Donald A. Schmechel oral history collection, 1985-1988

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Schmechel, Donald A.
Title
Donald A. Schmechel oral history collection
Dates
1985-1988 (inclusive)
1985 (bulk)
Quantity
27 cubic feet, (27 boxes)
Collection Number
1985.135
Summary
Interviews with Seattle business, civic and cultural leaders active in the mid-twentieth century
Repository
Museum of History & Industry, Sophie Frye Bass Library

P.O. Box 80816
Seattle, WA
98108
Telephone: 2063241126 x102
library@mohai.org
Access Restrictions

The original video recordings are not available for viewing. All of the interviews in the collection have been digitized and may be viewed at the MOHAI page at Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/mohaiand are linked in the detailed description below.

Languages
English.

Content DescriptionReturn to Top

Donald A. Schmechel, who was a member of the Seattle Public Library Foundation board, began this project with Seattle Public Library in 1984, with the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) brought on board as a partner in early 1985. Schmechel himself worked to raise the funding for the project, and volunteered his time to manage the project, and to conduct interviews along with a crew of volunteers. Originally titled the Videotaping Historic Figures (VHF) Program, the project interviewed 91 people, and MOHAI holds the interviews for 32 of these individuals.The interviews conducted with these Seattle civic, business and cultural leaders in 1985-1988 are valuable first-hand accounts that provide insight into developments taking place in the mid-twentieth century.

Note that the number of videocassettes given for each interview refers to the original or master copies. Each interview also includes multiple duplicates in various video and audio formats.

Use of the CollectionReturn to Top

Alternative Forms Available

The 32 interviews of the collection were digitized in 2018 as part of an NEH grant awarded to Moving Image Preservation of Puget Sound (MIPoPS). The interviews are available for viewing at the Internet Archive at https://archive.org/details/mohai and are linked below in the inventory.

Restrictions on Use

These oral history recordings may be used for research only. For other uses, please contact the Museum of History & Industry at photos@mohai.org.

Preferred Citation

Donald A. Schmechel oral history collection, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

Administrative InformationReturn to Top

Location of Collection

4a.1-4.2-3

Acquisition Information

Created by Donald A. Schmechel in partnership with MOHAI and Seattle Public Library, with interviews divided between these two institutions.

