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HomeCollections and ResearchCollections Search

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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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497 results for: Women's Rights

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Image of Women working in Northern Pacific office, Seattle, 1945
Photograph

Women working in Northern Pacific office, Seattle, 1945

Northern Pacific Railroad's traffic department had its offices on the second floor of the Smith Tower. These women appear to be taking reservations by phone from that office. Trains were heavily used during the war years for moving military personnel as well as ordinary citizens. Handwritten on sleeve: Strang & Prosser.Webster & Stevens number: 45-337
ID Number:1983.10.15348.1
Date:1945
Image of Portrait of Ellen S. Leckenby, Seattle, circa 1895
Photograph

Portrait of Ellen S. Leckenby, Seattle, circa 1895

Ellen "Nelly" (Swinburn) Leckenby (1844-1932) was born in New York and came to Washington State around 1895, settling first near Olympia with her husband, Alfred Bingham Leckenby (1842-). The couple moved to join their sons in Seattle's Brighton Beach neighborhood around 1905 where Mrs. Leckenby became involved in various women's clubs, particularly as a way to support the women's suffrage…
ID Number:1984.126.1
Date:Circa 1895
Image of Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization founders posing, Seattle, circa 1949
Photograph

Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization founders posing, Seattle, circa 1949

In 1949 the Mary Mahoney Professional Nurses Organization was begun by 13 African-American nurses in Seattle to support each other and to help young women who wanted to become nurses. Inspired by Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1926), the first African-American woman to earn a nursing degree in the U. S., the organization has helped African American women and men in their…
ID Number:1985.62.1
Date:Circa 1949
Audio recording

Oral history interview with Howard Hurst and Michael Pavone, March 24, 1985

Interview conducted by Lorraine McConaghy with Howard Hurst and Michael Pavone for the Life on the Homefront Oral History Project on March 24, 1985. The interviewees talk about Boeing technology and work culture during the World War II era. Both men discuss how they got their jobs at Boeing, developments in plane technology, and shifting work practices. They use production…
ID Number:1985.134.7
Date:1985
Audio recording

Oral history interview with Lucile McDonald, April 6, 1985

Lucile Saunders McDonald was born in 1898 in Portland, Oregon. She worked as a journalist in Oregon, Argentina, and New York before an eleven-year hiatus while living in Europe. At the start of World War II, she joined the staff of the Seattle Times and stayed there for 23 years. In this interview with Lucile McDonald conducted by Lorraine McConaghy…
ID Number:1985.134.14
Date:1985
Audio recording

Oral history interview with Edith Robertson, January 6, 1985

Edith Robertson was born in Kansas City. She moved to Spokane in the early 1930s and Seattle in 1933. She worked as a waitress and a beautician before going to work in the shipyards during World War II. In this interview conducted by Lorraine McConaghy for the Life on the Homefront Oral History Project on January 6, 1985, Robertson recalls…
ID Number:1985.134.20
Date:1985
Audio recording

Oral history interview with Inez Sauer, February 26, 1985

This interview with Inez Sauer was conducted by Lorraine McConaghy for the Life on the Homefront Oral History Project on February 26, 1985. Sauer was born in West Seattle in 1910. She married in 1929 and moved to Akron, Ohio. The family returned to Seattle with three children at the start of World War II. During the war, Inez Sauer…
ID Number:1985.134.21
Date:1985
Audio recording

Oral history interview with Bernice Simet, March 16, 1985

Interview with Bernice Simet conducted by Lorraine McConaghy for the Life on the Homefront Oral History Project on March 16, 1985. Simet enlisted with the U.S. Coast Guard in 1943 and talks about her service in the Coast Guard SPARS (Women's Reserve) and worked as a recruiter and barracks manager during World War II. She left the Coast Guard after…
ID Number:1985.134.23
Date:1985
Audio recording

Oral history interview with Olive Smith and Jean Sprague, March 12, 1985

Olive Smith was a model for clothing in Seattle. Jean Sprague was a buyer for Seattle department stores. In this interview conducted by Lorraine McConaghy for the Life on the Homefront Oral History Project on March 12, 1985, the two women talk about wartime fashion, including local department stores such as Frederick & Nelson; the effect of wartime restrictions on…
ID Number:1985.134.24
Date:1985
Videorecording

Oral history interview with Frances Penrose Owen, April 1985

Frances Penrose Owen (1900-2002) was a civic leader in Seattle, Washington, and one of the most important women in Washington state in the field of education. Born in Walla Walla, Washington, Owen attended Whitman College, graduating with a degree in Greek. Afterwards, she studied politics at Bryn Mawr, taught economics at Whitman, and earned a master’s degree in education from…
ID Number:1985.135.20
Date:1985
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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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Phone: 206 324 1126
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