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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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506 results for: Government and Public Services

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Image of Infanta Spence and other Central Area activists at press conference, August 11, 1967
Photograph

Infanta Spence and other Central Area activists at press conference, August 11, 1967

On August 2, 1967, Governor Dan Evans visited the Central Area of Seattle and listened to members of the Black community, meeting first with community leaders at the Sorrento Hotel, and later with the youth community at the Y.M.C.A. Some of the young people present agreed to develop proposals for action, and in the following days formed a group called…
ID Number:2000.107.131.22.07
Date:1967
Image of Chizuko Omori at home in front of incarceration camp photos, Seattle, August 10, 1988
Photograph

Chizuko Omori at home in front of incarceration camp photos, Seattle, August 10, 1988

Chizuko May Omori (b. 1930), a young Nisei girl, was living with her family in Oceanside, California when World War II broke out. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Omori and her family were incarcerated in Poston concentration camp (known officially as the Colorado River Relocation Center) in Yuma County, Arizona. After release from the camp, Omori lived for a…
ID Number:2000.107.136.07.01
Date:1988
Image of Picketers protesting discriminatory loan practices at Liberty Bank, Seattle, February 15, 1972
Photograph

Picketers protesting discriminatory loan practices at Liberty Bank, Seattle, February 15, 1972

In response to urban problems of poverty and race in the United States, in November 1966 Congress initiated the Model Cities Program. The program's objectives were to reduce social and economic disadvantages in designated neighborhoods, provide training and employment opportunities, and establish health services for residents. Financial and technical assistance was made available to cities through the Department of Housing…
ID Number:2000.107.141.14.01
Date:1972
Image of Michael Ramos and Rafael at the Salvadoran-Guatemalan Refugee Program, Seattle, February 28, 1985
Photograph

Michael Ramos and Rafael at the Salvadoran-Guatemalan Refugee Program, Seattle, February 28, 1985

This photo was taken at the Salvadoran-Guatemalan Refugee Program office in Seattle. The program supported refugees from El Salvador and Guatemala with legal aid, assistance with getting political asylum, and paying bail bonds for refugees who were arrested. If bail was not posted within a specified time period, refugees were sent to camps in California or Arizona. On the occasion…
ID Number:2000.107.151.03.01
Date:1985
Image of Norm Rice, Constance Williams Rice, and Mian Rice, after Mayoral swearing-in, Seattle, January 2, 1990
Photograph

Norm Rice, Constance Williams Rice, and Mian Rice, after Mayoral swearing-in, Seattle, January 2, 1990

Seattle politician Norman Blann Rice (1943-) was first elected to the Seattle City Council in 1978. Rice served eleven years, participating as chairs of the Energy, Finance, and Budget committees, and was Council President for one term. From 1989 to 1997 Rice served two terms as the 49th mayor, becoming Seattle's first African-American mayor. Rice has remained a civic leader…
ID Number:2000.107.152.12.06
Date:1990
Image of Michael Lerner leading IRS protest, Seattle, April 15, 1970
Photograph

Michael Lerner leading IRS protest, Seattle, April 15, 1970

On April 15, 1970, thirty students from the University of Washington Student Mobilization Committee Against the Vietnam War staged a short demonstration outside of IRS headquarters to protest the use of tax money to support the war in Vietnam. In this image, Seattle Liberation Front leader Michael Lerner, an assistant professor at the University of Washington, talks to government agents…
ID Number:2000.107.153.10.02
Date:1970
Image of Student protest at IRS headquarters, Seattle, April 15, 1970
Photograph

Student protest at IRS headquarters, Seattle, April 15, 1970

On April 15, 1970, thirty students from the University of Washington Student Mobilization Committee Against the Vietnam War staged a short demonstration outside of IRS headquarters to protest the use of tax money to support the war in Vietnam. In this image, demonstrators carry signs outside the IRS offices at Sixth Avenue and Lenora Street in downtown Seattle. The protesters…
ID Number:2000.107.153.10.03
Date:1970
Image of Charles Carroll addressing protesters outside City Hall, Seattle, May 6, 1970
Photograph

Charles Carroll addressing protesters outside City Hall, Seattle, May 6, 1970

On May 1, 1970, protests erupted in Seattle following the announcement by President Richard M. Nixon (1913-1994) that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country. The focus of protest activity was the University of Washington, but anti-war protests and disruptions also swept downtown. The 1970 UW student strike would continue throughout the month of…
ID Number:2000.107.153.12.01
Date:1970
Image of Picketers outside the Washington Public Assistance office, Seattle, April 2, 1971
Photograph

Picketers outside the Washington Public Assistance office, Seattle, April 2, 1971

Seattle did not escape the high inflation and high unemployment rates of the worldwide recession of the late 1960s and early 1970s. Some 66,000 Boeing workers were laid off in 1969 and 1970, and the state’s unemployment rate was the highest in the nation. The state legislature sharply reduced welfare grants effective April 1, 1971. At that time, some 70,000…
ID Number:2000.107.153.15.02
Date:1971
Image of Property tax protesters in rotunda of Washington State Capitol, April 3, 1971
Photograph

Property tax protesters in rotunda of Washington State Capitol, April 3, 1971

In April 1971, about 500 property owners jammed the State Capitol Rotunda in Olympia to protest spiraling property taxes. Many of the protesters were elderly people from North Seattle, where property taxes had risen more than 100 percent over the previous year. This photo shows protestors seated on the steps in the Rotunda waiting to hear from State legislators, several…
ID Number:2000.107.153.22.11
Date:1971
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