Detailed Description of the CollectionReturn to Top

Description Dates
1985.135.1: Oral history interview with Morris Alhadeff
17 videocassettes (Betacam)
Morris “Morrie” Alhadeff (1914-1994) was General Manager and Chairman of the Board of the Longacres Racetrack in Renton, Washington. Alhadeff began working at Longacres in 1947 and took over running the facility after Longacres founder (and Alhadeff’s father-in-law) Joseph Gottstein died in 1970. He and his wife, Joan Gottstein Alhadeff, were strong supporters of civil rights, and great patrons of Northwest art. A Seattle native, Alhadeff attended Garfield High School, Cornish College of the Arts, and the University of Washington. Before his work at Longacres, Alhadeff worked at several local radio stations under the name “Jerry Morris.”
1985 September
1985.135.2: Oral history interview with Dr. Joel Baker
7 videocassettes (Betacam)
Dr. Joel Baker Sr. (1905 -1999), born in Shenandoah, Virginia, earned his medical degree from University of Virginia and moved to Seattle in 1930, where he joined the Virginia Mason Hospital Mason Clinic team. Baker served as chief of surgery at Virginia Mason for three decades before retiring at age 65. During his career, Dr. Baker invented a method of draining intestinal obstruction without surgery, and a surgical technique that averted the need for colostomies in some cases. After his retirement, he headed such groups as the Seattle Foundation, Seattle Golf Club, the Pacific Coast Surgical Society and the American College of Surgeons.
1985 August 6 and 19
1985.135.3: Oral history interview with Eddie Carlson
19 videocassettes (Betacam)
Edward "Eddie" Carlson (1911 – 1990), was an American hotel and airline executive, and Seattle civic leader. Born in Tacoma, and raised in Tacoma and Seattle, Carlson attended Lincoln High School and the University of Washington, and served in the US Navy during World War II. In 1946, Carlson began working for Western (later Westin) Hotels, Inc., becoming president in 1960, and Chief Executive Officer of United Airlines and its holding company U.A.L in 1970, bringing United back from near-bankruptcy back within two years. Carlson retired from U.A.L. in 1983. In 1955, Carlson was appointed by Governor Arthur Langlie to head a commission studying the feasibility of a Seattle World’s Fair. The fair, named the Century 21 Exposition, was funded in 1957, and Carlson made president of the Century 21 Exposition Inc., charged with planning and promoting the fair. Carlson’s napkin sketch of a tower with a revolving restaurant, inspired by the Stuttgart Tower in Germany, was the origin of the Exposition’s most enduring icon, the Space Needle. Though Carlson had to resign his official position with the fair in 1960 due to his considerable responsibilities at Western Hotels, he continued to be connected to the fair. Among his many honors, Carlson was presented with the annual Seattle-King County Board of Realtors First Citizen award in 1966; the Alumnus Summa Laude Dignatus award from University of Washington in 1970; and the Seattle-King County Municipal League Outstanding Citizen award, also in 1970. In 1982, Carlson was appointed by the governor to the University of Washington Board of Regents. After his retirement, Carlson remained tirelessly active in Seattle community affairs., serving on the board of several organizations. After his death, the Carlson family founded the Carlson Leadership and Public Service Center at the University of Washington, a place where students could engage in public service and learn to make meaningful contributions to the community.
1985 January 17, 1985 March 14
1985.135.4: Oral history interview with Walter Straley
13 videocassettes (Betacam)
5 videocassettes (U-Matic)
Walter William Straley (1913-1999) was born in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, and attended school and college in the midwest. In 1933, Straley accepted an entry level position with Northwestern Bell Telephone Co. selling services and collecting overdue bills in the Des Moines office. Straley excelled at public speaking and soon began moving up in the Bell Company. The family relocated every 3 or 4 years as his position changed in the company. In 1961, he became Bell system at the time. His progressive policies reduced management staff, and hired African Americans for the first time. Straley had a lifelong commitment to community service and headed the Seattle Area Industrial Council. He served as president of the Century 21 Center, Inc. and was a member of the planning team for the Seattle World’s Fair. Straley was well-connected in the business community and active in obtaining corporate and political sponsorship for fair exhibits. The large Bell Systems Pavilion had a variety of state-of-the art telecommunications displays. After five years at Pacific Northwest Bell, in 1966 Straley was transferred to New York and became a vice president for AT&T. He continued his commitment to racial equality in hiring and corporate public service. In 1971, he retired from AT&T and returned to Seattle where he managed a consulting practice and became president of the Seattle Symphony Board. He campaigned for Democratic candidates and helped found the Straley House, a transitional home for street children in the University District. He remained active in local politics and community service until his death in 1999.
1985 July-August
1985.135.5: Oral history interview with Norton Clapp
6 videocassettes (Betacam)
Norton Clapp (1906-1995) was a Seattle businessman and philanthropist. Clapp started working for the Weyerhaeuser Timber Company part-time in 1938, and returned to the company after serving in the Navy, replacing his father as director after his death. In 1960, he became president of Weyerhaeuser, serving in that position until 1966, and as Board member until 1970, before leaving to pursue other business interests and devote his energy to philanthropy. Among other ventures, Clapp served as president of the Boy Scouts of America, chairman of the Pacific Basin Economic Council, director of the National Parks Foundation, president of both the Tacoma and the Seattle Chambers of Commerce, longtime trustee of the University of Puget Sound, director of Safeco and of Seattle First National Bank, and as a member of innumerable boards and committees. The Seattle-King County Association of Realtors named him First Citizen of 1970, and the National Conference of Christians and Jews gave him an award for his humanitarian work in 1973. Clapp also left his mark on Seattle by being one the five original private investors in the Space Needle.
