Archives West Finding Aid

The beginnings of the Seattle Historical Society date to November 13, 1911--the 60th anniversary of the Denny Party landing at Alki beach--when pioneer builder and contractor Morgan Carkeek and his wife Emily hosted the first “Founders' Day” ball at their First Hill mansion on Boren Street. Guests were requested to arrive in historic costumes related to early Seattle; women arrived in period dresses, in Native American costume, or dressed as historic figures like Princess Angeline. The party became an annual, invitation-only event, to which guests were asked to bring artifacts or documents related to Seattle history. The first two items donated to the Society’s collection were a copy of Arthur Denny’s 1888 memoir Pioneer Days on Puget Sound, and Thomas Prosch’s biography of pioneers Dr. David S. and Catherine T. Maynard. Professor Edmond S. Meany gave the Society use of a room at the University of Washington, and space in a fireproof room for storage. The Seattle Historical Society was incorporated on January 8, 1914, with the original membership limited to white settlers and their descendents. The founding trustees were Judge George Donworth, Judge C. H. Hanford, Judge R. B. Albertson, Lawrence J. Colman, Edmond S. Meany, and Margaret Lenora Denny; the articles of incorporation were signed by Emily Carkeek, Cannie Ford Trimble, Charlotte Haller McKee, Virginia McCarver Prosch, and Flora Thornton Prosser.

Later known as the Historical Society of Seattle and King County, the group worked to open a museum that would tell the history of their city. The Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI) opened in Seattle’s Montlake neighborhood in 1952, its early exhibits displaying the artifacts, documents and photographs collected by the Seattle Historical Society since its inception at that first costume party in 1911.