Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts

The American Legion marks its 100th Anniversary

Thursday, January 31, 2019

The cake served at the January 8, 2019 meeting of Post 227
Photo by Jerry Pickard


By Carroll Goering and Jerry Pickard

At 11:00am on Monday, November 11, 1918, the guns fell silent to fulfill the agreement that had been signed earlier at Compiegne, France. The Great War, at it was called at the time, was finally over. The Allies, including the American Expeditionary Force led by General Pershing, had defeated the aggressor, Germany.

It was hoped at the time that it would be “the war to end all wars”, but that hope was dashed two decades later when Germany again attacked her European neighbors. The European neighbors, joined by the Americans, fought Germany again in what became WWII. The original Great War then became known at WWI.

From March 15 to 17, 1919, members of the American Expeditionary Force convened in Paris for the first American Legion caucus. They met again from May 8 to 10, 1919, and adopted “The American Legion” as the official name of a new organization. A draft preamble and constitution were approved. Meeting on June 9, the National Executive Committee adopted the Legion emblem.

On September 16, 1919, The US Congress chartered The American Legion. From November 10 to 12, 1919, the first American Legion convention was held in Minneapolis. The delegates approved the preamble and constitution. They also voted, 361 to 323, to place the national headquarters of The American Legion in Indianapolis. Indianapolis was chosen over Washington, DC. Finally, the delegates approved a resolution in support of the Boy Scouts of America, support that has continued to the present time.

During its first century of existence, The American Legion worked tirelessly to secure improved benefits for military veterans and created numerous programs to help local communities, especially the youth of those communities. The Legion has accumulated a long list of accomplishments. There are too many to recount in this story but the most important of them can be seen at The American Legion Post 227 website

Today, the American Legion has over 2.4 million members in more than 14,000 posts world wide. The posts are organized into 55 departments, one each for the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Mexico and the Philippines. Within each state department are geographic Areas, Districts and local Posts.

The Department of Washington, with 23,599 members, contains 4 Areas, 12 Districts and 160 local Posts. Legion members belong to Posts, Post Commanders report to District Commanders, District Commanders report to Area Commanders, Area Commanders report to Department Commanders and Department Commanders report to the National Commander.

Dept. of Washington Commander Roach speaking at the January 9, 2019 meeting of Post 227.
Photo by Jerry Pickard


Starr Sutherland, Jr. Post 227 is The American Legion local post in Shoreline. The Post building is located at 14521 17th Avenue NE. The post was chartered March, 1948 and was named for First Lt. Starr Sutherland, Jr., who was killed in the Battle of the Bulge in WWII and is buried in Luxembourg Cemetery. Starr graduated from Lincoln High School in the Wallingford area and enrolled at the University of Washington. In 1943, with the war underway, he left the University of Washington to join the Army.

Post 227, along with 12 other Posts, is in District 11 and Area 1 of the Department of Washington. Post 227 meets the first Tuesday evening of each month at the Post building. Post 227 interacts with the local communities in various ways, including sponsoring boys to attend Boys State, hosting pancake breakfasts and a summer BBQ, awarding a Life Changer Award annually to a community member who makes life better for others, and inviting all veterans and visitors to attend Post meetings, which usually feature a speaker discussing some aspect of military life or history.

Most American Legion Posts have a women’s Auxiliary where wives of veterans meet and conduct programs in support of the local Post. Post 227 has a woman’s Auxiliary that was chartered about the same time, March, 1948, that Post 227 was chartered. The Post 227 Auxiliary raises funds in various ways, including distributing poppies each spring in exchange for donations and conducting rummage sales.

The celebration of the 100th anniversary of the American Legion began at the 2018 national convention that was held at Minneapolis, Minnesota, the site of the first American Legion convention.

Local posts, including Post 227, also celebrated the centennial. At their monthly meeting on January 8, 2019 Post 227 invited Department of Washington Commander Gary Roach to speak. Roach spoke about the American Legion and plans for celebrating the 100th Anniversary.

After the Commander’s talk, those in attendance had cake and ice cream. The cake was adorned with 10 candles, one for each decade of the Legion’s existence. As the candles were blown out, the attendees sang “happy anniversary” for the Legion.

The centennial year will conclude at the 2019 American Legion national convention, to be held August 23-29 at Indianapolis, Indiana, the home of the American Legion national headquarters.



