October 4 – November 21, 1885
The Mob at Yesler's Hall: Seattle's 1885 Campaign of Exclusion
Seattle paper's 1885 reports trace anti-Chinese rallies, a raid, and expulsions
8 reports in Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer, October 4 – November 21, 1885.
The story
From October 4 to November 21, 1885, the Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer reported on an organized anti-Chinese campaign in Seattle: a rally at Yesler's Hall to plan a forced expulsion, a raid on Chinatown attributed to a city official, a torchlight demonstration at Frye's Opera House, and a November gathering at the Standard Theater where labor activists organized to defend members against indictment. The same paper carried separate accounts of a boycott pledge against Chinese residents in Bellingham and of a pre-planned expulsion in Tacoma. The reports are brief and, by the archive's own description, advocate exclusion rather than document it neutrally, leaving numbers, exact dates, and outcomes largely unspecified.
Told from the 8 reports below. The reports are the record.
The archive grouped these reports automatically, by date, place and subject.
The reports 8
- Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerThe Mob at Yesler's Hall: Seattle's 1885 Campaign of Exclusion
As anti-Chinese sentiment boiled over in Seattle, local laborers and activists held a packed rally to formalize plans for the forced expulsion of the city's Chinese population.
- Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerThe Expulsion of Bellingham’s Chinese Residents
In 1885, citizens of Bellingham signed a pledge to systematically boycott and remove their Chinese neighbors, marking a dark chapter in Washington's labor and social history.
- Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerThe Campaign to Purge Seattle’s Chinatown
In 1885, as anti-Chinese sentiment surged across the Pacific Northwest, a Seattle city official led a raid on the city's Chinatown, marking an early, aggressive move in the movement to drive the Chinese community out of the city.
- Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerThe 'Freezing Out' Campaign of 1885
As anti-Chinese sentiment reaches a fever pitch in Seattle, the local press advocates for a 'peaceful' campaign of economic exclusion to force the Chinese community out of the city.
- Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerThe Torchlight Mob at Frye's Opera House
In 1885, Seattle laborers and anti-Chinese activists gathered for a massive, torch-lit demonstration to demand the removal of the city's Chinese population, marking a dark chapter of exclusionary labor violence in the Pacific Northwest.
- Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerThe Day Tacoma Forced Out Its Chinese Neighbors
In a pre-planned act of collective expulsion, hundreds of residents marched through the rain to force the city's Chinese population to flee to Lakeview, marking a dark chapter in Pacific Northwest history.
- Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerThe Shadow Over Seattle's Waterfront
As the anti-Chinese movement spreads through the Pacific Northwest, agitators in Seattle and Tacoma organize a campaign of expulsion, claiming the city's prosperity is at risk.
- Seattle Daily Post-IntelligencerThe Siege of Seattle's Anti-Chinese Agitators
As a community split over the exclusionary movement, labor activists gathered at the Standard Theater to defend their peers against legal indictment and internal unrest.
From the pages
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer · Oct 4, 1885
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer · Oct 11, 1885
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer · Oct 16, 1885
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer · Oct 18, 1885
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer · Oct 25, 1885
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer · Nov 4, 1885
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer · Nov 11, 1885
Seattle Daily Post-Intelligencer · Nov 21, 1885
Library of Congress, Chronicling America. Public domain.