1985 June 12
1985.135.6: Oral history interview with Giovanni Costigan
19 videocassettes (Betacam)
Giovanni Costigan (1905–1990) was a noted historian and popular lecturer, and a specialist in Irish and English history. Costigan attended the University of Oxford, and University of Wisconsin in Madison, where he earned his PhD. Costigan taught at the University of Wisconsin and Idaho State University before joining the history department at the University of Washington in 1934. He retired from UW in 1975. In the 1950s, Costigan defended colleagues subjected to anti-Communist investigations, and in the early 1960s he was the target of an unsuccessful campaign seeking his dismissal from the university. Costigan was also a staunch critic of American involvement in the Vietnam war. In 1971, he famously debated conservative William F. Buckley over the Vietnam War and American foreign policy to a sold-out crowd at the Hec Edmundson Pavilion on campus. He wrote biographies of Sigmund Freud and Sir Robert Wilson, a British general under Wellington, as well as a history of Ireland. In 1958, the B'nai B'rith in Seattle honored him as Man of the Year, and he received the first ever Distinguished Teaching Award given by the University of Washington in 1970.
1985
1985.135.7: Oral history interview with Michael Dederer
12 videocassettes (Betacam)
Michael Dederer (1905-1995) built the Seattle Fur Exchange into one of the foremost fur auctions in the country and an international presence in the industry. Born in Canada, Dederer moved with his family to Montana in 1914. Working at a department store while still in high school, Dederer had developed an interest in the fur trade. Shortly after moving to Seattle in 1922, he joined the newly formed Seattle Fur Exchange. Starting out as a janitor, Dederer worked his way up the organizational ladder and was named treasurer and general manager in 1936, and president in 1939. Dederer retired as Fur Exchange president in 1975, but remained a director until 1986. Dederer also devoted his energies to public service. He served as president of the Board of Regents of Washington State University and Pacific Lutheran University, and as president of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Community Chest and United Good Neighbor Fund (now United Way), YMCA, Rotary Club of Seattle, Seattle Foundation, Seattle Goodwill, and the Rainier Club. He also served on the boards of the Seattle Repertory Theatre, Pacific Science Center Foundation, Washington Children’s Home Society, Boy Scouts of America, and World Affairs Council. The Seattle-King County Association of Realtors named Michael Dederer First Citizen of 1960 for his civic service and leadership.
1985 July 18 , 1985 August 6
1985.135.8: Oral history interview with Peter Donnelly
10 videocassettes (Betacam)
Peter F. Donnelly (1938 – 2009) was an American patron of the arts, and a pivotal figure in the development of the arts community in Seattle. A Massachusetts native, Donnelly arrived in Seattle in 1964 on a fellowship to work with the fledgling Seattle Repertory Theatre. Soon, he was hired as the first managing director and later as producing director, a position he held until 1985, when he left Seattle to become the Executive Managing Director of the Dallas Theatre Center. He returned to Seattle in 1989 to head the Seattle Corporate Council for the Arts, which later became ArtsFund, where he served as President and CEO until retiring in 2005. During his tenure, the fund more than doubled its annual distributions and raised over $10 million in endowments. Donnelly also served on the Board of Directors for the Frye Art Museum, the Seattle Art Museum, the 5th Avenue Theatre, the University of Washington School of Drama Advisory Committee and Classic KING-FM Radio Station. In 2001, the Seattle Central Library named its Art and Literature Collection after Donnelly, in recognition of his decades of art advocacy in Seattle.
1985 August 12 and 19
1985.135.9: Oral history interview with Jim Ellis
15 videocassettes (Betacam)
James Reed “Jim” Ellis (b. 1921) is widely regarded as the most visionary civic activist in King County history. Born in California, Ellis family moved to Seattle with his family in 1923. He attended John Muir Elementary School and Franklin High School, and graduated from the University of Washington School of Law in 1948. In the 1950s, Ellis was a leader in the campaign to clean up Lake Washington of the sewage being discharged into the lake from the growing city. This led to the creation of the Municipality of Metropolitan Seattle (Metro) and the cleanup of Lake Washington in 1958. In the 1960s, he led the development of an ambitious plan for public works in King County. Called “Forward Thrust,” the 1968 bond issue funded capital improvements in Seattle, including news parks and trails, fire stations, swimming pools, a domed stadium, an aquarium, a modern zoo, and improved streets. In the 1970s, Ellis worked to win passage of a bond measure to protect farmlands and green belts threatened by development. He also championed the construction (1988) and then expansion (2001) of the Washington State Convention & Trade Center. In the 1990s, Ellis spearheaded the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust, to preserving the scenic, environmental, and historic qualities of a 100-mile stretch along Interstate 90. Ellis’s honors include a First Citizen award from the Seattle-King County Association of Realtors in 1968, a national Jefferson Award in 1976, and a Lifetime Achievement award from American Lawyer in 2005.
1985 March 13, 1985 July 1 and 15
1985.135.10: Oral history interview with Kenneth Fisher
11 videocassettes (Betacam)
