See update below! Sometimes photographs come to us with no or limited description, leading to a need for some detective work to discover where and when it might have been taken. One example is this recently scanned slide from the Historic Building Survey Photograph Collection (Record Series 1629-01). To view… [ Keep reading ]
Happy National Handwriting Day! SMA holds many handwritten records, from individual letters and petitions to large, heavy volumes documenting official actions and reports. All of them give us valuable insights into the workings of city government over time and the issues that were important to Seattle. We’ve recently digitized two… [ Keep reading ]
Seattle’s recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day traces back to December 28, 1970, when Seattle City Council passed Resolution 22872 declaring January 15 as a city holiday to “express our gratitude for his services to mankind.” A copy of the resolution was sent to Dr. King’s widow Coretta Scott… [ Keep reading ]
We recently completed processing the records of Councilmember Kshama Sawant, including seven different record series. Sawant served on City Council from 2014 through 2023, first in a citywide position and then representing District 3 after a charter amendment reorganized the council into geographical districts. She was associated with the successful… [ Keep reading ]
A folder in the Water Department Central Files documents incidents of trespassing in the Cedar River Watershed between 1955 and 1964. The watershed supplies drinking water to the greater Seattle area and also is a major source for downstream rivers, supporting salmon and other species. To protect the water and… [ Keep reading ]
As the holiday season lights up Seattle once again, we’re turning the spotlight back to Seattle City Light’s holiday lighting recommendations from the early 1960s. In our Digital Collections, you’ll find both a short promotional video and a brochure that showcases how SCL encouraged customers to brighten their homes for… [ Keep reading ]
SMA archivists and staff from the Cedar River Watershed recently traded visits to learn more about each other’s work and discuss preservation of records. The watershed is an important part of Seattle’s history as well as its current infrastructure, and records created and held there are vital to understanding the… [ Keep reading ]
Did you know that before it was Seattle’s first city park, Denny Park was Seattle’s first municipal cemetery? Created on land donated by David and Louisa Denny, burials started in the 1860s and continued until 1884 when Mayor Henry G. Struve signed Ordinance 571 to convert Seattle Cemetery into a… [ Keep reading ]
“Goats to Munch on Invasive Plants at York Park!” was the headline of a 2005 media advisory from the Department of Parks and Recreation. The text went on to explain that the goats’ lunch would help clear ground for a new park on the site of a former City Light… [ Keep reading ]
Along with correspondence about Fire Department business, Fire Chief Frank Stetson’s files also include copies of letters to his son Horatio, who was serving in World War I. The younger Stetson had previously been posted in the Philippines during the Spanish-American War and at the Mexican border with the Washington… [ Keep reading ]
