Research the archive
Narrow 22,457 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 |
|---|---|
| 1862 | 3 |
| 1872 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1877 | 4 |
| 1878 | 7 |
| 1880 | 9 |
| 1883 | 8 |
| 1884 | 1 |
| 1885 | 4 |
| 1886 | 3 |
| 1888 | 4 |
| 1889 | 9 |
| 1890 | 2 |
| 1891 | 9 |
| 1892 | 18 |
| 1893 | 11 |
| 1894 | 20 |
| 1895 | 8 |
| 1903 | 1 |
| 1907 | 1 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1916 | 1 |
127 stories matching libel
- A Newspaper Editor's Silence in Court: The Lugrin Libel Trial
C. H. Lugrin, managing editor of the Seattle Telegraph, rested his defense without calling witnesses in a libel trial brought by Police Chief Rogers. The case now goes to the jury.
- The Man Who Crushed His Hand: A Seaman’s $3,000 Fight for Justice in Seattle
In the early days of Washington Territory, a sailor named Robert Johnson sued a ship’s captain and his vessel after a workplace accident left him permanently disabled. It was one of the first major labor lawsuits heard in the new federal court.
- The Newspaper War of 1878
Before the digital age, Seattle's editors fought their battles in court and print, trading accusations of corruption and forgery.
- The Preacher, the Presiding Elder, and the Typewritten Screed
An obscure minister accuses a Methodist leader of seduction and embezzlement, setting off a Seattle church scandal and a criminal-libel warrant.
- A Sailor's Crushed Hand and the Ship That Had to Answer for It
A seaman's right hand was crushed aboard the bark Cambridge at Port Blakely. He sued in Seattle for unpaid wages and $5,000 in damages, dragging the vessel into federal court.
- The Editor, the Chief, and the Libel He Could Not Prove
Seattle’s police chief wins a criminal libel case after the Telegraph’s promised corruption evidence never materializes.
- Sailors Sue the Ship Challenger Over Abuse at Sea
Eight sailors sue for wages and damages after allegedly being beaten with clubs and belaying pins during a voyage from Philadelphia to Tacoma.
- Crew Files Admiralty Suit Against Ship Challenger
Sailors sue the captain and officers of a vessel arriving in Tacoma for systemic physical abuse, including beatings with clubs and belaying pins.
- Crew of Steamer Idaho Sues for Unpaid Wages
Fourteen mariners file a federal libel suit against their own vessel, alleging the ship's owners failed to pay their wages.
- The Ballad of Mrs. Mattie: A Seattle Streetcar Scandal
When a drunken motorman tried to force his way into a woman's streetcar car, the resulting courtroom drama exposed the raw power dynamics of early Seattle transit—and left the defendant claiming he was libelled by the press.
- A Seattle Editor's Jail Sentence—and His Gallows Joke
C. H. Lugrin of the Telegram got three months and a $500 fine for criminal libel against Police Chief Bolton Rogers. He appealed—and joked that the judge couldn't hang him.
- The Pastor, the Circular, and the Hung Jury
For three days a Seattle courtroom heard accusations of adultery, an illegitimate son, and a pastor’s libelous circular. At 12:35 a.m., the jury was still deadlocked.
- A Crippling Debt: The Maritime Fight for Justice
After a seaman's hand was crushed working on the bark Cambridge, a legal battle for unpaid wages and damages unfolds in the Seattle District Court.
- The Crew of the 'Tidal Wave' Strikes for Back Pay
After the American bark 'Tidal Wave' terminated its voyage at Port Madison, fourteen sailors filed a legal action against the ship's owners to recover unpaid wages, lodging, and return expenses.
- Three Barks, a Yesler Mortgage, and a Race to the Courthouse Door
A federal judge ordered the Tidal Wave, Northwest and Vidette sold to satisfy a mortgage from Henry Yesler's estate. Hours later, unpaid suppliers slapped liens on the hulls — raising a question in admiralty law no court here had faced.
- The Night the Hue Jacket Struck the Tacoma
A federal admiralty complaint lays out a Strait of Juan de Fuca collision, a missing lookout, and a $15,000 claim against a square-rigged ship.
- The Wild West of Washington Journalism
When the courts declared they had no power to punish libel, Seattle editors went to war with their pens—and their reputations.
- The Herald’s Legal Victory
A landmark criminal libel trial in Aberdeen concludes with an acquittal, sparking a debate over the role of the press in public accountability.
- A Candidate for Governor Sues Two Seattle Papers for $100,000 Each
Henry J. Snively says the Post-Intelligencer and Press-Times libeled his West Virginia record in the final days of the 1892 campaign.
- The Whistleblower Who Won
A Seattle man is acquitted of criminal libel for writing a letter warning labor organizers against a corrupt local official.
- Sloop Louisa Seized in 1891 Over Accusation of Landing Chinese Workers
Federal authorities seize a vessel in Elliott Bay for the alleged smuggling of Chinese laborers in violation of federal restriction acts.
- A Church Scandal Erupts in a Seattle Libel Trial
M. H. Nichols stood accused of criminally libeling Presiding Elder T. B. Ford. The defense spent the day trading rumors, old grudges, and one complaint about the prosecutor's booming voice.
- Seventeen Hours in the Jury Room, Then 'Guilty'
Rev. M. H. Nichols is convicted of criminally libeling Rev. T. B. Ford after an all-night jury fight; his lawyers promise a new trial.
- The Rotten Beef Scandal of 1872
When a local market was accused of selling diseased meat, the ensuing war of words revealed the thin line between journalism and extortion in early Seattle.
- The Puppet Editor's Expensive Betrayal
A cautionary tale of a local 'figurehead' editor who was used by power brokers to spread libel, only to be abandoned when the lawsuits started arriving.