Kenneth Robinson Fisher (1906-1999) was the grandson of O.W. (Oliver Williams) Fisher, founder and owner of Seattle’s Fisher Flour Mill. Fisher built his mill, the largest in the west, on the newly constructed Harbor Island in Elliott Bay at the mouth of the Duwamish waterway, one of the first industrial businesses to open on the island. Fisher ran the business with his sons, including O.W. (Orin Wallace) Fisher, O.D. (Oliver David) Fisher, and Kenneth Fisher’s father, W.P. (William Peter) Fisher. Kenneth Fisher was born in Seattle, and attended University of Washington, and Harvard University, where he received his MBA. He started with Fisher Mills in 1930, working his way up to director in 1949, vice president from 1960-1965, president from 1965-1973, and chairman of the board from 1973. Aside from his work at Fisher Mills, Kenneth Fisher was also on the Board of directors for Western International Hotels and Safeco Corporation, a university trustee at University Puget Sound, and a member emeritus of the advisory committee at the Graduate School of Business Administration, University Washington. Fisher was also active in a number of civic organizations: as a trustee of Seattle Art Museum, a member of the regional citizen's advisory committee for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, a member of the Washington state advisory committee for the United States Commission on Civil Rights, financial chairman of Washington State Citizens for Abortion Reform, and on the board of directors of Planned Parenthood Center of Seattle. In 1987, Fisher received the Institute of Human Relations National Award of the American Jewish Committee.
1985 April 23
1985.135.11: Oral history interview with Anne Gould Hauberg
5 videocassettes (Betacam)
Anne Gould Hauberg (1917 – 2016) was a Seattle civic activist, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. Anne and her husband John Hauberg emerged as patrons of the arts in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in the 1950s. They collected art works, and provided support for emerging Northwest artists. By the 1960s, Anne Hauberg particularly focused on supporting the crafts through the philanthropic organization, the Friends of the Crafts. By the 1960s, Anne Hauberg was involved in the Seattle Municipal Art Commission, the predecessor to the Seattle Arts Commission, and she was a founding member of the civic activist organization, the "Committee of 33," devoted to the enhancement and beautification of the city of Seattle, pushing to preserve historic buildings in the way of new development. Among their early philanthropic efforts, Anne and her husband John Hauberg started the Pilot School for Neurologically Impaired Children in 1960, after two of their children were diagnosed with mental disabilities. Originally two small buildings on the University of Washington campus, the school is now the Experimental Education Unit at the Center on Human Development and Disability at the UW. In 1969, the Haubergs supported glass artist Dale Chihuly's idea for a glass-blowing summer school program in the Northwest. The subsequent development of this program became the Pilchuck Glass School in Snohomish County. Anne Hauberg was also deeply involved in the Seattle Art Museum, the Tacoma Art Museum, and other Northwest arts organizations. She was an honorary member of Northwest Designer Craftsmen. In 2007, the University of Washington Libraries' Artist Images Award was renamed the Anne Gould Hauberg Artist Images Award in her honor.
1985 April 24
1985.135.12: Oral history interview with James W. Haviland
5 videocassettes (Betacam)
James W. Haviland (1911 – 2007) was a Seattle doctor and specialist in Internal Medicine, co-founder of the University of Washington School of Medicine and co-founder of the Northwest Kidney Centers. James Haviland was born in New York and completed medical school and residency training at Johns Hopkins University. From the late 1940s through the 1970s, Dr. Haviland was a leader at the UW School of Medicine, as assistant dean, clinical professor of medicine and an associate dean for clinical affairs, while also maintaining a large private practice in internal medicine. In 1953 he took an active role in the design, construction and funding of University Hospital, now UW Medical Center. Perhaps most significantly, he co-founded the world’s first outpatient kidney dialysis clinic in 1962, at a time when chronic kidney failure was a fatal disease. Now known as Northwest Kidney Centers, it comprises over a dozen regional clinics, operating on a not-for-profit basis, making convenient dialysis and long-term survival possible. Haviland served as president of the American College of Physicians in 1970-71 and was elected to the prestigious Institute of Medicine in 1973. He is a recipient of the 1995 Washington Laureate Award from the Washington Chapter of the American College of Physicians. He was the first president of the Northwest Kidney Centers board of trustees and continued to serve on the board as senior counsel until his death.
1985 July 15
1985.135.13: Oral history interview with Dr. William Hutchinson
6 videocassettes (Betacam)
William B. Hutchinson (1909 –1997) was an physician and surgeon, and the founder of both the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in his native Seattle, Washington. The latter facility is named in memory of his younger brother, Fred Hutchinson, a Major League Baseball pitcher and manager whose life and career were cut short by lung cancer in 1964 at the age of 45. The son of a general practitioner, Hutchinson was raised in Seattle and attended the University of Washington, where he played baseball for the Huskies and graduated in 1931. He passed up a professional baseball tryout to attend medical school at McGill University in Montreal, and graduated in 1935. After completing his surgical residency in Baltimore, Maryland, Hutchinson returned to Seattle to practice. His experience as a cancer surgeon led him to spearhead a drive for research and treatment centers for the disease in his native city. The PNRF, now the Pacific Northwest Diabetes Research Institute, was founded in 1956; the FHCRC was created in 1965 and officially founded in 1975. Hutchinson was on the staff at Swedish for 40 years. He was also team doctor for the Seattle Rainiers baseball team for years. Dr. Hutchinson received many awards, including Seattle's First Citizen Award in 1976 and a doctorate in humanities from Seattle University in 1982. He was a longtime youth baseball coach and was presented with the College of Baseball Classic Award in 1993, and inducted into the UW Husky Hall of Fame in 1995.
