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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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707 results for: Labor and Labor Unions

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Image of
Ephemera

"The only thing 'free' about 'free trade' is the freedom of corporations to rip-off workers!" broadside, 1999

The Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Seattle from November 30 to December 3, 1999. Trade ministers and other officials from the WTO’s 135 member nations met in an unsuccessful attempt to plan negotiations to further deregulate free trade. Tens of thousands of activists for many causes gathered to protest what they saw as…
ID Number:2018.3.3.9
Date:1999
Image of
Ephemera

"Don't let the WTO boil you like a frog!" broadside, 1999

The Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Seattle from November 30 to December 3, 1999. Trade ministers and other officials from the WTO’s 135 member nations met in an unsuccessful attempt to plan negotiations to further deregulate free trade. Tens of thousands of activists for many causes gathered to protest what they saw as…
ID Number:2018.3.3.10
Date:1999
Image of
Ephemera

"Be part of history: Join the big march for fair trade" flier, 1999

The Third Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) was held in Seattle from November 30 to December 3, 1999. Trade ministers and other officials from the WTO’s 135 member nations met in an unsuccessful attempt to plan negotiations to further deregulate free trade. Tens of thousands of activists for many causes gathered to protest what they saw as…
ID Number:2018.3.3.20
Date:1999
Image of Wa Chong Company letter, April 20, 1909
Correspondence

Wa Chong Company letter, April 20, 1909

On December 15, 1868, the man believed to be Seattle's first Chinese immigrant, Chun Ching Hock (1844-1927) opened the Wa Chong Company at the foot of Mill Street (now Yesler Way). The store sold imported Chinese goods, tea, rice, coffee, flour, and fireworks, but the company's most profitable business was labor contracting - recruiting and placing Chinese immigrants in domestic…
ID Number:2018.3.3.91
Date:1909
Image of National Recovery Administration member display piece, circa 1934
Poster

National Recovery Administration member display piece, circa 1934

The National Recovery Administration (NRA) was a New Deal agency established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1933. The NRA was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA) and allowed industries to write "codes of fair competition" to reduce "destructive competition," setting minimum wages and maximum weekly hours, as well as minimum prices at which products could be sold.…
ID Number:2018.3.3.103
Date:Circa 1934
Image of Musicians' Mutual Protective Union of Seattle membership card, June 17, 1892
Ephemera

Musicians' Mutual Protective Union of Seattle membership card, June 17, 1892

Frank Buell Cade (1868-1954) came to Seattle in 1890, the same year that saw the creation of the Seattle chapter of the Musicians Mutual Protective Union (MMPU), Local 30 of the National League of Musicians (NLM) (later AFM Local 76, now AFM Local 76-493). Mr. Cade began working as a bookkeeper for the People & Knowles Sheet Metal Works (he…
ID Number:2018.3.3.105
Date:1892
Image of WPA District 4 Exposition program, Seattle, May 15, 1936
Program

WPA District 4 Exposition program, Seattle, May 15, 1936

The Federal government created the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935, during the Great Depression, to provide jobs to unemployed men, women, and children. The country was divided into regions and districts, and in Washington State, District 4 comprised King, Jefferson, Kitsap, and Clallam counties. In 1936, some 12,337 people, about 75% of whom were men, worked in WPA projects…
ID Number:2018.3.3.127
Date:1936
Image of Cooks' and Assistants' Local 33 Wage Scale and Working Rules, June 1, 1945
Ephemera

Cooks' and Assistants' Local 33 Wage Scale and Working Rules, June 1, 1945

In June 1945, with World War II almost over, the Cooks’ and Assistants’ Union Local 33 distributed this pocket-sized Wage Scale and Working Rules to members. Minimum wage scales ranged from short-shift dishwashers and tavern porters at $1.00 per hour to Cooks at $9.00 per hour. Chefs’ salaries were “open” - presumably negotiated. Work rules covered such things as hiring…
ID Number:2018.3.3.143
Date:1945
Image of Oral history interview with Allison and David (Guy) Demmert, November 6, 2015
Audio recording

Oral history interview with Allison and David (Guy) Demmert, November 6, 2015

Interview with commercial fisherman David (Guy) and Allison Demmert conducted by Jeffrey Kahrs for the Commercial Fisherman Oral History Project on November 6, 2015. In the interview, the Demmert's discuss their careers fishing along the West Coast and in Southeast Alaska. Guy Demmert is a seine captain and Allison Demmert is a deckhand. Conversations include women skippering boats and fishing…
ID Number:2018.63.3
Date:2015
Image of Oral history interview with Gunnar Gudjonssen, October 28, 2017
Videorecording

Oral history interview with Gunnar Gudjonssen, October 28, 2017

This interview with Icelandic American commercial fisherman Gunnar Gudjonssen was conducted by Jeffrey Kahrs for the Commercial Fishermen Oral History Project on October 28, 2017. In this interview, Gundjonssen discusses his life and career fishing along the West Coast and in Southeast Alaska.The photo shown here of Gunnar Gudjonssen was taken by the interviewer Jeffrey Kahrs at the time of…
ID Number:2018.63.7.2
Date:2017
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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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