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Photos: Decades of difference - NE 155th

Friday, January 11, 2019


This is NE 155th in Lake Forest Park, looking down toward Bothell Way - which was called Lake City Way then. It's from the collections of the Seattle Municipal Archives.


Photo by Steven H. Robinson

Fascinating that the Sheridan Market is still there and with the same name. The house on the left is the same and so is the tree - it's just 60 years bigger. It was pretty spindly in 1961.

There are a lot more houses on the other side of the lake.

The paved road and guardrail are important improvements. In the first photo it looks like a heavy rain will wash out the whole hillside.

I haven't found a lot of local photos in the SMA, so finding this was a real treat.


DKH




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Photo: Original tuberculosis sanatorium in Shoreline

Wednesday, January 2, 2019


Firland Tuberculosis Hospital, 1914
Item 143, Engineering Department Photographic Negatives (Record Series 2613-07)
Seattle Municipal Archives.


This photo would be the original site of the tuberculosis sanatorium which is now the CRISTA campus on Fremont Ave N.

Permanent hospital buildings were constructed on the site and then the entire facility was moved to 15th Ave NE by Hamlin Park and the name changed to Fircrest.

Tuberculosis, called the "white plague," was Seattle's leading cause of death in the first decade of 1900.

Information from HistoryLink



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National History Day judges needed

Saturday, December 22, 2018

Students review their NHD presentation
Photo by Don Wilson
Every year, middle and high school students from our area take part in a competition known as National History Day.

They conduct extensive research on a topic they choose, based on a national theme, and enter projects in one of five categories: research papers, performances, documentaries, websites, and exhibits.

It’s a valuable experience that teaches students not just about history, but about the process of doing research, and how to organize and present their findings.

The competition requires local volunteer judges, and that’s where you come in. Volunteers are needed to judge documentaries, exhibits, or performances at the regional contest, which takes place at Northshore Middle School in Bothell on March 9th.

Students doing a NHD performance
for the judges.
Photo by Don Wilson
If you are not free on that day, they also need people who can judge research papers or websites (which can be done at your convenience from home) during the month of February.

The good news is, you don’t have to be a historian to be a judge! You just have to be somebody with an interest in history … and in helping young people. You’ll probably also learn a thing or two from the students’ hard work.

The North Puget Sound History Day regional contest includes schools from Ballard and North Seattle, around the top of Lake Washington, to Bothell, Kenmore, and Woodinville. Winners from our region advance to the state competition, held in late April. The top finishers there participate in the National competition, held in June at the University of Maryland.

You can get more information about the contest and how you can participate HERE



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WeatherWatcher: 10 year anniversary of a snowy December

Shoreline, Washington on December 21, 2008
Photo by Carl Dinse

With famous nicknames as Snowpocalypse, or Snowmageddon, this was a time identified as the Seattle area's snowiest period since December 1990. Starting the evening of December 13 temperatures cooled and snow begin falling, bringing us our first taste of winter. We got close to 2 inches of snow overnight into December 14. It remained frozen until we thawed out the following weekend just barely on December 17.

Starting December 18 a more serious arctic air started spilling into the region bringing with it some renewed light snow accumulations. Low temperatures at the Shoreline station dipped to 16°F on December 19, and 13°F on December 20th.

December 20, 2008
Photo by Carl Dinse

A much stronger storm system moved in the evening of December 21st, bringing significant snowfall overnight and more cold air as well. Sea-Tac reported 6 inches of new snow overnight, but I believe we had closer to 8-9 inches in Shoreline from that storm. We had another storm system move through on Christmas Eve bringing us another fresh couple of inches of snow to insure a rare white Christmas.

Looking south from NE 198th St, on 7th Ave NE, Shoreline December 22, 2008.
Photo by Carl Dinse

Most of my photos during this time were taken after dark due to the short days and long work schedule I had. This was also a time before LED street lights, so we have the pink/orange glow in the sky from the sodium vapor street lighting.

I-5 From 195th St Pedestrian overpass, December 22, 2008
Photo by Carl Dinse

Can anyone else remember the last time they saw I-5 covered in compact snow and ice?

195th St Pedestrian I-5 overpass, December 22, 2008
Photo by Carl Dinse

After having nearly a solid two weeks of sub-freezing temperatures, there was close to 13" inches of snow on the ground in Shoreline. We started to warm up December 26th, and most of the snow was melted by New Years Day. This was not the last we saw of winter weather in the 2008-2009 winter season.


