Topic: Government & Politics
The long career of John Spellman (1926-2018) in local and state politics began in 1967 when he was elected a King County Commissioner. His term overlapped the controversial Forward Thrust capital impr...
Bernice Stern devoted much of her life to public service, starting at age 15, and was the first woman elected to the King County Council, where she served for 11 years, retiring in 1980. Before and af...
As Washington's first territorial governor, Isaac Stevens oversaw the establishment of government in what would become Washington state. He also led the survey of a route to Puget Sound for a transcon...
In 1950, Charles Stokes was elected to the Washington state legislature from the 37th District in central and southeast Seattle, becoming the first black legislator from King County. The only black le...
Cynthia Sullivan, a Democrat, served for 20 years on the Metropolitan King County Council, making her one of the longest serving Council members. During that time, she had a major impact on growth man...
The year 1978 saw an unprecedented Washington primary campaign, one that pitted powerful pro-business incumbent State Senator August Mardesich against retired firefighter and pro-union newcomer Larry ...
This history of Harborview Medical Center and its predecessor hospitals by Josephine Ensign, who teaches health policy and health humanities at the University of Washington, is part of her larger work...
During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the federal government took unprecedented steps to support the visual arts, music, writing, and theater. Separate agencies dedicated to each were established ...
Thor Tollefson was born in Perley, Minnesota, in 1901. He was 11 when his family moved to Tacoma, and he spent most of his adult life devoted to the public affairs of Tacoma and the state of Washingto...
Walter Bernard "Wally" Toner Jr. was one of Seattle's most respected political consultants and played key roles in numerous state and local elections in Washington state, including successful campaign...
Walter Bernard "Wally" Toner Jr., one of Seattle's most respected political consultants, died on October 10, 2000 of heart failure. A Seattle University graduate, he had served as an aide to fomer U.S...
Dave Towne's natural optimism and gregariousness played a big part in his long, successful career in land management and parks and recreation that made lasting changes to the city of Seattle from the ...
Trackless trolleys -- electric trolleys that have rubber tires rather than running on rails like streetcars -- have been a distinctive feature of Seattle's transit system since 1940. Seattle became th...
The Treaty of Medicine Creek was made on December 26, 1854, at Medicine Creek in present-day Thurston County between the United States and members of the Puyallup, Nisqually, Steilacoom, and Squaxin I...
The Treaty of Neah Bay was signed on on January 31, 1855 by Isaac Stevens (1818-1862), Governor of Washington Territory, and by leaders and delegates of the Makah tribe. Following is the complete text...
The Treaty of Olympia was signed by representatives of the United States government and the Quinault Indian tribe on July 1, 1855, and by the Hoh and Quileute Indian tribes on January 25, 1856, and ra...
The Point Elliott Treaty was signed on January 22, 1855, by Isaac Stevens (1818-1862), Governor of Washington Territory, and by Duwamish Chief Seattle, Snoqualmie Chief Patkanim, Lummi Chief Chow-its-...
This file contains the complete text of the Treaty with the Nez Perces, which was signed on the council grounds in Walla Walla County, Washington Territory, on June 11, 1855.
The 11th essay in HistoryLink's Turning Points series for The Seattle Times reviews the numerous local historical events that occurred on the Fourth of July, including Henry Yesler's fraudulent lotter...
The 14th essay in our Turning Points series for The Seattle Times, written by Walt Crowley, details the creation of the Port of Seattle on September 5, 1911. The election of the first three Port Commi...
When Wes Uhlman became the mayor of Seattle in 1969, an all-powerful City Council (mostly concerned with the interests of the downtown business establishment) dominated municipal politics. By the time...
The United States Coast Survey began charting what was to become Washington Territory in June 1850 when naval assistant Lieutenant Commanding William Pope McArthur (1814-1850) crossed the Columbia Riv...
Jolene Unsoeld's political beginnings date to the early 1970s, when as a self-described citizen meddler she worked on Initiative 276, a successful 1972 ballot measure that required the state to make i...
Three Seattle City Light dams on the Upper Skagit River in the Cascade Mountains today (2000) produce 25 percent of the electrical power consumed in Seattle. (The dams are located in southeast Whatcom...