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Charles Royer Mayoral Records, 1968-1990

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Royer, Charles, 1939-
Title
Charles Royer Mayoral Records
Dates
1968-1990 (inclusive)
1978-1989 (bulk)
Quantity
187.3 cubic feet, (234 boxes)
Collection Number
5274
Summary
Records from Charles Royer's three terms as Seattle mayor from 1978 through 1989.
Repository
Seattle Municipal Archives
Seattle Municipal Archives
Office of the City Clerk
City of Seattle
PO Box 94728
98124-4728
Seattle, WA
Telephone: 2062337807
Fax: 2063869025
archives@seattle.gov
Access Restrictions

Records are open to the public.

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for processing this record series was provided through a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.
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Biographical Note

Born in 1939 in Medford, Oregon, Charles Royer briefly attended Portland State University before being drafted by the Army in 1961. Upon being discharged from the military, he went to the University of Oregon and studied journalism. He worked as a news reporter for television stations in Eugene, Portland, and Seattle for about ten years before running for Seattle mayor in 1977. He won election, taking office in 1978 and serving three terms before stepping down at the end of 1989. Major issues Royer worked on during his tenure included public housing, the downtown bus tunnel, pollution, the High Ross Dam, the convention center, downtown development, and public health. He served as president of the National League of Cities in the early 1980s. After leaving office, Royer was the director of the John F. Kennedy School of Government's Institute of Politics at Harvard for five years before returning to Seattle to work for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Urban Health Initiative. He later founded the nonprofit Institute for Community Change and worked as a consultant.

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Content Description

Records documenting Royer's tenure as Seattle mayor from 1978 through 1989. Major issues covered include downtown development, housing, schools, Interstate 90, neighborhood development, the arts, Westlake Mall, and transportation. Individual record series are described more fully below.

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Use of the Collection

Preferred Citation

[Item and date], [Title of collection], Record Series 5274-XX. Box [number], Folder [number]. Seattle Municipal Archives.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The records have been organized into the following series:

  • 5274-01: Departmental Correspondence
  • 5274-02: Subject Correspondence
  • 5274-03: Legal Subject Files
  • 5274-04: Mayor's Messages
  • 5274-05: Department Weekly Reports
  • 5274-06: Communications and Public Information Records
  • 5274-07: Department Director Search Records
  • 5274-08: Speeches
  • 5274-10: Bob Royer Records
  • 5274-11: Carol Lewis Records
  • 5274-12: Mitchell Baker Records
  • 5274-13: Tom Byers Records
  • 5274-14: Anne Levinson Records
  • 5274-15: Arlene Oki Records
  • 5274-16: Press Releases
  • 5274-17: Mayoral Transition Document
  • 5274-18: Improving the Waterfront Student Project

Custodial History

A small portion of these records were originally donated to the University of Washington. They were transferred to the Seattle Municipal Archives in 2006.

Separated Materials

Publications were pulled from the collection and are cataloged separately in the Published Documents Index.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Affirmative action programs--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • City planning--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Civil rights--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Condominiums--Conversion--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Economic development--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Education--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Environmental issues--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Express highways--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Fort Lawton (Seattle, Wash.)
  • Forward Thrust (Seattle, Wash.)
  • Gays--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Historic preservation--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Housing--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Interstate 90
  • Land use--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Municipal services--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Neighborhood planning--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Neighborhoods--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Ross Dam (Wash.)
  • Transportation planning--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Urban renewal--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Zoning--Washington (State)--Seattle

Personal Names

  • Royer, Charles, 1939-

Corporate Names

  • Seattle (Wash.). Mayor
  • King County (Wash.). Transit Division
  • National League of Cities
  • Seattle Housing Authority
  • Stevens Elementary School (Seattle, Wash.)

Geographical Names

  • Seattle (Wash.)

Occupations

  • Mayors--Washington (State)--Seattle

Finding aid prepared by Julie Kerssen
2010

CC Attribution
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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