For current weather visit www.shorelineweather.com



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Washington students invited to create 1968 oral history projects for statewide competition

Saturday, December 1, 2018


Students throughout Washington in grades 9-12 are invited to enter a statewide oral history competition to complement the new exhibit 1968: The Year that Rocked Washington by Legacy Washington, a program of the Office of the Secretary of State.

The competition will open Jan. 1 and run until April 30, with finalists invited to a reception in June. Entries are to consist of a 4-10 page written profile or essay, based on interviews and research, telling the story of a person who experienced the tumult of 1968. Winning works will be published online by the Office of Secretary of State. Legacy Washington invites educators to participate in this special event by sharing it with their classrooms.

“This competition gives students in our state a wonderful opportunity to participate in telling the story of an immensely significant time in Washington and world history,” Secretary of State Kim Wyman said. 
“I’m proud that the Office of Secretary of State can sponsor this statewide contest, and I’m eager to read the entries sent in by students after interviewing relatives, family friends, and other fascinating members of communities across Washington.”

Legacy Washington’s 1968: The Year that Rocked Washington homepage features educational resources including Common Core-aligned lesson plans, 16 extended profiles of Washingtonians deeply involved in the year’s historic events, and more details about the oral history competition, including instructions on how to conduct an oral history interview. Further information on the Legacy Washington project can be found HERE.

Washington’s Office of Secretary of State oversees a number of areas within state government, including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. 

The office also manages the State Archives and the State Library, documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington, oversees the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees, and administers the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.


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Call for artists: the legacy and ideas of Edwin Pratt

The Pratt family lived in Shoreline
In partnership with the Black Heritage Society of Washington, the City of Shoreline Public Art Program seeks emerging and established artists in the region with an interest in responding to the legacy and ideas of Edwin Pratt (1930 – 1969), Seattle civil rights pioneer. 

There are two primary modes of submitting work:
  • Submit existing work that reflects his legacy or related themes; or
  • Submit new work that responds directly to the source material.
For the source material, we have identified a selection of vintage photographs and documents from the Pratt Archive at the Black Heritage Society that we hope will serve as touchstones or points of inspiration and poetic response.

The source material images and documents can be browsed prior to submitting. Artworks that manipulate or alter copies of original images are welcomed, with the understanding that acknowledgement will be made to the original source material curated by Black Heritage Society of Washington. 

Anticipated themes might include representations of race, identity, history, and the concept of the archive, but the Call is open to any engagement with the materials. Example: an acrylic painting of one of the snapshots.

Pratt was tragically gunned down on a winter night in his Shoreline home, where he had earlier established residence as one of the first Black families in the suburbs to the north of Seattle in what is now the City of Shoreline. Pratt Park and Pratt Fine Arts Center are named after him and continue his legacy of welcoming everyone to the practice of art making. --Wikipedia

The exhibition will be installed in City Hall Shoreline and the opening will coincide with the 50th anniversary of Pratt’s death. Deadline for consideration: Tuesday January 15, 2019 at 11:59 pm. Drop off will be Sunday Jan. 20 and/or Monday Jan. 21; install occurs on these same days.

For submission details, contact David Francis at dfrancis@shorelinewa.gov or 206-801-2661. Generous support for the project provided through a Collections Care Grant from 4Culture.



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Seattle Now and Then: The Historic Hundred - Third Place Books Thursday

Thursday, November 29, 2018


You are Cordially Invited to Third Place Books
in the LFP Town Center
for a Presentation by Paul Dorpat and Jean Sherrard
on their spectacular new book ~

Seattle Now and Then: The Historic Hundred
Thursday November 29, 2018 at 7:00 PM
17171 Bothell Way NE 
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155

Paul and Jean will be available to sign your purchased copies!



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History Link documents every library in King county

Saturday, November 24, 2018

Shoreline library
Photo by Steven H. Robinson
HistoryLink.org, the free online encyclopedia of Washington state, spent two years documenting the history of every King County Library.

You can explore the entire project by selecting "King County Library System" (under "Filter by Topic") on their search page.

Here are the direct links to our libraries:




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Story-teller to share “Teachings of the First People”

Sunday, November 18, 2018

Storyteller Roger Fernandes
The public is invited to experience the power of oral history from a Native American master storyteller on Wednesday, November 28, in another of a series of monthly programs sponsored by the Kenmore Heritage Society.

