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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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625 results for: Urban

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Image of Denny Clay Company receipt, December 6, 1893
Ephemera

Denny Clay Company receipt, December 6, 1893

The Denny-Renton Clay and Coal Company (also Denny Clay Company) was founded in 1892 by Seattle pioneer Arthur A. Denny (1822-1899) when he bought out predecessor company Puget Sound Fire Clay Company. Clay's popularity over wood as a building material grew substantially after the Great Seattle Fire in 1889. Raw material was extracted with hydraulic mining equipment from heavy glacial…
ID Number:2018.3.3.78
Date:1893
Image of Map of Harbor Island and Duwamish waterway districts, Bogue map, No. 7,  September 1911
Cartographic material

Map of Harbor Island and Duwamish waterway districts, Bogue map, No. 7, September 1911

The Municipal Plans Commission of Seattle, established in 1910, hired civil engineer Virgil G. Bogue (1846-1916) to prepare a strategic development plan for the city. Bogue's 1911 proposal was very ambitious, including a Civic Center in the Denny Regrade area, a park and boulevard system, separation of railroad tracks from streets, and a variety of other municipal improvements. Bogue's "Plan…
ID Number:2019.3.5
Date:1911
Image of Open Space Proposed Zoning Map, Seattle, December 1985
Cartographic material

Open Space Proposed Zoning Map, Seattle, December 1985

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, the City of Seattle showed interest in purposefully growing the city. In 1903 the city contracted the Olmsted Brothers to create a comprehensive Seattle park and boulevard system, and in 1910 hired Virgil G. Bogue to prepare a strategic plan. The Seattle Zoning Commission was created in 1920 to divide the city into…
ID Number:2019.3.19
Date:1985
Image of Comprehensive plan of Seattle, September 1956
Cartographic material

Comprehensive plan of Seattle, September 1956

In the late 1940s, Seattle’s City Planning Commission began work on a comprehensive plan for the city in order to plan its future development and growth. The results, in the form of a map, were presented to the mayor in October 1956 and accepted in principle by the City Council in April 1957. The plan had three major parts: land…
ID Number:2019.3.26
Date:1956
Videorecording

Oral history interview with Norm Rice, October 24 and October 31, 2002

Interview with Norm Rice conducted by Gary Saaris on October 24 and 31, 2002, for the Speaking of Seattle Oral History Project. The 49th mayor of Seattle, Rice was Seattle's first Black mayor, serving two terms from 1990 to 1997. Before entering city government, he worked as a reporter at KOMO-TV and KIXI radio and as the Assistant Director of…
ID Number:2019.35.1.55
Date:2002
Audio recording

Oral history interview with Joanna Buehler, January 16, 2006

Interview with Joanna Buehler, an environmentalist and founder of Save Lake Sammamish, conducted by Wendi Willeford for the Urban by Nature Oral History Project in January 2006.
ID Number:2019.35.10.1
Date:2006
Image of Charlie James in front of Colman School building, Seattle, December  5, 1985
Photograph

Charlie James in front of Colman School building, Seattle, December 5, 1985

In 1985, a group of Black activists led by Charlie James, Earl Debnam, Omari Tahir-Garrett, and Michael Greenwood began occupying the abandoned Colman School in the Central Area in order to pressure the city to renovate it into a museum of African-American history. Despite the building's lack of heat and running water, the occupiers stayed for eight years, making this…
ID Number:2020.42.1.16.01.30
Date:1985
Image of
Photograph

"African American Museum" sign on door of Colman School, Seattle, November 25, 1985

In 1985, a group of Black activists led by Charlie James, Earl Debnam, Omari Tahir-Garrett, and Michael Greenwood began occupying the abandoned Colman School in the Central Area in order to pressure the city to renovate it into a museum of African-American history. Despite the building's lack of heat and running water, the occupiers stayed for eight years, making this…
ID Number:2020.42.1.16.02.44
Date:1985
Image of Seattle Commons Draft Plan poster, 1992
Poster

Seattle Commons Draft Plan poster, 1992

In 1991 Seattle architect Fred Bassetti and Seattle Times columnist John Hinterberger first proposed the idea for a 61-acre park stretching from downtown Seattle to Lake Union, envisioning a vast civic lawn framed by high-tech laboratories, condos, restaurants, and urban amenities. Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen donated $20 million to buy property for the Seattle Commons, but the plan eventually failed…
ID Number:2020.51.2.1
Date:1992
Videorecording

Vecinos: United Indians of All Tribes Foundation's Programs, Community Television Agency program, March 10, 1989

Started in 1976 by Virginia Brookbush, CTA produced up to seven half-hour public access television shows a week in the late 1970s and 1980s. Designed to let anyone use public air time to talk about local issues, CTA produced regular shows like "You Have the Right to Know," "Community Bulletin Board," "Visiting Over the Backyard Fence," "This Town's Talent," and…
ID Number:2021.84.05
Date:1989
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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
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