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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
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| 1882 | 1 |
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52 stories matching matron
- Tacoma Contractor Held in Child Abuse Case
A prominent contractor faces serious charges after authorities allege he lured vulnerable girls to his home with candy and money.
- The Ladies' Relief Society Appeals for Room
With an uptick in city poverty and a new kindergarten established, Seattle’s relief workers call for expanded space to house the vulnerable.
- Marriage Saves a Defendant from Seduction Charges
After a legal battle over an alleged seduction, the defendant avoids a potential prison sentence by marrying the plaintiff, closing the case on the spot.
- The Kidnapping of the Kerr Children: A Seattle Scandal of Custody and Class
In July 1888, Chief Justice Jones presided over a dramatic habeas corpus hearing regarding two young girls seized from an orphanage by their father and his new lover, sparking a public debate over morality, custody rights, and the fate of vulnerable children.
- The Sad Case of Eight-Year-Old Albert
A young boy, orphaned and abandoned by his father, is sentenced to reform school for petty theft.
- The Secrets of Seattle’s Beauty Parlors
Behind the storefronts of 1889 Seattle, women entrepreneurs were building empires of vanity and wellness, one manicure at a time.
- The Sawdust in Your Spice Cabinet
A Seattle newspaper exposé from 1888 reveals that the city's food supply was being systemically poisoned by greed, with sawdust in spices and grease in butter.
- The Tragedy and Redemption of Alice Cady
After a young woman fled to Seattle to escape scandal, her father and lover reunited with her to formalize their bond.
- The Tragic Death of an Infant and a Doctor's Arrest
A Seattle coroner’s jury implicates a local doctor following the discovery of a dead infant at a Madison Street residence.
- The Panic Over 'Free Love' and Women's Rights in Early Seattle
An editorial from the Puget Sound Dispatch decries the growing suffrage movement, labeling advocates as threats to the 'sanctity of the marriage relation.'
- The Klondike Nightmare: A Millionaire’s Niece Returns Broken
After chasing gold in the frozen north, a woman with family connections to Chicago wealth returns to Seattle penniless and ruined in health, offering a grim warning to other hopeful prospectors.
- The Girl Who Didn't Come Back: Katie Hackworth's Vanishing
A 14-year-old Seattle girl disappears after leaving a Tacoma children's home, and the adults around her offer denials, rumors, and a promise that she is 'all right.'
- The Abandoned Infant on Third Street
An April Fool's Day prank turns somber when a prominent Seattle real estate developer finds a newborn left on his doorstep.
- The Girl Who Wanted to Make a Sensation
A 15-year-old from Los Angeles was stopped at Yesler dock on her way to a Tacoma elopement—and told Seattle police she had only been bored.
- The Puritans Might Have Been Horrified, but Seattle’s New Opera House is Open
A new cultural landmark opens on Commercial Street, sparking a debate on whether theater remains a 'penal offense' or a sign of progress.
- A Coxey Marcher's Family Left Destitute in Seattle
Two barefoot girls beg police for food after their father joins the industrial army marching on Washington and their mother is left unable to work.
- The Pike Street Rescue of Three 'Giddy' Girls
A 16-year-old from Victoria and two Seattle girls were pulled from saloon back rooms and lodging houses; one father got his daughter back.
- The Hello Girls of Seattle: Inside the City’s First Telephone Exchange
A rare architectural tour reveals the inner workings of the new Bell Building on Third Avenue, where thirty young women manage the city's voice network through a complex web of wires and switchboards.
- A Dying Woman's Last Wish: To See Her Sister Before the End
Mabel Burnside, a Seattle mother who waded into the tide flats seeking death, lies gravely ill at the House of the Good Shepherd — holding on only in the hope that her sister can reach her bedside in time.
- The Iron-Molded Suit: When Tailors Pressed Clothes Onto Your Body
A bizarre new fashion trend in Seattle has women wrapping themselves in hot irons to 'mold' their suits into shape.
- The Women of Olympia Furnish a Home Away from Home for Old Soldiers
The Geo. H. Thomas Woman’s Relief Corps outfits a cozy room at the Soldiers’ Home in Orting, down to a rug made from sixteen raccoon skins.
- The Kidnapping of the Kerr Child: A Battle for Custody and Morality
Charles L. Kerr and his new wife Viola Bell Thorndyke are accused of snatching an infant from a boat in Seattle, sparking a legal war over whether the child will be raised by her father or placed in a home deemed 'proper.'
- A Hospital Takes Shape in a Rented Building
A charitable board leases the Avon building near Cedar Street and calls on churchwomen to furnish and oversee Seattle’s new general hospital.
- A Flag Over the Sick: Seattle's First General Hospital Opens Its Doors
A three-story wooden building on Front Street becomes a nonsectarian refuge for the poor and paying alike — raised by a woman's persistence and a city's donations, and dedicated under the Stars and Stripes.
- The Battle Over the Old Soldiers’ Home
Grand Army veterans accuse the home’s board of planting a hired engineer and laundress to force out Commandant S. E. Street—and they want a judge to rule on the ouster.