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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 3 |
| 1888 | 1 |
| 1889 | 5 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 3 |
| 1893 | 5 |
| 1894 | 7 |
| 1899 | 2 |
| 1903 | 5 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
40 stories matching immor
- The Scandal at St. Mary’s
A Seattle Episcopal rector faces a congregation-led revolt after rumors of 'immoral practices' turn an ordinary service into a chaotic public showdown.
- The Judge Who Was Both Defendant and Accused
In a stunning legal double-header, Judge Wickersham is convicted of seduction in one court, then immediately indicted for perjury by the federal grand jury in the very same day.
- The Wig and the Wire: How a Tacoma Newspaper Owner Tried to Destroy a Judge
In the sensational Wickersham trial of 1889, prosecutor R.P. Radebaugh’s own past and his alleged conspiracy to frame Judge Wickersham for 'immorality' were laid bare in court.
- When a Chinese Theater Company Rented Tester’s Hall
In 1883, a morning paper attacked the lease as a public offense. The Post-Intelligencer pushed back: the actors were no more immoral than any other troupe, and the hall was old anyway.
- The Trial That Shook Tacoma: The Scandal of Sadie Brantner and Judge Wickersham
A dramatic courtroom battle in the late 1880s reveals a web of sexual politics, professional ethics, and character assassination involving a prominent probate judge and a young woman accused of immorality.
- The Sermon That Demanded a Vigilante Raid
Local clergymen spar over how to handle a notorious 'dive' in Tacoma, with one pastor inciting his congregation to take the law into their own hands.
- Cattleman Arrested in Alleged Human Trafficking Scheme
A wealthy Walla Walla cattle rancher is caught trying to flee to Mexico after being charged with bringing a Parisian woman to Washington for immoral purposes.
- The Price of 'Immorality' in 1891 Seattle
When the city council targeted a saloon keeper for moral failure, the debate exposed deep divisions over class, race, and selective enforcement of the law.
- The Women of Seattle Organize for Social Change
In an era of rapid growth, the King County W.C.T.U. gathered to hold the city's power brokers accountable for the moral and social decay they saw gripping the port city.
- Japanese Couple Targeted in Federal Immigration Raid
Federal authorities arrest a Japanese immigrant and his wife in Tacoma, alleging he brought her into the country for immoral purposes.
- A Seattle Preacher Tells Society Women They Are Marching Their Children to the Gallows
Preaching to women only on "Dying Mothers and Starving Children," Rev. M. A. Matthews calls society "the emptiness of emptiness" — and blames card parties, prizes and maternal neglect for juvenile crime.
- Exposing the Opium Dens of Opera Alley
A local expose reveals that teenage messenger boys are being drawn into the city's opium dens and disreputable houses, triggering a promised police crackdown.
- The Human Trafficking Trial of Alexander Fanchaut
A Walla Walla man faces federal charges for bringing a French woman to the United States under false promises of marriage and coercing her into sex work.
- She Married the Man She Sued — Then Her Lawyers Came for Their Cut
A breach-of-promise case ends in a wedding, but the attorneys who won the judgment want $6,100, and the newlyweds leave for Walla Walla with papers in hand.
- The Forced Deportation of Mrs. Lee Fook Bow
Customs officials seized the steamer Umatilla to enforce a federal court order, ultimately compelling the shipping company to return a Chinese woman to China under the restrictive immigration laws of 1892.
- The Women Who Stormed the Police Chief’s Office
In 1885, a group of Seattle women, frustrated by official corruption and the unchecked influence of saloons and gambling dens, launched a moral crusade to demand a new Chief of Police.
- The Battle for the Soul of the Seattle Police Department
In an 1885 municipal election, Seattle women flexed their new political power to demand a moral cleanup of the city’s police force, specifically targeting the conduct of Chief of Police James Woolery.
- Colville Agency Indigenous Displacement
Newspaper reports indicate that Indigenous people at the Colville Agency in Washington Territory are being actively forced off their ancestral lands by encroaching white settlers.
- The Great Nude Debate: When Seattle’s Church Ladies Tried to Save Their Living Pictures
A fundraising gala at Christ Episcopal Church descended into moral panic when vestrymen declared 'living pictures' (nude art) too scandalous for the pulpit, forcing a cancellation that left donors furious and ladies defiant.
- The Cake-Walk Controversy: When Morality Met Modernity in Bellevue
A local violinist’s moral objection to a high school charity dance nearly sparked a riot, dividing the town between tradition and progress.
- 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 Price of a Scandalous Partnership
A woman who eloped to Seattle seeks to reclaim her share of a partnership, only to have a judge dismiss the suit as based on an 'immoral consideration.'
- The Postal Inspector's Decoy Trap
A persistent postal investigator nabs two local lottery men after months of elaborate sting operations.
- Grand Jury Exposes Seattle Brothels and Liquor Sales to Native Americans
In September 1876, a King County grand jury reported widespread lawlessness in Seattle, including indictments for selling liquor to Native Americans, running gambling houses, and maintaining public nuisances.
- The Price of Virtue in a Growing Boomtown
Mayor George W. Hall rejects 'vicious' municipal profits from sin, grappling with the fiscal reality of a rapidly expanding, fire-scarred Seattle in 1892.
Also about this, in other words
- The Nimrod of Pioneer Days
A legendary deer hunter, famous for his incredible shooting, falls ill as the city remembers his frontier exploits.