The program, “Teachings of the First People,” starts at 6pm in the Hangar at Town Square, 6728 NE 181st St. in Kenmore. All are welcome.

Roger Fernandes, or Kawasa as he is called by his fellow members of the Lower Elwha Band of S’Klallam Indians, has strong feelings about how stories should be shared. 

A tribal historian, artist, and teacher specializing in Coast Salish art, Fernandes believes stories should not be trapped in books.

Fernandes believes the true power of storytelling “comes when the moisture of the teller’s breath gives life and power to the story.”

Fernandes began story-telling by sharing simple legends, then enlarged his subject matter to include myths, creation stories, flood stories, and stories about heroes. They teach non-Natives about the complexities of the Indian cultures, going beyond the basics of food, shelter, and clothing.

Admission is free. Light refreshments will be served. Door prizes will be given.

The society’s series of monthly programs is made possible with support from the City of Kenmore and 4Culture.


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Shoreline Historical Museum Trillium Award Winners Revealed

Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Trillium Award Winners 2018. Lake Forest Park Trillium Award: Tiffany Salerno;
Shoreline Trillium Heritage Awards: Doug Ito;
North Seattle Trillium Award:  Jenna Gearhart.
Photo by Shoreline Historical Museum


As part of its Preservation Recognition Program, on Saturday, November 10, 2018 the Shoreline Historical Museum gave its 13th Annual Trillium Heritage Awards to four deserving nominees in North Seattle, Lake Forest Park and Shoreline.

All of the award winners have worked to keep the historical integrity of their buildings intact, giving their surrounding communities a feeling of depth and meaning that might otherwise have been lost.


North Seattle: 1937 photo of Lebanon House, now La Ba Te Yah Youth Home. 
Courtesy of Washington State Archives, Puget sound Regional Branch



The award for North Seattle went to the La Ba Te Yah Youth Home at 9010 13th Ave. NW, owned by United Indians of All Tribes.

Program director Jenna Gearhart received the award on behalf of the organization. The La Ba Te Yah Youth Home was built in 1930 as the Lebanon House, a place for young women down on their luck. 

Because of the Depression and lack of funds, ownership of the building changed and it went through several transitions over the years: it became a convalescent center, a psychiatric hospital, and an alcohol treatment center, finally coming full circle to its initial use as a safe place for young people in 1991.

Throughout all of the changes, the building itself has been maintained as an iconic neighborhood centerpiece, lending a real sense of historical character to the area.

Lake Forest Park: 1937 photo of Cooper/Niles/Salerno Home. 
Courtesy of Washington State Archives, Puget sound Regional Branch


Accepting the award for a 100 year-old historic building in Lake Forest Park was Tiffany Salerno, owner of the 1918 Cooper/Niles home at 3710 NE 189th Pl.

The home was once part of the 10 acre estate of the Hillandale School for Girls. Both buildings were built for Frank B. Cooper, Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools, and his wife Margaret, who opened the girl’s boarding school in the larger building on the grounds in about 1928.

Frank Cooper’s son is said to have lived in the smaller house, and may have taught at the boarding school for a time. The house was purchased in 1936 by the Niles, where they lived for 22 years.

Shoreline: Richmond Beach Market Street, ca 1915. J.T. Holloway Real Estate (2531 NW 195th Pl.) and James Holloway Grocery (2525 NW 195th Pl.), far right. 
Courtesy Shoreline Historical Museum.


The Trillium Heritage Award for the Shoreline area went to two side-by-side homes - one built in 1898, at 2531 NW 195th Pl., and one built in 1900 at 2525 NW 195th Pl. Both buildings began life as commercial structures: the earlier building was Richmond Beach’s first real post office, and the second building was the James Holloway Grocery.

These two buildings are just two of at least five structures that once existed on Market Street (NW 195th Pl.) that were built by John T. Holloway. This constitutes the core of the Holloway Historical District. The awards were accepted by owner Doug Ito for the post office building, and owner Lauren Caldwell for the grocery building. These dignified buildings continue to reflect the community’s historic nature as a commercial center. 


The Shoreline Historical Museum’s Trillium Heritage Awards Program encourages excellence in the maintenance of historic buildings in keeping with their original style. Congratulations to the 2018 winners!

