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Homer M. Hill Papers, 1877-1934

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Hill, Homer M., 1855-1935.
Title
Homer M. Hill Papers
Dates
1877-1934 (inclusive)
Quantity
1.5 Linear feet of shelf space, (3 boxes)
Collection Number
Cage 118 (collection)
Summary
Homer M. Hill moved to Seattle in 1884 where be began publishing the True Tone and subsequently the Daily Press (combining the Evening Call and the Evening Chronicle which he had purchased). He maintained the Press until August, 1889 when he sold it to Hunt and Bailey. His political and civic activities were numerous and varied. He was a Seattle city councilman, 1898-1900, a deputy county commissioner, executive secretary of the Rainier Heights Improvement Club and the Federated Improvement Clubs of Seattle, and in 1910 he helped organize the Taxpayers' League of Seattle and served as its executive secretary. This collection consists of papers and photographs related to Homer Hill's business, civic, and political activities.
Repository
Washington State University Libraries' Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections (MASC)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Terrell Library Suite 12
Pullman, WA
99164-5610
Telephone: 509-335-6691
mascref@wsu.edu
Access Restrictions

This collection is open and available for research use.

Languages
English
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Historical Note

Homer M. Hill was born in Senecaville, Ohio, November 28, 1855. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1882 and became a teacher in the Minneapolis Academy. The following year he entered the newspaper business as Mandan correspondent of the Bismarck Tribune and subsequently business manager of the Brainerd (MN) Tribune. In April of 1884 he purchased an interest in the Helena (MT) Independent. In May of that year he married Carrie M. Lovell of Nevada, Iowa. The following year he sold out his Helena interests and moved to Seattle where be began publishing the True Tone and subsequently the Daily Press (combining the Evening Call and the Evening Chronicle which he had purchased). He maintained the Press until August, 1889 when he sold it to Hunt and Bailey.

In 1892 he, with two partners, purchased the Morning Telegraph. It was the Telegraph which installed the first Mergenthaler typesetting machines west of the Rockies in 1893. In addition, Hill was President of the Washington State Press Association, 1893-1894.

His political and civic activities were numerous and varied. He was a Seattle city councilman, 1898-1900, a deputy county commissioner, executive secretary of the Rainier Heights Improvement Club and the Federated Improvement Clubs of Seattle, and in 1910 he helped organize the Taxpayers' League of Seattle and served as its executive secretary. Hill died in January of 1935; his obituary appeared in the Seattle Times (a successor to the Daily Press) January 23, 1935; 13:3.

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Content Description

This collection consists of papers and photographs related to Homer Hill's business, civic, and political activities. Sone notable items are a telegram from C. S. Voorhees announcing passage of statehood for Washington, a map of "proposed saloon limits" for the City of Seattle; correspondence and ephemera related to the Mergenthaler typesetting machine Hill acquired, membership and mailing lists for civic clubs and other organizations in Washington, and photographs of Helena, MT and Seattle, WA from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Preferred Citation

[Item Description] Homer M. Hill papers, 1877-1934

Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in three series:

Series 1: Scrapbooks and commonplace book, 1898-1900 and undated

Series 2: Papers, 1877-1934 and undated. This series consists of correspondence, ephemera, clippings, notebooks, manuscript notes and drafts, legal documents, minute books, organization membership lists, by-laws, resolutions, reports, and miscellaneous items. The series is divided into four sequences: personal papers, newspaper records, improvement association papers, and Taxpayers' League of Seattle records.

Series 3: Photographs, circa 1880-1910

Location of Collection

(MASC STAFF USE) The oversize item (folder 37) is in boxed oversize.

Acquisition Information

Mrs. Libby Hoag donated the papers of Homer M. Hill to the Washington State University Libraries in the 1940s (MS 70-1395).

Processing Note

This collection was processed by Terry Abraham in 1973, and additional processing was done by Cheryl Gunselman in 2010.

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Detailed Description of the Collection

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Newspaper publishing -- History -- Sources.

Corporate Names

  • Federated Improvement Clubs of Seattle (Wash.)

Geographical Names

  • Seattle (Wash.) -- Politics and government.

Finding aid prepared by Cheryl Gunselman
2016

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

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