• 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

707 results for: Labor and Labor Unions

Share:
Image of First women mail carriers, December 1942
Photograph

First women mail carriers, December 1942

Before December 1942, only men delivered mail on foot in Seattle. With so many men away serving in World War II, the postal service decided to give female carriers a try. Starting in mid-December, Donna Pennington and Ardyth Hamilton sorted mail at the Broadway station and delivered it to homes and businesses on Capitol Hill.This photo shows Seattle residents Donna…
ID Number:PI25090
Date:1942
Image of Women training in wartime class at Rainier branch of Edison Technical School, Seattle, 1943
Photograph

Women training in wartime class at Rainier branch of Edison Technical School, Seattle, 1943

The Edison Technical School provided a broad range of practical training in full and part-time classes. During World War II, women trained in production related work, such as in this photo taken at the Building Trades Unit located in the old Rainier School at 23rd South and King Street. Note from MOHAI records: Rainier School opened three years after its…
ID Number:PI25831
Date:1943
Image of Young women in war workers class, ca. February 20, 1943.
Photograph

Young women in war workers class, ca. February 20, 1943.

During World War II, many women were trained to fill the jobs left by men serving in the military. Women did auto repair, aircraft assembly and other jobs once considered men's work. This photo, taken in West Seattle in February 1943, shows young women studying a car engine. The auto mechanics class may have been photographed at West Seattle High…
ID Number:PI28092
Date:1943
Image of Pots and pans flying through the air during scrap drive, July 1941
Photograph

Pots and pans flying through the air during scrap drive, July 1941

Even before the United States entered World War II in 1941, groups were collecting scrap aluminum and other metals for the industries supporting the war in Europe. Throughout the war, people all over the country turned in their extra metal items to help the war effort. One scrap metal depository was set up in downtown Seattle at University Place, a…
ID Number:PI28150
Date:1941
Image of Puget Sound Bridge & Dredge Co. employees on V-J Day, Seattle, August 14, 1945
Photograph

Puget Sound Bridge & Dredge Co. employees on V-J Day, Seattle, August 14, 1945

Handwritten on negative: V-J day rally at Puget Sound Bridge & Dredge.Handwritten on sleeve: World War II - Seattle - V-J Day.Date photograph was filed at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer (date of photograph and file date may differ by a month or more): August 15, 1945.
ID Number:PI28310
Date:1945
Image of Men inside Dexter Horton Bank, Seattle, 1882
Photograph

Men inside Dexter Horton Bank, Seattle, 1882

In 1870 Seattle pioneer Dexter Horton (1825-1904) opened the first business in Seattle dedicated to serving as a bank. Dexter Horton Bank was one of the corporate ancestors of Seattle First National Bank, which eventually merged into the Bank of America.This image taken of the interior of the Dexter Horton Bank at the northwest corner of Commercial Street (First Avenue…
ID Number:SHS338
Date:1882
Image of Group of miners using conveyor and rockers, circa 1899
Photograph

Group of miners using conveyor and rockers, circa 1899

Around 1898, gold was found in inland creekbeds near what would become Nome. It wasn't until early 1899, when word leaked out that gold had been discovered in beach sand, that the Nome gold rush truly began. Extracting gold from beach sand called for different methods. Conveyors and rockers worked more efficiently than sluices and panning.This 1899 or 1900 photo…
ID Number:SHS414
Date:Circa 1899
Image of Trolleys on Pike Street after snow, Seattle, January 31, 1916
Photograph

Trolleys on Pike Street after snow, Seattle, January 31, 1916

January and February of 1916 were exceptionally cold. By the end of January, about 2 feet of snow had already accumulated, with more on the way. The heavy snow and ice trapped trolleys and halted businesses all over town. In this photo taken at the end of January 1916, workmen try to clear the ice near the trolleys stranded on…
ID Number:SHS622
Date:1916
Image of Indigenous women picking hops, Snoqualmie Hop Ranch, circa 1895
Photograph

Indigenous women picking hops, Snoqualmie Hop Ranch, circa 1895

From the late 1860s to the early 1890s, hop farming was an important activity in the valleys of the Puget Sound region, including Puyallup, White River, and Snoqualmie. Indigenous workers came from throughout the Pacific Northwest, Canada, and Alaska (but especially from regional tribes like the Puyallup, Snoqualmie, Muckleshoot, Duwamish, Sammamish, Lummi, and Nisqually) as a seasonal labor force to…
ID Number:SHS1052
Date:Circa 1895
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
Previous 1 … 64 65 66 67 68 … 71 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