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Dorothy Stimson Bullitt papers, 1872-1993

Overview of the Collection

Creator
Bullitt, Dorothy Stimson, 1892-1989
Title
Dorothy Stimson Bullitt papers
Dates
1872-1993 (inclusive)
Quantity
117.07 cubic feet (215 boxes and 1 oversize folder)
Collection Number
5269
Summary
Papers of a Seattle broadcasting executive and civic leader
Repository
University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections
Special Collections
University of Washington Libraries
Box 352900
Seattle, WA
98195-2900
Telephone: 2065431929
Fax: 2065431931
speccoll@uw.edu
Access Restrictions

Access to portions of the papers is restricted. Contact the Special Collections Division, University of Washington Library for details.

Some material stored offsite; advance notice required for use.

Request at UW

Additional Reference Guides

Languages
English
Sponsor
Funding for encoding this finding aid was partially provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities
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Biographical Note

Dorothy Stimson Bullitt was a broadcasting pioneer and Seattle, Washington, civic leader, 1892-1989. Her parents were Charles Douglas “C.D.” Stimson (1857-1929) – a leading figure in local lumber and real estate industries – and Harriet Overton Stimson (1862-1936) – an ex-music teacher and patron of the arts. Mrs. Bullitt grew up on First Hill in Seattle. She attended school at Briarcliffe Manor in New York from 1908 to 1911 and lived in New York City from 1913 to 1915. She returned to and lived in Seattle for a few years until her marriage in 1918 to Alexander Scott Bullitt (1877-1932), an attorney and politician from Louisville, Kentucky. For two years following their marriage, Scott and Dorothy Bullitt lived in Louisville but moved back to Seattle permanently in 1920.

In Seattle, Scott Bullitt worked alongside Dorothy Bullitt’s brother, Thomas Douglas Stimson (1884-1931), and her father in managing family business interests. Scott also continued his political career in Washington, running unsuccessfully in United States senate and gubernatorial races. Dorothy Bullitt herself remained on the sideline of family business, caring for her three children, Charles Stimson (“Stim,” 1919-), Dorothy Priscilla (“Patsy”/“Peach,” 1920-2003) and Harriet (1923- ). Dorothy Bullitt's father died in 1929 and her brother suffered a fatal airplane accident in 1931. The following year, Scott Bullitt became terminally ill with liver cancer and died on April 10, 1932. Following this string of tragedies, management of the Stimson Realty Company (later renamed the Bullitt Company) and other family affairs fell into Dorothy Bullitt’s hands.

Over the next decade, Dorothy Bullitt was occupied not only with the family businesses but also with various political and civic involvements. In 1932 she took her husband’s place as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. In 1933 she was appointed commissioner of the Washington Emergency Relief Commission, which approved funding for such projects as the Washington State Arboretum and the Grand Coulee Dam, and chaired the National Women’s Committee of the Mobilization for Human Needs. During World War II, Bullitt served in the Volunteer Detachment of the Seattle Civilian War Commission.

In 1946 Bullitt’s business career took a drastic turn as she acquired a Seattle radio station, applied for a broadcasting license, and incorporated her first broadcasting company, Western Waves. In 1947 the company changed its station’s call letters from KEVR to KING and reincorporated as King Broadcasting. In 1949 King Broadcasting purchased KRSC TV - the only television station in the Pacific Northwest - and began broadcasting as KING-TV, channel 5. In 1954 KING expanded into Portland, Oregon, with the purchase of KGW radio. The next year KING beat out Westinghouse for a Portland television license, and in 1957 bought AM and FM radio stations, as well as television stations in Spokane, Washington. Through the years, King Broadcasting was the leader in Pacific Northwest television, with emphases on children’s and educational programming, mobile television, and quality news and cultural programming.

Dorothy Bullitt served as president of King Broadcasting until 1962, when her son Stimson Bullitt took her place. In 1971 Stimson stepped down from the presidency, and Ancil Payne became chief executive officer, while Mrs. Bullitt and her daughters – Priscilla Collins and Harriet Bullitt – remained on the executive committee.

While building KING’s broadcasting empire, Dorothy Bullitt maintained a high level of civic involvement. She served on the National Association of Broadcasters Television Code Review Board from 1952 to 1956 and 1959 to 1963; the University of Washington Board of Regents from 1958 to 1965; and the Washington State Canal Commission from 1961 to 1967.

Throughout her life, Mrs. Bullitt won a number of awards for her many achievements, including a personal Peabody award for her contributions to the field of broadcasting, Seattle’s First Citizen award from the Seattle Real Estate Board, honorary degrees, and other accolades.

Dorothy Stimson Bullitt remained an active member of King Broadcasting’s executive committee until her retirement in 1988. She died in her home in Seattle on June 29th, 1989.

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Content Description

The papers document the lives, interests, and businesses of Dorothy Stimson Bullitt and her family. Papers include records of the King Broadcasting Company, mainly from the office of Dorothy Stimson Bullitt, which document the growth and activities of the family's television and radio enterprises.