1985 July 18
1985.135.14: Oral history interview with H. Dewayne Kreager
13 videocassettes (Betacam)
H. (Henry) Dewayne Kreager (1912 – 2001) was a banker and businessman, a Washington state native who attended college at Washington State University, Duke, and Harvard. Kreager started his professional career in Washington, D.C., working with the federal Foreign Economic Administration from 1941 to 1946, with the State Department as assistant director of the Foreign Service Institute in 1946 -1947, and with the executive office and White House staff for President Truman from 1947 to 1953. From 1953 to 1957, Kreager was a consulting economist with then-White House chief of staff John Steelman. Returning to Washington state, he was the first director of the state Department of Commerce and Economic Development from 1957 to 1960. From 1958 to 1963, he was a member of the Seattle World's Fair (Century 21) Commission. Kreager was then Chairman and chief executive officer of Pacific First Federal Savings Bank, from 1970 to 1985, and director and vice chairman after 1985. Among his community activities, Kreager was a regent at WSU, a trustee at Lewis & Clark College in Portland, president of the Seattle Opera from 1975 to 1978, president of the United Arts Council Puget Sound, founding chairman of the Washington State Council on International Trade, and a vice chairman and board member of the Washington State Convention and Trade Center from 1982 to 1990. Kreager also served on the boards of several prominent businesses.
1985 October 17
1985.135.15: Oral history interview with Palmer G. Lewis
6 videocassettes (Betacam)
Palmer G. Lewis (1904-1994) founded one of the nation's major independent building-material distributorships, the Palmer G. Lewis Co., of Auburn. Mr. Lewis started his business in 1940 in Seattle, traveling to Alaska to sell building products for supply companies to the growing population there. Total sales grew from $40,000 that first year into the millions. The company eventually became a publicly held firm, and was Lewis’s principal interest until his retirement in the 1970s. Lewis also gave considerable time to community causes. He was a member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, the College Club of Seattle, the Salvation Army and the National Association of Building Materials Dealers. He was also past president of the Museum of History & Industry.
1985 September 4
1985.135.16: Oral history interview with John A. and Theiline Pigott McCone
10 videocassettes (Betacam)
Theiline Pigott McCone (1903 - 1990) was a Seattle philanthropist. Born Theiline McGee in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she married Paul Pigott, president of Pacific Car and Foundry Co. in Seattle, in 1924. After his death, she married John Alexander McCone (1902-1991) in 1962, who at the time was director of the Central Intelligence Agency. He had previously served as chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. Theiline McCone was active in efforts to preserve historic properties and was vice chairwoman of the board of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. In Seattle, she participated in numerous civic organizations, including the Arboretum Foundation, Children's Hospital and Medical Center, Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, Seattle Art Museum, Seattle Symphony and Seattle Garden Club. She was also a regent of Seattle University and a Chair at the university is named after her.
1985 January 16
1985.135.17: Oral history interview with Horace W. McCurdy
19 videocassettes (Betacam)
Horace Winslow (“H.W.”) McCurdy (1899-1989) was a maritime construction executive, civic leader, and avid supporter of maritime research in the Pacific Northwest. A Washington native, McCurdy was born and raised in Port Townsend, and attended University of Washington in Seattle and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). After graduating in 1922, he got a job at the Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging Company and worked his way up in the company, becoming president and general manager by 1931. The firm built the Lake Washington Floating Bridge (1940), the Hood Canal Bridge (1961), three naval bases in Alaska, and built and repaired thousands of ships at its shipyard on Harbor Island. H.W. McCurdy retired as chairman of the board of the company in 1963. McCurdy’s civic involvement included serving as president of the Seattle Historical Society from 1957 to 1959 and as a longtime board member of the Museum of History & Industry. He was a member of the Rainier Club and served as its president in 1949. McCurdy also underwrote the expense of producing the 2-volume “H.W. McCurdy Marine History of the Pacific Northwest,” written by Gordon Newell. The Seattle-King County Association of Realtors named H. W. McCurdy First Citizen of 1964.
1985 January
1985.135.18: Oral history interview with George Nickum
17 videocassettes (Betacam)
George C. Nickum (1910-1990), internationally recognized naval architect and longtime Northwest resident, headed the naval architectural firms of W.C. Nickum & Sons, and later Nickum & Spaulding Associates, before his retirement in 1986. Nickum apprenticed in the practice of naval architecture with his father, W.C. Nickum, during the Depression years. His father had designed early Seattle fireboats, including the fireboat Alki in 1927. In 1936, Nickum and one of his brothers joined his father in establishing W.C. Nickum & Sons. Nickum was responsible for the design of several of the state ferries, including the Hyak and Evergreen class superferries, that cross Puget Sound. His firms also designed tankers, bulk carriers, freighters, barges, towboats, research ships, and other commercial and military vessels. Nickum was also considered an authority on ship stability, and was the US delegate to the biannual international conferences on the subject between 1964 and 1977.
1985 September 20 and 26
1985.135.19: Oral history interview with Elmer Nordstrom
10 videocassettes (Betacam)
