• Visit
    • Museum Accessibility
    • Community Access
    • Group Visits and Tours
    • Programs
      • History Café
      • MOHAI Mercantile Literary Series
      • First Thursday
      • Denny Lecture
      • Al Young Educator of the Year
      • Everyday Heroes
    • MOHAI Mercantile
    • Gourmondo at MOHAI
  • Exhibits
  • Events
  • Collections and Research
    • Collections Search
    • Themed Collections
    • Research Library
    • Image Ordering
    • Donate an Artifact
    • Curator’s Fellowship
  • Support
    • Donate
    • Membership at MOHAI
    • Gift Memberships
    • Corporate Support
  • Education
    • Field Trips
      • Self-Guided School Year Explorations
      • Creating Our Community
      • Cracking the History Code: Salish Stories
      • Cracking the History Code: Settling Around the Sound
      • Hands on History
      • Self-Guided Summer Field Trips
      • Homeschool Group
    • Portable Museum Program
    • Scholarships
    • Education FAQ
    • Primary Source Analysis
    • Online Curricula
    • Teen Programs
    • Idea Lab
    • Discovery Packs
    • Summer Camps
  • About
    • Annual Reports
    • The MOHAI Blog
    • Contact MOHAI
    • Opportunities
    • Leadership
    • Private Events
  • Donate
  • Tickets
  • Membership
HomeCollections and ResearchCollections Search

Collections Search

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.

Download lower resolution images directly from an item page. MOHAI offers high-resolution digital reproductions of photographs and other materials from our collections for personal and professional use.

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.

MOHAI Statement on Harmful Content

Search by Collection

Not finding what you are looking for?
Ask the MOHAI Collections Staff

148 results for: National Events

Share:
Image of Klansmen at initiation ceremony at Wilson Station, Renton, July 14, 1923
Photograph

Klansmen at initiation ceremony at Wilson Station, Renton, July 14, 1923

A resurgence of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) movement between 1915 and the mid-1920s, in what historians call the "Second Klan," reached all 48 states, with membership over four million in the mid-1920s. Although the Klan's core belief in white supremacy, at least with regard to African Americans, had less resonance in Washington State, by 1921 there was a ready audience…
ID Number:2000.107.108.16.07
Date:1923
Image of Klansmen at initiation ceremony at Wilson Station, Renton, July 14, 1923
Photograph

Klansmen at initiation ceremony at Wilson Station, Renton, July 14, 1923

A resurgence of Ku Klux Klan (KKK) movement between 1915 and the mid-1920s, in what historians call the "Second Klan," reached all 48 states, with membership over four million in the mid-1920s. Although the Klan's core belief in white supremacy, at least with regard to African Americans, had less resonance in Washington State, by 1921 there was a ready audience…
ID Number:2000.107.108.16.08
Date:1923
Image of Roberto Maestas and Estela Ortega being married at Beacon Hill School, December 1972
Photograph

Roberto Maestas and Estela Ortega being married at Beacon Hill School, December 1972

Roberto Felipe Maestas (1938-2010) was a Mexican American activist in Seattle. He became involved in civil rights and antiwar protests in the late 1960s and in 1972 he led the occupation of the old Beacon Hill School, leading to the founding of the Chicano community center El Centro de la Raza, which Maestas led until 2009. Estela Ortega (b. 1950)…
ID Number:2000.107.117.04.07
Date:1972
Image of Cuban detainees watching TV at McNeil Island Penitentiary, February 1981
Photograph

Cuban detainees watching TV at McNeil Island Penitentiary, February 1981

McNeil Island is a 6.6 square mile island located in south Puget Sound, lying 2.8 miles across the water from the nearest town. The site was utilized for 142 continuous years as an island-based penal institution, beginning in 1869 with a jail built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. In 1909 the facility became a federal prison, the McNeil…
ID Number:2000.107.123.19.04
Date:1981
Image of House at center of debate in Open Housing Campaign, Seattle, May 2, 1959
Photograph

House at center of debate in Open Housing Campaign, Seattle, May 2, 1959

Seattle's African American population increased dramatically between 1940 and 1960, making the community the city's largest minority group. Like other minorities, African Americans experienced discrimination in many ways, including in housing. The enforcement of restrictive covenants in specific developments or subdivisions, realtors agreeing not to show houses to people of color, and red-lining, where banks denied credit to minorities, largely…
ID Number:2000.107.136.07.02
Date:1959
Image of Vinh Duc Vu and Hoi Ba Tran working on Vietnamese-language newspaper, Seattle, August 1975
Photograph

Vinh Duc Vu and Hoi Ba Tran working on Vietnamese-language newspaper, Seattle, August 1975

In August 1975, the first Vietnamese-language newspaper in Washington state headed to the press. The free, bimonthly tabloid, Dat Moi (“New Land”) was to be mailed to 1500 Washington refugees and their American sponsors. It was sponsored by the national Vietnamese-American Association and was funded by the WA State Department of Emergency Services and the Catholic Archdiocese. Plans were for…
ID Number:2000.107.220.25.01
Date:1975
Image of Seattle Center event cancellation sign, September 11, 2001
Photograph

Seattle Center event cancellation sign, September 11, 2001

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, people across the country and around the world reacted with shock and grief, while authorities in the U.S. acted swiftly to secure public buildings and landmarks seen as potential targets, in case another incident was yet to come. In Seattle, authorities evacuated downtown skyscrapers and closed federal buildings.…
ID Number:2000.107.20010911.1.10
Date:2001
Image of PI staff working on special edition newspaper, September 11, 2001
Photograph

PI staff working on special edition newspaper, September 11, 2001

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, people across the country and around the world reacted with shock and grief, while authorities in the U.S. acted swiftly to secure public buildings and landmarks seen as potential targets, in case another incident was yet to come.Television and radio coverage of the day's events was continuous, reporting…
ID Number:2000.107.20010911.6.05
Date:2001
Image of People waiting to donate blood at Puget Sound Blood Center, September 11, 2001
Photograph

People waiting to donate blood at Puget Sound Blood Center, September 11, 2001

In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, people across the country overwhelmed blood banks. They waited in long lines to donate out of a impulse to do something to help, and in anticipation of thousands of casualties. Upwards of a half million more units of blood were collected in the 2 months following the attacks than was…
ID Number:2000.107.20010911.9.34
Date:2001
Image of Woman at Sea-Tac airport reacting to news report, September 11, 2001
Photograph

Woman at Sea-Tac airport reacting to news report, September 11, 2001

In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, people across the country and around the world reacted with shock and grief, while authorities in the U.S. acted swiftly to secure public buildings and landmarks seen as potential targets, in case another incident was yet to come.United States airspace was shut down within an hour of the…
ID Number:2000.107.20010911.16.01
Date:2001
Previous 1 … 3 4 5 6 7 … 15 Next

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
  • Plan a Visit
  • Directions and Parking
  • Accessibility
  • Group Tours
  • About

Sign up to Receive our Newsletter

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Copyright 2026, Museum of History & Industry. All Rights Reserved