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Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The creator's literary rights have not been transferred to the University of Washington Libraries.

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Administrative Information

Arrangement

Organized into 5 accessions.

  • Accession No. 5269-001, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt family papers, 1825-1992
  • Accession No. 5269-002, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt business papers of the King Broadcasting Company, 1933-1993
  • Accession No. 5269-004, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt papers, 1947-1989
  • Accession No. 5269-005, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt papers, 1917-1939
  • Accession No. 5269-006, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt papers, 1923-1989

Processing Note

6.88 cubic feet of personal and family photographs, albums, architectural drawings, blueprints, and other graphic materials were relocated to the Dorothy Stimson Bullitt Photograph Collection, PH Coll. 619, in the Special Collections division. The main subjects of the photographs are members of the Charles Douglas Stimson, Alexander Scott Bullitt, and Dorothy Stimson Bullitt families and their descendants. The family photographs mainly date from the 1860s to the 1930s. Several of the Bullitt portraits were made by Dorothea Lange and Imogen Cunningham. Other subjects include the Highlands houses, Greenway and Norcliffe, circa 1920s-1930s; trips to Alaska (1890s), Europe (1905), California (1908, 1910), Yellowstone (1911), and Honolulu (1919); golf and country club activities, (1910-1920s); dogs and horses; and the family yacht Olympic and tugboat Stimson . The main subjects of the blueprints and drawings are the Highlands homes, including landscape plans by the Olmsted Brothers.

5.8 cubic feet of photographs (over 1,000 individual prints) relating to the King Broadcasting Company were relocated to the King Broadcasting Company Photograph Collection, PH Accession No. 2002-019, in the Special Collections division in 2001. Subjects include personnel of radio and television stations, station promotional events, television programs, award presentations, network television and movie publicity photographs, hydroplane races, University of Washington football promotions, Bullitt family members, and celebrity portraits (some autographed).

Bibliography

Haley, Delphine, Dorothy Stimson Bullitt: An Uncommon Life (Seattle: Sasquatch Books, c1995).

Chasan, Daniel Jack, On the Air: The King Broadcasting Story (Anacortes, Washington: Island Publishers, c1996).

Corr, O. Casey, King: The Bullitts of Seattle and Their Communications Empire (Seattle : University of Washington Press, c1996).

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Detailed Description of the Collection

 

Names and SubjectsReturn to Top

Subject Terms

  • Broadcasters--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Family-owned business enterprises--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Personal Papers/Corporate Records (University of Washington)
  • Radio broadcasting--Oregon--Portland
  • Radio broadcasting--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Radio programs--Washington (State)
  • Radio stations--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Radio--Production and direction--Washington (State)
  • Real estate management--Washington (State)
  • Television broadcasting--Oregon--Portland
  • Television broadcasting--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Television broadcasting--Washington (State)--Spokane
  • Television programs--Washington (State)
  • Television stations--Oregon--Portland
  • Television stations--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Television stations--Washington (State)--Spokane
  • Television--Production and direction--Washington (State)
  • Women broadcasters--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives
  • Women civic leaders--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives
  • Women executives--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives
  • Women in the mass media industry--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Women political activists--Washington (State)--Seattle--Archives

Personal Names

  • Bullitt, A. Scott (Alexander Scott), 1878?-1932
  • Bullitt, Dorothy Stimson, 1892-1989--Archives
  • Bullitt, Stimson
  • Collins, Priscilla Bullitt
  • Colver, Henry A
  • Haley, Andrew G. (Andrew Gallagher)
  • Haley, Delphine
  • Payne, Ancil H., 1921-2004
  • Stimson, C. D. (Charles Douglas)
  • Stimson, Harriet O. (Harriet Overton)

Corporate Names

  • Hearst Radio Inc
  • KGW-TV (Television station : Portland, Or.)
  • KING-FM (Radio station : Seattle, Wash.)
  • KING-TV (Television station : Seattle, Wash.)
  • KREM-TV (Television station : Spokane, Wash.)
  • King Broadcasting Company--Archives
  • Metropolitan Building Company (Seattle, Wash.)
  • Mobilization for Human Needs (1933 : Washington, D.C.)
  • National Association of Broadcasters. Television Code Review Board
  • Okinawa Plywood Corporation
  • Olmsted Brothers
  • Radio King (Radio station : Seattle, Wash.)
  • Seattle Civilian War Commission
  • University of Washington. Board of Regents
  • Washington (State). Canal Commission
  • Washington (State). Emergency Relief Administration
  • Western Waves, Inc

Family Names

  • Bullitt family--Archives
  • Ohata family
  • Stimson family--Archives

Titles within the Collection

  • Seattle magazine

Other Creators

  • Corporate Names

    • King Broadcasting Company (creator)

    Family Names

    • Bullitt family (creator)
    • Stimson family (creator)


2006 (Last modified: 9/14/2022)

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