Elmer J. Nordstrom (1904 – 1993) was co-president, with his two brothers, of the Nordstrom department store chain founded by his father, John W. Nordstrom Born in Seattle, Nordstrom graduated from Broadway High School in 1923, and from the University of Washington. In 1928, John W. Nordstrom retired and sold his shares of the store he owned with Carl Wallin, Wallin & Nordstrom, to his two eldest sons, Everett and Elmer; Wallin retired in 1929 and sold his shares to them as well. The store name changed to Nordstrom in 1930, and the third son Lloyd joined in 1933. The three brothers focused on good value and quality, coupled with customer service, and by the 1960s, had the largest independent shoe store chain in the US, and the largest store in the country in downtown Seattle. In 1968, all three brothers retired, and the next generation of sons took over. The chain had grown to 10 stores in the Pacific Northwest by the time Elmer Nordstrom retired. He maintained an active interest in the company until his death in 1993. Elmer Nordstrom also served for 57 years on the board of Swedish Hospital, and on the boards of several corporations and not-for-profit organizations, including the Pacific Northwest Research Foundation, the Northwest Kidney Foundation and The Arthritis Foundation.
1985 June
1985.135.20: Oral history interview with Frances Penrose Owen
10 videocassettes (Betacam)
Frances Penrose Owen (1900-2002) was a civic leader in Seattle, Washington, and one of the most important women in Washington state in the field of education Born in Walla Walla, Washington, Owen attended Whitman College, graduating with a degree in Greek. Afterwards, she studied politics at Bryn Mawr, taught economics at Whitman, and earned a master’s degree in education from Harvard. In 1925, she took a position as a personnel training officer with the Frederick & Nelson Department Store in Seattle, where she met her husband. Throughout her public career she was known by her married name, Mrs. Henry B. Owen. After her husband’s death in 1976, she became Frances Penrose Owen Following her marriage, Owen joined the Board of Trustees of Children’s Orthopedic Hospital (later Seattle Children's Hospital) in 1934, where she served for 36 years. In 1945, Owen was the second woman to be elected to the Seattle School Board, serving until 1967; she was board president four times. In 1957, Owen was appointed as the first woman to hold a seat on the Board of Regents for Washington State College (later Washington State University); she served for 18 years and was twice elected board president. Her public service career was wide-ranging, including the Seattle Community Chest, board memberships for the Ryther Child Center in Seattle, and the National Child Welfare League. Francis Penrose Owen’s service was honored many times over the years. In 1949, she received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Whitman College. In 1966-1968, she received Citizen of the Year honors from two Seattle organizations, including the Seattle-King County Board of Realtors. In 1979, Washington State University honored her 18 years of service as a regent by naming a major new library on the Pullman campus the Frances Penrose Owen Science and Engineering Library. In 1989, the Seattle School Board dedicated the Frances Penrose Owen Auditorium at Seattle School Board headquarters in her honor. In 1990, Governor Booth Gardner presented Owen with the Washington state Medal of Merit for her service to education.
1985 April
1985.135.21: Oral history interview with Guendolen Carkeek
2 videocassettes (VHS)
Guendolen Carkeek Plestcheeff (1892 – 1994) was a Seattle preservationist and arts advocate. Plestcheeff was the daughter of Morgan and Emily Carkeek, who arrived in Seattle in 1885. The family donated the land for Carkeek park, and Emily Carkeek founded the Seattle Historical Society in 1911. Guendolen started school in Seattle before being sent abroad to a French school in England, then to convents and finishing schools in Switzerland. Upon her return to Seattle, she met Paulo Brenna, the Italian consul in Seattle, who she married in London in 1921. The pair lived in Paris for a while, then in Tallinn, Estonia. By the late 1920s Guendolen Brenna had become one of the most fashionable women in the world and, in 1928, author Bertrand Collins penned a novel, Rome Express, loosely based on her life. Her marriage with Brennan ended in 1928 and she wed Theodore Plestcheeff, an exiled Russian aristocrat, the following year. He shared her interest in arts and antiques, and the couple set-up residence in Seattle at the Sam Hill House in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood in 1937. During her life, Plestcheeff was immersed in the preservation of Seattle historic spaces and artifacts. For years, she kept afloat the historical society founded by her mother, serving as its president from 1938 to 1965, and helped to raise the funds to establish the Museum of History & Industry, which opened in 1952. In 1987, she formed the Plestcheeff Institute for Decorative Arts and bequeathed her Capitol Hill mansion and all its contents to the University of Washington's school of architecture as a study center.
1985 May 22
1985.135.22: Oral history interview with Joel Pritchard
6 videocassettes (Betacam)
Joel Pritchard (1925-1997) was a Republican politician and Seattle native who served as a Washington state legislator, U.S. representative, and the 14th Lieutenant Governor of Washington.
1985 August 19
1985.135.23: Oral history interview with Al Rochester
10 videocassettes (U-Matic)
Alfred Ruffner “Al” Rochester (1895-1989) was a lifelong Seattle resident. Rochester graduated from Broadway High School, served in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during World War I, and as state director of the Office of War Information during World War II Rochester served on the Seattle City Council from 1944-1956, and at one time was chairman of the Parks and Streets and Sewers Committee. During his tenure, he led or introduced three innovative council decisions: daylight-savings time; one-way streets; and street parking for the physically handicapped. During his city council days, Al Rochester also served as Official Greeter to more than one-half million U.S. military personnel returning from the Korean War. Among his civic endeavors, Rochester was an officer of the Pioneer Association of Washington State; chairman of the King County U.S.O., the Easter Seal campaign, and the local Infantile Paralysis Foundation chapter; director of Red Cross and Heart Association campaigns; and was twice president of the Young Men’s Democratic Club of Seattle and King County. On April 14, 2001, a memorial speaker's podium was dedicated to Al Rochester on a city triangle at 3rd Avenue and Denny Way.
