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|---|---|
| 1854 | 2 |
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| 1877 | 23 |
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676 stories matching black
- A Mountain of Coffins: Franklin Buries Its Miners
After a mine fire killed 37 men, the coal town of Franklin held a day of funerals—five graves at Black Diamond, three Italian miners on a hillside, and widows whose grief doctors feared would kill them.
- A Jury Called the Franklin Mine Fire Arson. Thirty-Seven Miners Were Already Dead.
A coroner's jury found that someone deliberately set the fire that suffocated 37 workers in the Franklin mine. The only survivor described how one opened door and one stopped fan turned the gangway into a death trap.
- The Lumbermen Who Worshipped a Black Cat
Seattle initiates into the Concatenated Order of Hoo-Hoo, a new fraternal society for lumbermen, complete with black robes, mock titles and a banquet.
- The Last Rally: How Seattle’s Republicans Tried to Buy the Vote with Prima Donnas and Quartets
As election day approaches, the Republican party stages its final grand spectacle at the Armory, promising musical entertainment for ladies and a landslide victory for Frank D. Black over the 'mongrel' Populist ticket.
- The Black Diamond Strike: When a Single Wage Dispute Paralyzed 350 Miners
A local labor assembly ordered a halt to production at the Black Diamond coal mine after a miner was paid as a laborer despite working underground. Company agents claim ignorance of the cause, but the men stand firm.
- When Seattle Was Coal Country
A detailed 1895 survey shows King County leading Washington's coal output, with Seattle shipping fuel to California, Oregon, and the Midwest—while labor troubles and spontaneous mine fires shadowed the boom.
- A Gunfighter Imported for a Seattle Primary
Sheriff Woolery and saloon-world fixer John Considine tried to seize a First Ward Republican primary—and brought a jailed gambler along to help.
- A Frontier Settling of Scores on the Seattle Waterfront
A known 'tumble fighter' and gambler named Black guns down McKinney over a gambling debt, adding to the violent reputation of the regional sporting fraternity.
- Mining, Military Drills, and a Skunk's Demise in Black Diamond
An 1885 dispatch from the Black Diamond coal fields details civic improvements, the formation of a local militia company, and a comical, if ill-fated, experiment involving a captive skunk.
- The Mine Strike That Ended in a Shooting — and a Nonsuit
Washington’s Supreme Court upheld the dismissal of the Thornburn family’s damages suit after violence between striking miners and Black strikebreakers at the Franklin and Newcastle coal mines.
- A Trainload of Black Miners Arrives in Roslyn — to Find the Strike Already Broken
Two hundred seventy Black miners and their families came from the Midwest to replace striking Northern Pacific coal miners. By the time they arrived, the white miners had returned to work.
- Black Diamond Coal Operator Replaces Chinese Workers With White Labor
The operator of the Black Diamond coal works discharged all Chinese employees and replaced them with white labor, a change greeted with jubilation amid exclusionary sentiment in Black Diamond and Franklin.
- The White Striker Who Opposed Black Miners, Then Praised Their Community
Three years after opposing the arrival of Black miners at Franklin, a white miner wrote home praising their societies, their Masonic hall, and their Black justice of the peace.
- The Siege of Franklin
In a courtroom packed with spectators, a Black miner defends his decision to open fire during a violent anti-Black labor riot at the Franklin coal mines.
- Racial Violence Erupts in Roslyn Mines
Tensions turn deadly in a mining town as white citizens clash with Black laborers.
- A Pioneer's 40-Year Fight for Land the Indian Wars Took
Isaiah W. Bryant's 1895 petition traced how he fled his White River donation claim during the 1855-56 war, lost his savings, and waited decades for the land office to act.
- The Mayor's War on 'Black Chapel'
Mayor J. T. Ronald vetoes a saloon license in a notorious district, decrying the density of vice in a three-hundred-foot square.
- A Coal Company's Strikebreaker Gambit in Roslyn
A Northern Pacific manager admits the company is importing Black miners from the East to break the Roslyn coal strike—and hints the miners' refusal of a pay cut left him no choice.
- The High Stakes 'Sing-Gamble' of the Cedar River
For over 130 hours, tribes from the Black, Cedar, and Puyallup rivers engaged in an ancient, rhythmic gambling ritual near Renton, staking their entire winter's livelihood on the outcome.
- The Hell of Black Diamond
A local clergyman takes a fiery stand against a saloon and dance hall he claims is corrupting the village.
- The Tragedy at Mrs. Jordan's
A Newcastle man stands trial for the murder of John Downie after a deadly dispute involving a woman.
- Tragedy at the Black Diamond Sewer Pipe Works
A boiler explosion in the works at Black Diamond Landing resulted in one death and multiple fatal injuries.
- The Seventy-Round Brawl at Black Diamond
A high-stakes prize fight between Billy Lynn and Daws ended in a bitter, disputed referee decision after four hours of grueling combat in the mining camp.
- A Gavel, a Roar, and a Populist Ticket Born in Chaos
King County's People's Party convention at Turner Hall turned into a shouting, proxy-fighting, faction-splitting marathon—and buried Dr. J. Eugene Jordan and Jack McDonald on the way to nominating a ticket.
- The Midnight Saloon Heist in Ilwaco
When a business dispute turned into a border-crossing caper, one saloonkeeper decided to settle the ownership question by boat in the dead of night.
Also about this, in other words
- The Political Allegiance of the Black Voter in 1892
In an era of rising racial violence and disenfranchisement, H.R. Carroll makes an impassioned case for why the Republican Party remained the only viable choice for Black citizens.
- The Aristocracy of Skin
An editorial reflection on the prevalence of racial prejudice in the North and the exclusion of Black students and congregants from 'civilized' institutions.
- The Sermon that Shook a Seattle Congregation
A Seattle minister caused a sensation by preaching that biblical figures were of the Black race, citing historical and lineage arguments to his congregation.
- Black Workers Organize for Fair Employment
After facing widespread discrimination from employers and fellow workers, Tacoma’s Black community gathers to demand equal opportunity.
- The Black Pall Over Washington’s Future
A proposed decade-long extension for the Northern Pacific Railroad threatens to monopolize the territory's vast timber and mineral wealth while stifling independent settlement.
- The Blues of the Black River: A Walk Through Snohomish’s New Frontier
A local resident takes a stroll through the muddy pastures and new homesteads near the Black River, finding beauty in the 'mounds' of ancient history and the promise of a fresh start for settlers.
- The Delegate the Party Refused to Seat
When King County Democrats elected a Black delegate to their state convention, Southern-leaning party members staged a revolt to avoid sitting with him.
- A Rejection of Anti-Black Rhetoric
The Fairhaven Herald takes a rare, strong public stance against a neighboring editor's racist call for colonization.