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| Year | Stories |
|---|---|
| 1854 | 1 |
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| 1872 | 2 |
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161 stories matching lectur
- The Corset Clerk's Nightmare: A Beaver Dam Prank Gone Wrong
In a tale of mistaken identity and trembling knees, a young man’s attempt to escort a famous lecturer ends in panic when he is led to believe he must be measured for lingerie.
- The Science of Life Comes to the Coal Mines
When a traveling medical lecturer visited the coal town of Newcastle in 1877, the entire community turned out to witness a performance that mixed professional medical advice with public heckling of the town's elite.
- The First Teachers’ Institute: A Battle for Seattle’s Soul
In September 1872, the Territory’s top educators gathered in Seattle to debate everything from corporal punishment to the role of women in teaching, laying the groundwork for public education in Washington.
- The Celebrity Circuit of 1876
Before podcasts and TED Talks, the American lecture circuit was the ultimate stage for the era’s 'influencers'—and the money was surprisingly high.
- Debs’s Defense Tour Reaches Seattle as the Railroad Union Fights On
A convicted strike leader says the American Railway Union is alive, announces a Eugene V. Debs lecture, and predicts the courts will reverse the contempt convictions.
- The Anti-Mason Preacher Who Had Been Initiated Himself
Rev. P. B. Williams told a Seattle Lutheran crowd that secret societies were draining churches and breaking up homes. Pressed on his own Masonic past, he reluctantly admitted he had joined a 'clandestine lodge' in Chicago.
- Henry George’s Disciple Draws a Crowd in Seattle
Louis F. Post, a leading advocate for the single-tax movement, captivated a Seattle audience with a lecture on land value and tax reform.
- The Anti-Catholic Lecturer Who Skipped Town
A visiting lecturer left Tacoma without paying his hall rent, highlighting the messy intersection of political agitation and private debt.
- A Temperance Firebrand Comes to the Tabernacle
Mrs. J. C. Stone brings wit, sarcasm, and a stinging critique of men's monopoly on citizenship to a packed Baptist tabernacle.
- The Hatchet-Wielding Cook Who Saved Her Pastor
An Episcopal clergyman’s tendency to deliver fiery lectures almost led to a bloody end until his cook intervened with a carving knife.
- A Dead Explorer's Lantern Slides: Alaska Comes to the Seattle Theater
J. O. Hestwood recounts the Yukon route, the Grand Canyon rapids and the cost of the northern gold fields, illustrating the journey of the late explorer Wilson with views projected on the screen.
- Railroad Blunder Leaves Fifty Stranded at Pullman
A college lecture and track meet left dozens of visitors without a ride home after a train company skipped the scheduled late-night pickup.
- The Drunk, The Lecturer, and The Law in Walla Walla
A local drinker makes a fool of a traveling quack in a public square, leading to a trial that turns into a town comedy.
- The Reverend’s Unholy Reputation
A former San Francisco pastor arrives in Washington to lecture on 'morality' while dodging local rumors of scandalous affairs.
- Two Famous Authors on Tour — and Haweis Fires His First Shot at Ingersoll in Seattle
The Rev. H. R. Haweis and the explorer George Kennan lecture to overflow crowds at St. Mark's and the Seattle Theater, but the city gets a piece of history: Haweis's reply to the great agnostic was written here, in two days, at a local minister's suggestion.
- The Eccentric Professor: A Man of Culture Lost in the Streets
An itinerant lecturer with 'peculiarities' captivates Seattle crowds, leaving locals to wonder if he is a genius or just mad.
- A Temperance Advocate Visits Snohomish
A visiting orator delivers a lecture on the virtues of the Olive Leaf Lodge, aiming to steer local young men away from the 'pernicious habits' of whisky.
- Too Wet for the Dry Crusade: Tacoma Boycotts Francis Murphy
The celebrated temperance lecturer came back to Tacoma to find the Tabernacle locked against him—because he preached gospel temperance instead of prohibition.
- The $5,000 Wager That Sent a Man Around the World With Nothing
Paul Jones reaches Seattle with $300 left to earn, a paper suit on his back, and a Boston bet that has already carried him through Japan and the Suez Canal.
- A Critique of Democracy in Seattle
A visiting labor expert suggests that even the best reform movements are destined to repeat the failures of those they replace.
- The Bread and Water Diet
An Olympia man decides to test a traveling lecturer's advice on eating, but his wife has the final say.
- The 'White Slavery' Panic: A Lecture That Shocked the Tri-Cities
In April 1914, a visiting reverend used sensationalized rhetoric to warn Kennewick residents about the dangers of moral corruption, reflecting the era's intense anxiety over women's safety and autonomy.
- The Intellectual Life of Old Seattle
Before the University of Washington became a sprawling research giant, its faculty and students spent their terms reading Virgil, hosting public lectures on modern civilization, and balancing academic rigor with rowing, military drills, and long walks on the beach.
- The Sermon of Science in Snohomish
A local lecture series bridges the gap between theology and natural history, framing evolution not as a conflict with the divine, but as the 'eternal reign of law.'
- Debs Comes to Seattle, Fresh From Jail, and Tells the Crowd How He Got Six Months
A thousand workingmen meet the Pullman strike leader at the boat landing, march him through town, and pack the Seattle theater to hear him name the real conspirators.
Also about this, in other words
- The Price of a Bride
A Spokane man seeks a wife who meets very specific, old-fashioned criteria to claim a $30,000 legacy.