Hazel Anna Wolf (1898 - 2000) was a prominent Seattle activist who fought for feminism, human rights, labor and environmental protection throughout her 101 years. She was born in Victoria, British Columbia, an experienced a childhood largely dominated by class and poverty issues. Activism was the mark of her lifetime: during the depression era, she struggled to organize unions while employed in the WPA. For the rest of her working years (1949 – 1965) she was a secretary for civil rights lawyer John Caughlan. She moved to Seattle in 1923 as a struggling single mother and became interested in labor issues. She was a member of the Communist Party from the 1930s into the 1940s, and was active in immigration issues, at one point nearly being deported to her native Canada. By the time of McCarthyism, she was being targeted by the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service as a subversive foreign national. Her deportation cases lasted from 1949-1963, and, though she later became a U.S. citizen, she never made any apologies for her Communist affiliation.
In the early sixties a friend introduced Wolf to the Audubon Society, which spurred a decade-spanning love for and activism in environmental causes. Hazel joined the Seattle Audubon Society and was secretary for 37 years until her death. An exuberant organizer, she is also credited with the creation of 21 other Audubon chapters in this state.
Her environmental activism also reached beyond Audubon. In the late 1970’s Wolf revitalized the Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs, and served as its president in 1976-77. She began editing this organization’s newsletter, Outdoors West in 1981 and continued to do so until 1999.
Her causes also led her to international territory. Wolf visited Nicaragua five times from 1983-1994, for both environmental and political reasons. She was inspired by the Sandinista's connection between environmental stewardship and democratic socialism. She received the Association of Biologists and Ecologists of Nicaragua award for "work for the conservation of nature" in 1985. In 1990, she visited as an official observer of the elections.
Following from a core belief that “everything connects,” Wolf supported a great number of social justice causes in conjunction with her environmental work. In 1979 she helped organize the Indian Conservationist Conference. She is credited with helping found the Community Coalition for Environmental Justice, an organization that addresses urban environmental concerns of minority and low-income communities. Because of her commitment to outreach to urban children, Audubon created the “Kids for the Environment Fund” in honor of her 100th birthday.
Wolf received numerous accolades for her activist work, including the Sol Feinstein Award in 1978, Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility's Paul Beeson Peace Award in 1995, the National Audubon Society's Medal of Excellence in 1997, and Seattle's Spirit of America Award in 1999.
Organized into 8 accessions:
Consult the scope and content information for each of the accessions listed below.
Open to all users.
Some material stored offsite; advance notice required for use.
Creator's rights transferredto the University of Washington Libraries.
Bulk of the accession is Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs, including the Federation's newsletter "Outdoors West" (1979-1982).
Includes the Audubon Society and Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs material and files on the Federation newsletter, "Outdoors West."
Clipping from Seattle Times-PI on February 4, 1990 is a lengthy biographical article.
Includes materials related to Wolfe's professional capacities with the Federation of Western Outdoor Clubs and their newsletter "Outdoors West", Seattle Audubon Society, and National Audubon Society.
Some material stored offsite; advance notice required for use.