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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 Election voter using touch screen at Martha Lake school, Lynnwood, September 18, 2002
Photograph

Election voter using touch screen at Martha Lake school, Lynnwood, September 18, 2002

Various voting methods and machines have been used in U.S. elections, such as hand-counted paper, mechanical lever machines, punch-card machines, scanned paper ballots, and direct-recording electronic devices. Forays into electronic voting machines have been stymied by unfounded conspiracy theories about the safety of voting machines, and despite the use of electronic technology by election officials, the system continues to be…
ID Number:2000.107.20020917.CD02.04.001
Date:2002
Image of Troy Stockwell riding on a Segway, Seattle, October 7, 2002
Photograph

Troy Stockwell riding on a Segway, Seattle, October 7, 2002

In August 2002, the city of Seattle bought 10 Segways, planning to spend 2 years testing the devices in a variety of situations, such as with paramedics at big events, workers in parks to clean up litter, and for zookeepers so they can zip between the animals.In this image, Troy Stockwell, a meter reader for the city of Seattle, tries…
ID Number:2000.107.20021007.CD03.03.001
Date:2002
Image of Jim Brennan with shiner surf perch at Golden Gardens, November 10, 2002
Photograph

Jim Brennan with shiner surf perch at Golden Gardens, November 10, 2002

In November of 2002 the Seattle Post-Intelligencer completed a six-month investigation into the ecological health of the Puget Sound. They published their findings in a series of articles from November 18-22, outlining the ways in which recent efforts to curtail dumping and pollution had failed to negate decades of human-caused damage to sea life and the marine environment.In this image,…
ID Number:2000.107.20021101.CD01.001
Date:2002
Image of Mark Hallenback using the Mybus program on his phone, January 28, 2003
Photograph

Mark Hallenback using the Mybus program on his phone, January 28, 2003

In the early 2000s, King County Metro, with the University of Washington, launched a program called “Mybus on the Internet” which let people use cellphones and PDAs to check the arrival time of Metro buses. The buses had already been equipped with sensors that count how many times the wheels turn and transmit location information to dispatcher and the MyBus…
ID Number:2000.107.20030128.CD05.001
Date:2003
Image of Flier for march and rally to stop inflation, Seattle, November 16, 1974
Ephemera

Flier for march and rally to stop inflation, Seattle, November 16, 1974

The United States went through a recession in the 1970s, with job loss and double-digit inflation. The Coalition to Stop Inflation called for a march on November 16th from the U.S. Courthouse at Fifth Avenue and Madison Street to a rally at Westlake Mall. This was to be but one of many such demonstrations held across the United States on…
ID Number:2002.23.1.25.3
Date:1974
Image of Lesbian and Gay Democrats of Greater Seattle newsletter, January 1986
Ephemera

Lesbian and Gay Democrats of Greater Seattle newsletter, January 1986

This 1986 newsletter of the Lesbian and Gay Democrats of Seattle includes an announcement of their January 13 meeting at the Off Ramp Cafe, featuring newly-elected King County Councilman Ron Sims discussing the new King County Fair Employment Ordinance. The newsletter also includes notes of thanks to various individuals, from organization President Don Moreland, for their support of lesbian and…
ID Number:2002.23.7.58.1
Date:1/1986
Image of No Plutonium poster, July 15, 1986
Ephemera

No Plutonium poster, July 15, 1986

The 1986 anti-nuclear rally advertised on this poster was organized in response to the Department of Energy’s (DOE) proposal to use the Hanford facility in Washington state as the nation’s nuclear waste repository. In the wake of the April 1986 Chernobyl disaster and recent news that Hanford was a finalist for housing America’s nuclear waste, public distrust of the DOE…
ID Number:2002.23.8.3.3
Date:1986
Image of Unveiling of James Washington Jr. sculpture
Photograph

Unveiling of James Washington Jr. sculpture "Virgins' Lamps with Fish" at Bothell Library, January 11, 1970

James Washington Jr. (1911-2000) was a sculptor and painter who became associated with the Northwest School of artists in Seattle. He grew up in Mississippi and moved to Seattle in 1944 to work for the Navy during World War II. Washington was largely self-taught and he believed this lack of formal training was essential to his artistic success. In the…
ID Number:2002.68.140.05
Date:1970
Image of Morgan J. Carkeek  posting park rules, Carkeek Park, Seattle, circa 1918
Photograph

Morgan J. Carkeek posting park rules, Carkeek Park, Seattle, circa 1918

Beginning in about 1918, the Seattle Park Board hosted annual picnics at the "original" Carkeek Park (1918-1926) on Pontiac Bay at Lake Washington, later the site of the Sand Point Naval Station and now Magnuson Park. These annual luncheon picnics were attended by donors to the park and their friends on the anniversary of the donation of the park by…
ID Number:2008.3.1.46.9
Date:Circa 1918
Image of Seattle Civil Defense evacuation routes pamphlet, 1955
Ephemera

Seattle Civil Defense evacuation routes pamphlet, 1955

The Civil Defense Evacuation Routes brochure pictured here, "Evacuate: Don't Sit Under The Mushroom," was distributed to Seattle and King County residents in 1955 by King County Civil Defense Department (now Department of Public Defense). At the time Seattle was considered a potential Major Target Area for an attack with a thermonuclear weapon (a hydrogen bomb). The planned evacuation routes…
ID Number:2010.14.1
Date:1955
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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.
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