Research the archive
Narrow 25,688 newspaper stories by words, years, place, newspaper and subject. See when and where they ran, then download what you find.
Put a phrase in quotes ("rent strike") or leave a word out with a minus (strike -baseball). Old scans misspell names, so when little is found, near-spellings are offered.
Refine
Show the numbers
| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
| 1872 | 2 |
| 1876 | 2 |
| 1877 | 9 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1882 | 2 |
| 1883 | 15 |
| 1884 | 6 |
| 1885 | 8 |
| 1886 | 5 |
| 1887 | 5 |
| 1888 | 5 |
| 1889 | 12 |
| 1890 | 3 |
| 1891 | 10 |
| 1892 | 37 |
| 1893 | 24 |
| 1894 | 27 |
| 1895 | 38 |
| 1897 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 6 |
| 1900 | 1 |
| 1903 | 31 |
| 1904 | 7 |
| 1907 | 2 |
| 1908 | 3 |
| 1909 | 13 |
| 1910 | 4 |
| 1915 | 4 |
| 1916 | 10 |
| 1917 | 14 |
| 1918 | 5 |
| 1923 | 8 |
| 1924 | 10 |
| 1925 | 5 |
343 stories matching director
- The Schoolhouse That Wasn't: Seattle’s Bureaucratic Battle Over Public Education
In 1877, a local dispute over the construction of a new school in Helltown reveals the early struggles of civic infrastructure and the tension between taxpayer demands and administrative delay.
- School Directors Barred from Self-Dealing
The Supreme Court rules that school directors cannot bypass competitive contracts by doing the work themselves and billing the district.
- Seattle's Schools Stay Open While Two Boards Square Off Over Scarlet Fever
When the Board of Health ordered South and Rainier schools closed during a scarlet fever scare, the school board filed the order and refused to shut the doors.
- Eighty-Five Percent or Nothing: Kennewick's Berry Growers Vote on Selling as One
The Kennewick-Richland Marketing Union will not handle a single berry unless growers pledge 85 percent of the acreage — and the directors have stopped asking twice.
- The Debts a Country Owes Its Farmers — and Its Farmers' Wives
An 1898 farm-column editorial tallies what rural Washington neglects: untrained road supervisors, school directors so illiterate the legislature had to bar them, and farm women who never see a newspaper or a neighbor.
- Benton County Hay Growers Form Regional Cooperative
Producers from four counties rally to form the Northwest Hay Growers Association, consolidating market power through a collective board.
- A Shortage Behind the Prison Walls, and a Legislature Out of Time
A joint legislative committee grills the penitentiary directors at Walla Walla over the missing funds of a defaulting official, while senators privately admit the session will end before the truth comes out.
- When Seattle’s School Warrants Went Begging at 90 Cents
A judge’s ruling on school money left teachers and directors unpaid, school warrants unsellable, and King County officials refusing to honor the court.
- The Town Meeting Catechism
Taxpayers pack Denny Hall to grill the school board over building costs and teacher salaries during the 'hard times' of 1894.
- When Seattle's Mayor Took on Poverty: The 1895 Charity Bureau Meeting
At the Chamber of Commerce, Mayor Byron Phelps and local leaders discussed unemployment, aid to families, and the growing demand for relief during a depression year.
- Aberdeen Keeps the Lights On, Three Months at a Time
When the electric company threatened to shut down the plant, citizens and city officials scraped together a temporary guarantee to keep Aberdeen lit.
- The 'Immortal Cinch': Aberdeen's Schools Signed Away a Year of Chairs
In March 1892 the directors of Chehalis County's school district No. 5 promised to buy every desk and seat they would need for a full year from one Seattle furniture firm at prices that could never come down. The local editor read the contract and asked the one question nobody had answered: what did the district get in return?
- The Call for Women on the School Board
An editorial push to break the all-male tradition of the local school board, arguing that a woman's perspective is essential for educational oversight.
- A $15,000 Bond Issue to Keep Newport's Schools Ahead of Its Growth
Directors call an April 17 election on $15,000 in bonds to retire high-interest warrants, with a new school building already pressing on a district of 300 pupils.
- School Board Divided Over Land Acquisition
A legal dispute erupts in a rural school district over the location of a new building, leading to a restraining order.
- Newport’s Bank Comes Through the Panic Still Paying Dividends
Directors of the First National Bank of Newport report a clean balance sheet, a 5 percent dividend and a 17 percent year despite the financial stringency.
- The Northern Pacific Railroad Meltdown
Shareholders accuse directors of self-dealing as the rail giant enters receivership amid the Panic of 1893.
- The Ledger Went Into the Furnace
A Tacoma courtroom heard how 94 company books were burned on orders from the assignee—while stockholders testified that minutes were falsified and $42,000 had vanished.
- The Great Warehouse Embezzlement
A Shawnee Warehouse agent disappears with the wheat of local farmers, triggering a frantic manhunt from Colfax to Seattle.
- Women, Workers, and a $40,000 School Bond
Olympia prepared to vote on a new high school, with women at the polls and labor demanding that local hands build it.
- The Match King’s Monopoly: How Edwin Gould Bought Seattle’s Competition
A look at the massive consolidation of the American match industry by J.P. Morgan’s ally, Edwin Gould, and what it means for local manufacturers.
- Benton County's First Bank Failure of the Depression
A collapse in Prosser reveals the fragility of an agricultural economy reeling from repeated crop failures and frost.
- The Boy Too Tough for the Reform School
A teenage burglar escapes Chehalis, stumps the trustees, and triggers a constitutional standoff over who must deal with an incorrigible child.
- The Bank Clerk Who Stole a Quarter-Million to Prove a Point
A bank employee holds his own employer's cash hostage to force a change in labor relations and banking ethics.
- The Great Railroad Standoff: Seattle’s Future Hinges on a Visit
As Northern Pacific directors arrive to survey the route, local leaders warn that without a guaranteed connection north of Tacoma, capital will flee and population will drain to California.
Also about this, in other words
- The Uncontested Bid for School Director
Aberdeen’s local newspaper urges a unanimous vote to keep the current school board intact during the upcoming election.
- Confessions of a Theatrical Manager
Daniel Frohman, the famous theater manager, discusses the high-stakes gamble of producing stage plays in the late 19th century.
- The Toughest Job in the State
Senator Wesley L. Jones defends Prohibition Director Roy C. Lyle against critics, promising severe penalties for any official caught winking at law-breakers.
- Voters Reject Political Machine in School Board Race
A decisive victory for incumbent school directors confirms public support for the current board's management, while a candidate backed by the Democratic political machine fails significantly.
- The Conductor Who Fought Back
A Great Northern conductor uses his fists to fend off two muggers he recognized from his days on the rail lines.
- The Final Deadline
A foreman for the Times, devoted to his craft until his final breath, dies after a sudden illness.
- The School Board's Romance
A skeptical school director finds his professional 'sense of duty' unexpectedly tangled with the local teacher he once fought to keep out.
- An Editor's Brutal Critique of Bad Poetry
A local poet brings his manuscript to the P-I office, only to have his work butchered by an editor with a cynical, practical sense of humor.