The First Hill Exhibit

A public exhibit, “The First Hill Exhibit: Seattle's Boom Years, 1880-1925,” permanently on display in Swedish Hospital’s lobby at the corner of Boren Avenue and Madison Street, vividly illustrates what the neighborhood was like, replete with wooden sidewalks, cable cars, and ornate residential architecture. The First Hill neighborhood served as an exclusive enclave for prominent Seattle families, including the Stimsons, Greens, Dearborns, and others. Apartment buildings and medical facilities replaced the mansions as the “first” families moved away in the first decades of the twentieth century.

The Seattle of Tomorrow, From the Past

Last Wednesday, I ventured to MOHAI for the History Cafe program “The Seattles That Might Have Been.” The evening’s speaker Eric Scigliano (award-winning writer & journalist) opened the program by noting that cities are ultimately collections of ideas. We primarily experience what has come to into being and persists in our local landscape - this is what makes up the “Emerald City” as we know it. Or we remember what has been built and demolished (strong in my memory - Kingdome, Sit N Spin, Cloud Room at Camlin Hotel). Adaptive reuse presents a spectrum of options in between, whether preserving the facade or other methods.

For historical unrealized buildings and construction projects, they comprise a number of many possible outcomes, much like a disco ball with faceted mirrors. According to Mr. Scigliano, it is important to pay attention to Seattle’s ideas of the past because they remain relevant today. They also can provide insight into possible future civic projects, whether for research purposes or to revisit (such as further lidding I-5, first suggested by the architect Paul Thiry in the 1960s).

Eric Scigliano sets the context for this presentation, noting how cities can take on second (or third lives), and Seattle is a great example with multiple boom and bust historical cycles.

Mr. Scigliano outlined an intriguing survey of Seattle’s proposals, many quite serious and developed, others more imaginative and a bit whimsical.

Rare newspaper illustration commenting on the Bogue Plan, which would have been Seattle’s first comprehensive plan that included subways and a civic center in Denny Regrade. Residents of Queen Anne were concerned that the development would isolate and negatively impact them. Image via HistoryLink.

George Hartman believed that every great city should have a river. Hence, a proposal to fill in I-5 with water!

The next day, I headed to the Seattle Public Library’s Seattle Room to learn more about these unrealized plans. The SPL staff helpfully pointed me towards a University of Washington thesis - “A Forgotten Future: One Possible Seattle” by Steven Gano Cecil. Submitted in 1981, the thesis further expands the survey to include additional plans and projects.

Images that illustrate proposed above ground train at Westlake and Fourth Ave. (1918), and section perspective for underground light rail on Third Ave. (1961).

Rendering for proposed Seattle General Hospital in downtown (1932).

Metropolitan Tract Plan was proposed by the Tishman family from New York City, bringing a bit of Gotham to Seattle with a Rockefeller Center-type development (1952).

Urban Stream proposal for a salmon stream to run from Volunteer Park to downtown (1975).

A video recording of the event is available via the Seattle Channel.

MOHAI also offers audio recordings of all History Cafe programs online via Soundcloud - well worth checking out.

AKCHO Annual Meeting at the Nordic Museum

On Tuesday I attended the Association of King County Historical Organizations (AKCHO) Annual Membership meeting. The event also provided an opportunity to visit Ballard’s recently renovated Nordic Museum, which has been on my checklist for months.

The program included a warm welcome from Eric Nelson, CEO of the Nordic Museum. A quick video depicted some highlights from the museum’s opening in May.

Jennifer Meisner, Historic Preservation Officer with King County, discusses some of the outreach to local communities, including those in unincorporated King County.

Following the business meeting, there was a presentation from Jennifer Meisner, Historic Preservation Officer, King County Historic Preservation Program. An overview was provided for the buildings recognized with certificates of designation in 2018. Among them were the F.W. Woolworth Company building in Renton (down the street from my family’s auction business), and the Boeing Building 105 in Tuwkila, built in 1909 (a bit surprised it did not make the cut yet). Outreach to unincorporated areas of King County was also discussed as an initiative for 2019.

4Culture’s Executive Director Brian J. Carter and Heritage Support Specialist Cheiko Phillips discussed 4Culture’s activities and plans, which included listening sessions with communities all across King County to recognize local cultural resources and promote 4Culture’s services.

Chieko Phillips discusses the services 4Culture provides, along with plans for 2019.

Following that was a panel discussing the theme of inclusion with:

Moderator: Hilary Pittenger, AKCHO Board

Panelists: Chieko Phillips, 4Culture

Nicole Robert, MOHAI

Aletheia Wittman, The Incluseum

Kicking off the panel was a question on the definition of inclusion. The conversation focused on how inclusion involves a series of building relationships. For exhibitions, it is helpful to have inclusive advisory committees that draw from diverse perspectives. One institutional challenge is uncertainty around the results of projects, or how the exhibitions or heritage content will be received. For this, we do not have control. In addition, the panelists discussed how some initiatives do not work as anticipated, and how progress can be made, even in failure.

Panel discussion.

Many other topics were discussed including: 4Culture’s racial bias training for employees; MOHAI’s racial equity plan; how inequity can result from collections policies; and the power of storytelling where the narrator can control personal narratives, without the interviewer, and sometimes in the absence of documentation (photographs or other meaningful objects).

After the panel, lunch was served, with further conversation amongst the attendees. It was a delight to meet some of the AKCHO members, hear about these inspiring exhibitions and projects, and reconnect with colleagues.

All photographs taken by the author and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.