Seattle

Big Win for Victims of Restrictive Covenants

by James Gregory

Restrictive covenants and other housing policies created a housing market defined by racial segregation and locked generations of Black Americans out of wealth-building. Now courts frown on race-aware remedies for past discrimination. Has the state of Washington figured out a way around that to deliver reparations? 

Beware "Rising Crime" Rhetoric in Seattle Politics

by Dan Berger

Progressive prosecutor candidates like Nicole Thomas-Kennedy in Seattle reflect a growing social movement to reverse decades of failed "tough on crime" policies that have accomplished little but swell the ranks fo the incarcerated, says a historian of crime and punishment.

How Jimi Hendrix, Racism and Grunge Intersect, 50 Years after the Guitarist’s Death

Although the guitarist made a global impact on rock music, he left a particular legacy for Black musicians in his hometown of Seattle. 

Don’t Be Fooled by Seattle’s Police-Free Zone

by Margaret O'Mara

Protest is forcing our city to reckon with truths that can and should make white citizens like me uncomfortable, and that remind us just how much Seattle is like the rest of America: impossibly divided, and impossibly full of hope.

Why the Seattle General Strike of 1919 should inspire a new generation of labor activists

by Steven C. Beda

Remembering the 1919 Seattle General Strike on its 100th anniversary.

Ahead of its 100th anniversary, revisiting the Seattle General Strike and the city’s long legacy of organized labor

The Seattle General Strike lasted six days, with not a single shot fired nor a single striker arrested.

Group puts up billboard calling for removal of Seattle Confederate monument

The Make It Right Project recently put up a billboard in Capitol Hill, reminding Seattleites of the presence of a Confederate memorial right in its backyard. That memorial can be found in Lakeview Cemetery.

From Segregation to Gentrification

by Mike Green

Lessons from Seattle and Detroit: How city policies and NIMBYism lead to unimpeded market forces displacing poor people of color.

When Nazis walked the streets of Seattle

by Knute Berger

“There is no organized mistreatment of Jews in Germany.” — Seattle Times editorial, March 28, 1933

Review of Daniel James Brown's "The Boys in the Boat"

by Bernard von Bothmer

The astonishing tale of the University of Washington's crew team's improbable quest for Olympic gold in 1936

Vaughn Davis Bornet: Review of Joseph W. Scott and Solomon A. Getahun's "Little Ethiopia of the Pacific Northwest" (Transaction, 2013)

Often a book will be idly described as “timely” on one thin ground or another. This book on Ethiopians who migrated from their home country in Northern Africa (via Sudan?) and settled in Seattle fits the needs of all who are focusing on immigration policy at this moment and wish they knew a whole lot more about those who came here voluntarily and involuntarily.

"Cities are the Living Embodiments of Past Decisions"

by Robin Lindley

 Children in wading pool at Cascade Playground, Seattle, 1939. All photos credit Seattle Museum of History and Industry.Stories about place are makeshift things. They are composed with the world’s debris.--Michel de CerteauIn most undergraduate history classes, students are required to take tests and write a paper or two.But University of Washington history professor Dr. Margaret O’Mara wanted to tap into her students’ curiosity and their relationship with the web and technology for her history of U.S. Cities course last winter.To bring urban history to life for her students and encourage them to explore and see their world in new ways, Dr. O’Mara created an innovative project that focused on Seattle’s dynamic South Lake Union neighborhood, now an area of high-tech businesses, medical clinics, trendy eateries, and pricey real estate.