October is American Archives Month! We’re excited to join archivists around the country for this annual celebration recognizing the value of archives and the work archivists do. This year’s theme in Washington State is Find Your Story: Choose Your Own Adventure in Archives, highlighting the process of discovery inherent to… [ Keep reading ]
An establishment called the Madison Square Beer Garden opened at 15th and Madison in 1933, and it didn’t take long for complaints to follow. A widow who owned a residential building next door sent a complaint to City Council: My apartment house has always had a very splendid reputation and… [ Keep reading ]
Most archives have hard-to-classify items that don’t fit neatly into existing record series or collections. Sometimes these items can be interesting as artifacts or may contain valuable information, or both! Here at SMA, such items often find a home in our Ephemera collection. Ephemera is a great collection to browse… [ Keep reading ]
SMA’s photograph holdings include over 1.5 million photographic images of City of Seattle projects and personnel. The images can be a real treasure trove for anyone doing historical research or investigating their family history, but would be even more useful if more of the people depicted were identified. Since City… [ Keep reading ]
It’s back-to-school time! Included in the archives are many examples of students writing to city officials on topics important to them. Here’s just a few of our favorites. In June 1952, Girl Scout Troop 413 sent a petition to the city asking for the improvement of Lucile Street between 18th… [ Keep reading ]
The Bumbershoot arts event was first organized in 1971 and for its first two years was named simply “Festival ‘71” and “Festival ‘72.” By 1973, the event had grown much bigger and organizers felt that it needed a more distinctive name. Lists of handwritten words and phrases that seem to… [ Keep reading ]
SMA’s holdings include a set of issues of Seattle Municipal News, the newsletter of the Municipal League. The News covered local government at the city, county, and state levels, including observations of activity and policies in all departments on topics ranging from traffic to elections. SMA’s collection is not complete,… [ Keep reading ]
Did you know SMA holds annual reports from multiple city departments, some going back to the late 1800s? They can be excellent sources for researching departmental projects and priorities over time, revealing the successes and struggles of city work as Seattle grew year by year. One unique early example is… [ Keep reading ]
Pike Place Market celebrates its 119th birthday this year! The origins of the market can be traced to Ordinance 16636 passed on August 5, 1907, designating a portion of “Pike Place” as a location that could be used “for the sale of garden, farm and other food products from wagons,… [ Keep reading ]
Textual records from a recent Police Department accession have been processed and many new collections are available for research! The largest series is the Subject Files (Record Series 6403-01), which cover a wide variety of subject matter, including DWI enforcement, precinct buildings, traffic management, drill teams, and the annual police… [ Keep reading ]
