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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 3 |
| 1877 | 9 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1886 | 1 |
| 1887 | 1 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 9 |
| 1894 | 5 |
| 1895 | 4 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1903 | 11 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1908 | 1 |
| 1909 | 3 |
| 1916 | 2 |
57 stories matching indig
- A Costly Palace for the Poor?
Walla Walla County commissioners face criticism over a proposal to replace the contract system with a twelve-thousand-dollar brick building.
- The Price of Public Charity in 1877
King County seeks the lowest bidder to house and feed the poor, a stark reminder of the nineteenth-century approach to social safety nets.
- Taxpayers' Union Declares War on County Spending
Prosser-based citizens group demands cuts to health and horticultural budgets, targeting local officials over alleged waste.
- The City and County Spar Over the Poor
Seattle officials and King County commissioners reach a stalemate over who bears the responsibility for the city's indigent population.
- The Forgotten Paupers of King County
A backlog of 800 unburied individuals, kept in temporary graves due to a lack of city funds, sparks a call for municipal accountability.
- City and County Spar Over Smallpox Care Costs
A simmering dispute between the Seattle City Council and King County over who should pay to treat the city's sick and indigent.
- When the County Paid for Pauper Burials and Jailhouse Blankets
A look at the grim line items of Seattle's 1876 county budget reveals the mundane, often tragic, administrative costs of governing a frontier territory.
- The Lonely End of Mike Steinburg
An elderly, indigent man dies alone at the county poor house after being found starving in a tent near Lowden.
- The City Hall Elevator Boy Scandal
A Tacoma councilman mocks the municipal budget by suggesting the city sell a painting of the city to pay the wages of the local elevator operator.
- The Veteran's Bitter Return
After the community raised funds to help an indigent Civil War veteran, his quick slide back into destitution offers a sobering look at post-war society and the limits of charity.
- The Palace for the Poor
Walla Walla County commissioners spar over a controversial, high-cost proposal to replace the county’s humble poor farm with a luxury-equipped facility.
- County Funds Blocked for Stubblefield Charity
A legal opinion warns that Walla Walla County cannot donate public tax dollars to a private, non-controlled, multi-state charitable trust.
- King County's Relief Roll: 1,680 People and $4 Apiece
Behind the county's monthly $1,500 poor fund was a line of widows, abandoned wives and barefoot children—many turned away.
- The Price of Public Care
King County officials weigh competing bids for the medical and basic care of the county's poor in 1883.
- Dying on the Doorstep of 'Reform'
A laborer assaulted with a coupling-pin is left bleeding in the street after city officials and the health officer refuse to admit him to the hospital, citing new bureaucratic squabbles.
- City Council Delays Naming a Health Officer
Seattle's City Council stalled on hiring a health officer, wrongly believing the county was responsible for contagion in a city being swept by regional fears.
- The Struggle to Feed and House King County's Poor in 1876
Newly surfaced county records reveal the bureaucratic grind of managing public welfare, road construction, and the sequestration of municipal rents in 1870s Seattle.
- The Fight to Bring the Stubblefield Home to Walla Walla
Legal opinion finds county commissioners are authorized to donate public funds to secure a landmark charitable trust.
- The Stubblefield Will Dispute Settled
A long-running legal challenge to the Stubblefield estate is dropped, clearing the way for a long-awaited home for widows and orphans in Walla Walla.
- The Sisters of Providence Take Over Seattle's County Farm
In an era of rapid expansion, King County commissioners shift the burden of social welfare for the impoverished and ill to the Sisters of the House of Providence for a fixed annual rent.
- A Public Scrutiny of the Relief Home
A club woman challenges the management and endowment of the Ladies' Relief Society home, questioning its financial transparency and restrictive admissions.
- The Soldiers' Home at Orting: A Haven for Veterans
A report on the successful founding, management, and low death rate at the new state-funded home for disabled soldiers.
- The Price of Red Tape in Everett
After a man is left to die from neglect, local observers point to a fractured county bureaucracy that prioritizes procedure over the lives of the indigent.
- The Gold Cure Club: Olympia's Reformed Drinkers Form a Society of Their Own
Veterans of the Keeley Institute organize a mutual-aid club — president, sergeant-at-arms and all — to pull other men with "the drink disease" back from the brink.
- The Forgotten Potential of Seattle's Poor Farm
A visit to the county-owned farm on the Duwamish reveals a rich historical site where city officials debated the ethics of poverty and public support in 1877.