--Vicki Stiles



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Free screening: Rick Steves' movie on fascism in Europe

Monday, October 15, 2018

Rick Steves Fascism: 
A Free Screening
Edmonds Center for the Arts
410 4th Ave N, Edmonds 98020
Wednesday, October 17, 7pm

My new documentary about fascism in Europe is debuting now across the USA on public TV — and I’m hosting a free screening in Edmonds.

For decades in my travels, I gathered impressions about Europe's experience with fascism. The powerful sights and physical remains of that period inspired me to weave their important lessons into a new, one-hour special: "The Story of Fascism in Europe." 

In the special, we travel back a century to learn how fascism rose and then fell in Europe — taking millions of people with it. Our goals: to learn from the hard lessons of 20th-century Europe, and to recognize that ideology in the 21st century.

We’ll roll the show on the big screen at 7pm and then have a Q/A about the production and this timely topic. It's free to attend but please register HERE



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A City Mourns and Moves On: Part 3 of "Pandemic in Seattle"

Thursday, September 27, 2018

By Meredith Li-Vollmer
Public Health - Seattle and King County


What happened when a second wave of severe influenza came through Seattle on the heels of a war victory? We present the third installment of a 4-part comic strip commemorating the centennial of the 1918 influenza pandemic.



This comic strip series, illustrated by David Lasky and written by Meredith Li-Vollmer, commemorates the centennial of the Great Pandemic of 1918 and celebrates the 10th Anniversary of our original comic book, No Ordinary Flu. To order copies of No Ordinary Flu (available in multiple languages) and for more on pandemic flu, including what schools, businesses, and individuals can do to be ready for a severe pandemic: https://kingcounty.gov/health/pandemicflu

Part One: Seattle a Century Ago – Backdrop for a Pandemic

Part Two: Seattle Faces a Pandemic



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Seattle Faces a Pandemic: Part 2 of Pandemic in Seattle

Sunday, September 16, 2018

By Meredith Li-Vollmer
Public Health - Seattle and King County

This is the second installment of a 4-part comic strip commemorating the centennial of the 1918 influenza pandemic. This comic strip series, illustrated by David Lasky and written by Meredith Li-Vollmer, commemorates the centennial of the Great Pandemic of 1918 and celebrates the 10th Anniversary of their original comic book, No Ordinary Flu. Order copies of No Ordinary Flu (available in multiple languages) and for more on pandemic flu, including what schools, businesses, and individuals can do to be ready for a severe pandemic HERE











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Chief Seattle and the Town That Took His Name

Wednesday, September 12, 2018

Teacher, historian and writer of over a dozen books, David M. Buerge has been researching the pre-history and early history of northwest King County since the 1970s.

Mr. Buerge will discuss his twenty-year journey of research and interviews that led him to write Chief Seattle and the Town That Took His Name, the first biography of Chief Seattle. 

Investigating everything from Native American oral histories to Hudson Bay records and newspaper accounts of the day, Buerge weaves a powerful, complex portrait of Chief Seattle.

Saturday, September 15, 2018, 2 - 3:30pm, Richmond Beach Library, 19601 21st Ave NW, Shoreline, 98177

Sponsored by the Friends of the Richmond Beach Library and the Shoreline Historical Museum.



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100 years ago: Pandemic in Seattle - the Spanish Flu

Friday, September 7, 2018

By Meredith Li-Vollmer
Public Health, Seattle and King County


One hundred years ago this fall a terrible influenza outbreak arrived in King County and Washington state, part of a pandemic that had spread around the globe. Just ten years ago, artist David Lasky and I created our first comic book together, No Ordinary Flu, that told what happened in the United States during the Great Pandemic of 1918 (also known as the Spanish Flu). We’ve reunited to produce a serial comic strip about how that deadly influenza spread in our region and how local people coped with a historic public health crisis.








This comic strip series commemorates the centennial of the Great Pandemic of 1918 and celebrates the 10th Anniversary of our original comic book, No Ordinary Flu. Order copies of No Ordinary Flu (available in multiple languages) and for more on pandemic flu, including what schools, businesses, and individuals can do to be ready for a severe pandemic: HERE

There will be a new chapter each week this month.


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Washington State Library awarded $280,000 to digitize historic newspapers

Wednesday, August 15, 2018


With a new $280,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant, the Office of Secretary of State Kim Wyman will break fresh ground in its nationally-recognized project of digitizing historic newspapers.