1985 September 24
1985.135.24: Oral history interview with Alfred J. Schweppe
11 videocassettes (Betacam)
2 videocassettes (U-Matic)
Alfred J. Schweppe (1895-1988) came to Seattle from Minnesota as a young lawyer. At age 31, he became dean of the University of Washington School of Law, and three years later, opened a private practice. In 1933 Schweppe, who was instrumental in drafting the State Bar Act, served as the first executive secretary of the newly formed Washington State Bar Association, and was later the association’s president. Often called “The Great Dissenter,” Schweppe is credited with crafting some of the most important legislation in the state's history, but was better known for his strict constitutionalist stands in opposition to a wide range of public projects. At 90 years of age, Schweppe still went each day to his downtown law office, Schweppe, Doolittle, Krug, Tausend and Beezer. Among his civic activities, Schweppe served as president of Ryther Child Center and the Northwest Opera Association, chairman of the Seattle Crime Prevention Advisory Committee, and was an organizer of the Seattle Opera Guild. He served on the board of Whitman College and the University of Puget Sound law school, and was a member of the Rainier Club, Seattle Golf Club, Seattle Tennis Club, Broadmoor Golf Club, Overlake Golf & Country Club, the Tacoma Club and the Lawyers Club of New York City.
1985 April 19 and 29, 1986 January 8
1985.135.25: Oral history interview with David E. "Ned" Skinner
5 videocassettes (Betacam)
David E. "Ned" Skinner II (1920-1988) was a shipping heir and philanthropist in Seattle. He was the grandson of David E. Skinner (1867-1933) of the Skinner & Eddy shipyard, the Pacific Steamship Co., and the Port Blakely Mill. Skinner was born in Seattle, attended the Lakeside School, and graduated from Dartmouth College in 1942. During World War, Skinner served in the US Navy aboard a destroyer in the Pacific. After the death of his father G. W. Skinner in 1953, Skinner took over the Alaska Steamship Company. When the company closed in 1971, Ned Skinner, as head of the Skinner Corporation, branched into real estate (the Skinner Building and 5th Avenue Theatre); Pepsi-Cola Bottling; and NC Machinery tractor sales. By the time of Skinner’s death in 1988, the Skinner Corporation was the 10th largest privately held company in the US. Skinner was also active on the boards of the Boeing Company, Safeco, Pacific Northwest Bell, and Pacific National Bank. Ned Skinner was a leader in the development of the Century 21 Exposition (World's Fair) in 1962, as a major fundraiser and one of the original investors in construction of Space Needle. In 1972, he was one of the original investors to support and organize funding for a professional football team in Seattle; the Seahawks played their first game in 1976. The Skinner Corporation donated more than 5 percent of its earnings back to the community through the Skinner Foundation, founded by Ned Skinner in 1956. Skinner's community service extended to the Corporate Council for the Arts, the Museum of Flight, the Pacific Science Center, the Seattle Art Museum, Children's Hospital, PONCHO, the 5th Avenue Theatre Association, the University of Washington, and the Seattle Foundation. The Seattle-King County Association of Realtors named Ned Skinner and his wife Katherine "Kayla" Skinner First Citizens of 1974 for their many civic and philanthropic contributions.
1985 August 12
1985.135.26: Oral history interview with William S. "Bill" Street
5 videocassettes (VHS)
William S. "Bill" Street, (1904-2000) was a department store executive who was president of Seattle's Frederick & Nelson store from 1946 to 1962. He also served as vice-president of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. Street retired to chair the 1962 Seattle World’s Fair (Century 21 Exposition). In 1963, he became president of United Pacific (later Univar), which had interests in real estate, chemicals and other areas, then served as a board member. He also served on boards of Seafirst and Washington Mutual banks. Every other year from 1962 to 1977 Street and his wife, Janice Kergan Street, led a mammalogy expedition funded by Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History to countries such as Iran, Nepal, Peru and Australia. They shipped everything they acquired back to the museum; many of these items remain in the museum’s collection today.
1985
1985.135.27: Oral history interview with Dexter K. Strong
11 videocassettes (Betacam)
Dexter K. Strong (1907-1985) was the headmaster of Seattle’s Lakeside School for 18 years (1951-1969). Now a co-educational private secondary school, during Strong’s tenure Lakeside was still a boys-only boarding school. Strong diversified the boarders’ school experience by organizing skiing and hiking trips and other weekend activities, and inviting students and faculty into his home for get-togethers. During his tenure, the summer LEEP (Lakeside Educational Enrichment Program) was inaugurated in conjunction with Seattle Public School, sending 60 boys from public schools to an expenses-paid summer educational program at Lakeside. The program continues as of 2019. A nationally recognized expert on private secondary schools, Strong worked as a consultant for private schools after his retirement from Lakeside. From 1974 to 1979, Strong served as chairman of the Commission on Educational Issues, headquartered in Boston. Strong was active in the Washington Association for Retarded Children and the Seattle Repertory Theater. He was a trustee of Lakeside and the Bush School.
The interview includes two segments recorded at the Lakeside School 1986 graduation, in which several of his associates reminiscence about Dexter Strong.
1985 May-June
1985.135.28: Oral history interview with Holt Webster
11 videocassettes (Betacam)
