-2000) was a department store executive who was president of Seattle's Frederick & Nelson store from 1946 to 1962. He also served as vice-president of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Street retired to chair the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition). In 1963, he became president of United Pacific (later Univar), which had interests in…
ID Number:1985.135.26
Date:1985
Videorecording

Oral history interview with Holt W. Webster, 1985

Holt Webster (1919-1992) was a pioneer in the freight industry, and one of the founders of Airborne Express, where he also served as chairman and chief executive officer. During World War II, Webster was a captain in the military Air Transport Command from 1942 through 1946. After the war, he worked for Northwest Airlines in Seattle from 1946 to 1951…
ID Number:1985.135.28
Date:1985
Videorecording

Oral history interview with Edward C. Wells, March 1985

Edward C. Wells (1910-1986) was an engineer and senior vice president of the Boeing Company, and served on the company’s board of directors. He played a major role in the design of Boeing planes, from bombers, such as the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-29, to jet transports, including the 707, 747 and others. Wells was born in Boise, Idaho and…
ID Number:1985.135.29
Date:1985
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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
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