The grant, announced last week, will enable the Washington State Library’s Washington Digital Newspaper Project to add 100,000 pages of culturally and historically significant newspapers from Asian-American, African-American, and World War II-era publications to its free public archives.

“It is a special privilege to be able to continue our work to preserve Washington’s history and make these invaluable accounts available, accessible, and searchable,” said Secretary of State Kim Wyman, whose office oversees the Washington State Library. “I’m very proud of the work our Library staff has done, and I’m looking forward to seeing more thanks to these funds.”

The grant is the fourth National Endowment for the Humanities award for the Digital Newspaper Project. Under the State Library’s participation in the National Digital Newspaper Program, more than 300,000 pages of historic Washington newspapers have been added to the 13 million newspaper pages publicly accessible at the Chronicling America website of the Library of Congress.

The Washington Digital Newspaper Project is one of only four Washington projects selected for the first awards of the new Infrastructure and Capacity-Building Challenge Grant program, which announced $43.1 million in awards for 218 projects nationwide.

“I’m truly grateful to the National Endowment for the Humanities, both for their recognition of our achievements in digitizing historic newspapers and for their decision to fund our latest project,” said State Librarian Cindy Aden. 
“We’ll be able to bring the firsthand accounts of bygone eras of Washington’s African-American and Asian-American experiences into the consciousness of new generations, and add local perspectives to their understanding of what it was like living in our state throughout World War II.”

Washington’s Office of Secretary of State oversees a number of areas within state government, including managing state elections, registering corporations and charities, and governing the use of the state flag and state seal. The office also manages the State Archives and the State Library, documents extraordinary stories in Washington’s history through Legacy Washington, oversees the Combined Fund Drive for charitable giving by state employees, and administers the state’s Address Confidentiality Program to help protect survivors of crime.



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County Council adopts memorial for Gov. Spellman

Tuesday, July 31, 2018

Gov. John Spellman in 1978
Photo courtesy King County
Permanent recognition of King County’s first Executive 

The Metropolitan King County Council gave its unanimous support to a motion sponsored by the entire council renaming the King County Administration Building and the 4th Ave block after former Gov. and King County Executive John Spellman.

“Gov. Spellman is very deserving of this honor,” said Councilmember Reagan Dunn, the prime sponsor of the legislation. 
“As the first County Executive, he led the transformation of King County into a strong regional government and deserves immeasurable credit for what King County has become."

The King County Administration Building and the stretch of 4th Ave. between James St. and Jefferson St. in Downtown Seattle where it is located will be named in Gov. Spellman’s honor. The block will be named the John Spellman Block and Memorial Building.

“We are deeply honored by the unanimous support of the County Council to name the location of the King County Administrative Building after our father, John D. Spellman,” said Teresa Spellman Gamble, daughter of Gov. Spellman. 
“We are so proud of our dad’s many contributions to King County and the State, and we are truly appreciative of this recognition by the leadership of the County.”

Gov. John Spellman
Photo courtesy Washington state library
John Dennis Spellman was born in 1926 in the City of Seattle. He attended high school at Seattle Preparatory School, then graduated from Seattle University after serving his country in World War II.

In 1966, Spellman was elected to the three-member King County Board of Commissioners. When county voters approved a plan to implement a home rule charter establishing the King County Council and the position of County Executive, Spellman was elected as King County’s very first Executive in 1969.

During the next 12 years, Executive Spellman led the transition of King County into one of the west coast’s strongest regional governments. Spellman consolidated previously independent departments, promoted racial equality, criminal justice reforms, land-use planning and farmlands preservation, and established a meritocracy within the County to ensure its abilities to serve the people.

King County Executive
John Spellman and the Kingdome
Photo courtesy WA SOS
Spellman is perhaps most remembered for supervising the construction of the Kingdome, allowing Seattle to acquire two hallmarks of the northwest: the Seattle Seahawks and the Seattle Mariners.

Following his 3-term service as Executive, Spellman was elected as the 18th Governor of Washington State in 1980. As Governor, Spellman was known as a steadfast defender of our state’s prestigious federal lands, even blocking a proposal to run an oil pipeline under the waters of Puget Sound which would have heavily damaged our waterway’s ecology. After leaving office in 1985, he was named partner at a law firm in Seattle.

Gov. Spellman passed away on January 16, 2018, at age 91. His wife of 63 years, Lois passed away nine days later at age 90.



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