Holt Webster (1919-1992) was a pioneer in the freight industry, and one of the founders of Airborne Express, where he also served as chairman and chief executive officer. During World War II, Webster was a captain in the military Air Transport Command from 1942 through 1946. After the war, he worked for Northwest Airlines in Seattle from 1946 to 1951 before joining Pacific Air Freight, Inc., an air freight forwarder, in Seattle in 1951. He became Pacific's president and chief executive officer in 1962 and led the 1968 merger with Airborne Freight of California that resulted in the creation of Airborne Freight Corp., operator of Airborne Express. He retired in 1984 but served on the board of directors until his death in 1992. Webster led a variety of civic groups, from the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce to the board of Senior Services of Seattle and King County. He sat on boards of directors of prominent business institutions such as Washington Mutual Savings Bank and Puget Sound Power & Light. Webster also served on the board of United Way of King County and was president of the Citizens Council Against Crime. He was a volunteer on the board of the Seattle Central Community College Foundation and a member of the Washington Athletic Club and the Seattle Tennis Club.
1985 May
1985.135.29: Oral history interview with Edward C. Wells
12 videocassettes (Betacam)
Edward C. Wells (1910-1986) was an engineer and senior vice president of the Boeing Company, and served on the company’s board of directors. He played a major role in the design of Boeing planes, from bombers, such as the B-17 Flying Fortress and B-29, to jet transports, including the 707, 747 and others. Wells was born in Boise, Idaho and graduated from Grant High School in Portland, Oregon. He attended Willamette University for two years then attended Stanford University, graduating in 1931 with a degree in engineering. After graduation, Wells returned to Seattle to join the Boeing Company's engineering staff in 1931 as a draftsman and engineer. He was chief of preliminary design engineering by 1937 and was credited with the wing design of Boeing’s B-17 bomber. Wells was named Boeing's chief engineer in 1943, and in 1947 became Vice President for Engineering. Among other positions, Wells also served as general manager of military aircraft systems and as vice president for product development at Boeing. He retired from Boeing as senior vice president in 1972, and served as a consultant to the company and a director until 1978. Among his accolades, Wells received the Lawrence Sperry Award of the Institute of Aeronautical Scientists in 1942 for outstanding contributions to the art of airplane design. He also received the Fawcett Aviation Award in 1944, and the Daniel Guggenheim Medal in 1980.
1985 March 9 and 18
1985.135.30: Oral history interview with Thornton "T.A." Wilson
14 videocassettes (Betacam)
Thornton Arnold “T.A.” Wilson (1921 – 1999), known to friends and colleagues as just “T,” was the Chairman of the Board and chief executive officer of Boeing corporation. Born in Missouri, Wilson earned his B.S. degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Iowa State University and a M.S. degree from the California Institute of Technology. Following his graduation from Iowa State, Wilson joined Boeing in 1943 as an engineer, and worked on bomber programs, notably the swept-wing B-47 Stratojet and B-52 Stratofortress, and also led the proposal team that won the contract for the Minuteman missile. He became company president in 1968, chief executive officer in 1969, and chairman in 1972. Wilson stepped down as CEO in 1986, and retired as chairman at the end of 1987, though he served as chairman emeritus until 1993. Wilson was awarded the NAS Award in Aeronautical Engineering in 1985 from the National Academy of Sciences. In 1992, he was the recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for his distinguished contributions to commercial aviation. Wilson belonged to many professional societies and won numerous awards, including being named to the National Aviation Hall of Fame for engineering and managerial achievements. The main glass gallery of the Museum of Flight in Seattle, opened in 1987, is named for Wilson.
1985 March 1 and 15, 1985 May 2
1985.135.31: Oral history interview with Willard J. Wright
2 videocassettes (Betacam)
Willard J. Wright (1914-1997) was a Seattle lawyer at the firm of Davis Wright Tremaine. A Seattle native, he attended the Lakeside School, graduating in 1932. He was a longtime trustee of Lakeside beginning in 1938 and was involved in the selection of the new headmaster after the sudden death of Headmaster Robert Adams in 1950. In this interview, Wright reminiscences about Dexter K. Strong, headmaster of Lakeside School from 1951 to 1969.
1985 July 15
1985.135.32: Oral history interview with Kate Webster
1 videocassettes (VHS)
Kate Belcher Webster (1924-2017) was a longtime Washington State University (WSU) regent and a leader at Seattle Children’s Hospital. Born and raised in New York City, Webster moved to Seattle some time after her marriage to Holt Webster, founder of the Airborne Express delivery company. She described herself as a “professional volunteer.” In Seattle, Webster first became involved with the Junior League, serving as its president, and would go on to serve on the boards of more than 30 educational, health, and religious organizations, including the United Way of King County, the YMCA of Greater Seattle, and Smith College, her alma mater. As WSU regent, she helped the college open branch campuses in Spokane, the Tri-Cities and Vancouver. A daughter of two physicians, she joined the Children’s Hospital board of trustees in 1963 and became chairwoman in 1970. During her tenure, she formalized an affiliation with the University of Washington School of Medicine, launched the first $25 million building campaign in the hospital's history, and restructured the hospital’s administration, leading to the recruitment of Children’s first president and CEO in 1979.
1988 March 30

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Northwest, Pacific
  • Seattle--History--20th century

Geographical Names

  • Northwest, Pacific
  • United States--Washington (State)--Seattle

Form or Genre Terms

  • Interviews
  • Oral histories