View XML QR Code

Seattle Historical Society Founders' Day and Other Events Photograph Collection, 1894-1925

Overview of the Collection

Title
Seattle Historical Society Founders' Day and Other Events Photograph Collection
Dates
1894-1925 (inclusive)
1911-1925 (bulk)
Quantity
127 photographs, including two albums, (2 boxes)
Collection Number
2008.3.1
Summary
Photographs of Seattle Historical Society members at annual Founders' Day celebrations and other events.
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 collection is open to the public by appointment.

Languages
English.
Return to Top

Historical Note

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.

Return to Top

Content Description

The collections consists of 44 loose photographs and two albums of 13 and 70 photographs. Most of the loose photographs depict women in period costume inside or in front of Morgan J. and Emily Carkeek's residence at the annual Founders' Day celebrations, between 1911 and 1925. Many of the photographs have identifications inscribed on the back or on separate sheets of paper. Women are usually identified by their husband's names, and many names of prominent early Seattleites recur over the years: Morgan J. Carkeek, Thomas Burke, Charles Rollins, A.F. McEwan,William Trimble, Charles and Arthur Denny, Erastus Brainerd, James Howe, E.L Blaine, T.T. Minor, Thomas Prosch, Thornton Prosser, William Biglow, and John Goodfellow, among others.

Both albums also contain photographs of the Founders' Day parties, including many duplicates of the loose photographs. The album apparently assembled by Emily Carkeek also includes many photographs of members of the Seattle Historical Society and other Seattle organizations at Park Board picnics at old Carkeek Park on Pontiac Bay at Lake Washington.

Return to Top

Use of the Collection

Restrictions on Use

The Museum of History & Industry is the owner of the materials in the Sophie Frye Bass Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from MOHAI before any reproduction use. The museum does not necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Alternative Forms Available

View selections from the collection in digital format by clicking on the camera icons in the inventory below.

Preferred Citation

Collection of Seattle Historical Society Founders' Day and other events photographs, Museum of History & Industry, Seattle

Return to Top

Administrative Information

Location of Collection

3a.4.4

Acquisition Information

Found in collection.

Return to Top

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

  • Costume--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Parks and playgrounds
  • Parties--Washington (State)--Seattle
  • Picnicking--Washington (State)--Seattle

Personal Names

  • Carkeek, Morgan J., 1847-1931

Corporate Names

  • Seattle Historical Society

Geographical Names

  • Carkeek Park (Seattle, Wash.)

Form or Genre Terms

  • Photograph albums
  • Photographic prints

Other Creators

  • Personal Names

    • Carkeek, Emily, d. 1926 (creator)

Finding aid prepared by Jody Hendrickson
2008

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

About Creative Commons Licenses in Archives West

Loading...
Loading...