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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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584 results for: Asian American

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Image of Kameno and Shinichi Seike at Nisei memorial dinner, Seattle, December 13, 1946
Photograph

Kameno and Shinichi Seike at Nisei memorial dinner, Seattle, December 13, 1946

Nearly 1000 veterans, family members, and friends attended a Nisei veterans' testimonial banquet at Seattle's Civic Auditorium on December 13, 1946. The event, sponsored by the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), featured speakers paying tribute to Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) soldiers who lost their lives during World War II.Close relatives of those who died sat at special tables like…
ID Number:PI28185
Date:1946
Image of Funeral service for Japanese American serviceman, June 1948
Photograph

Funeral service for Japanese American serviceman, June 1948

Japanese Americans in the coastal areas of the western United States were removed from their homes in 1942, when the United States entered World War II. In spite of this, Japanese Americans served in the United States armed forces with distinction. Veterans of the war were buried with military honors.In this June 1948 photo, Japanese American veterans honor a unit…
ID Number:PI28191
Date:1948
Image of Funeral for Nisei servicemen, Washelli Cemetery, Seattle, June 19, 1948
Photograph

Funeral for Nisei servicemen, Washelli Cemetery, Seattle, June 19, 1948

This image shows a funeral for eight Nisei (second generation Japanese Americans) soldiers who died in World War II. They were members of the 442nd Regiment, which was composed entirely of Japanese Americans. The 442nd is the most decorated unit in US Army history for its size and length of service. Five of the soldiers died in action in France…
ID Number:PI28192
Date:1948
Image of Funeral for Japanese American serviceman in Seattle Buddhist Church, Seattle, December 11, 1948
Photograph

Funeral for Japanese American serviceman in Seattle Buddhist Church, Seattle, December 11, 1948

Japanese Americans in the coastal areas of the western United States were removed from their homes in 1942, when the United States entered World War II. In spite of this, Japanese Americans served in the United States armed forces with distinction. Veterans of the war were buried with military honors.In this December 1948 photo, Japanese American veterans act as pallbearers…
ID Number:PI28194
Date:1948
Image of Chinese American children with flags in Victory Square, Seattle, 1944
Photograph

Chinese American children with flags in Victory Square, Seattle, 1944

Handwritten on sleeve: World War II - Seattle - Victory Square, China Day.Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): July 10, 1944.
ID Number:PI28269
Date:1944
Image of Seattle Street Railway car on first day of service, Seattle, September 1884
Photograph

Seattle Street Railway car on first day of service, Seattle, September 1884

In September 1884, Washington Territory's first streetcar line opened in Seattle. By the end of the year, the line had three miles of track and four streetcars which were operated by a total of ten men and twenty horses. One branch ran out to Lake Union, and the other ran to Front Street (First Avenue) and on to Queen Anne…
ID Number:SHS898
Date:1884
Image of Chin Gee Hee, Chinese labor contractor, circa 1904
Photograph

Chin Gee Hee, Chinese labor contractor, circa 1904

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chinese labor contractors brought thousands of Chinese men to the Pacific Northwest to build railroads and to work in canneries, logging camps and coal mines. Companies depended on labor contractors to recruit workers, to move them where they were needed, to feed and house them, and to keep track of their pay.…
ID Number:SHS1152
Date:1901
Image of Chen Chong and his wife, 1866
Photograph

Chen Chong and his wife, 1866

Chen Chong arrived in Seattle in the 1860s and became one of the city's first Chinese merchants. He owned a cigar store on the east side of First Avenue South, near Washington Street and supplied contract labor to area businesses and industries. In 1866, Chen Chong was married at the Brown (Methodist) Church. Both bride and groom wore borrowed clothing…
ID Number:SHS4000
Date:1866
Image of Railroad construction workers and locomotive at the Green River crossing, 1885
Photograph

Railroad construction workers and locomotive at the Green River crossing, 1885

In the 1880s, Chinese laborers were recruited by railroad companies because they worked for lower pay than whites. Chinese men were often assigned to such dangerous tasks as blasting through rock and laying tracks in tunnels or on river bluffs. Of the 20,000 men that built the Northern Pacific branch line between Pasco and Tacoma, 15,000 were Chinese.This 1885 photo…
ID Number:SHS5907
Date:1885
Image of Hop pickers near Auburn, Washington, circa 1900
Photograph

Hop pickers near Auburn, Washington, circa 1900

Brewers use the fruit of the hop plant to flavor beer. Beginning in the 1880s, hop growing brought great prosperity to western Washington state. In 1888 alone, over three quarters of a million pounds of hops were harvested in the area. The boom waned in the early 1890s when the fields were attacked repeatedly by an insect pest.This photo, taken…
ID Number:SHS6026
Date:Circa 1900
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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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