Asian community leader Benjamin Woo (1923-2008) was born in Seattle and attended Queen Anne High School and the University of Chicago. After military service he returned to Seattle and opened an architectural firm in Madison Park. He directed King County’s Construction and Facilities Management Department and served as president of the Seattle Chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Mr. Woo also headed the Chinatown-International District Preservation and Development Authority, championed low-income housing for Asian elderly, and was active in the establishment of the Wing Luke Museum.

In addition to all his other activities, Woo was a mushroom expert. He was a founder of the Puget Sound Mycological Society, a group that fosters interest in mushrooms and other fungi. Here, at the Pacific Science Center for PSMS’s 15th annual show, Mr. Woo explains the caution label for the mushrooms in the display.

Caption information source: The Seattle Times: October 4, 1978, p. 48; February 12, 2008.
Caption information source: Puget Sound Mycological Society website: History
Caption information also derived from captions written by Post-Intelligencer staff and attached to the back of the photograph.