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 |
|---|---|
| 1871 | 1 |
| 1876 | 1 |
| 1879 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 1 |
| 1893 | 10 |
| 1894 | 6 |
| 1895 | 8 |
| 1899 | 3 |
| 1903 | 5 |
| 1904 | 1 |
| 1909 | 2 |
| 1910 | 2 |
| 1917 | 1 |
49 stories matching matron
- A 14-Year-Old Vanishes Between School and the Streetcar
Katie Arper disappeared after classes in Seattle, leaving behind a Tacoma orphanage, a devoted matron, and a young man named Hopkins.
- The Struggle for a Police Matron
Seattle officials squabble over the emergency fund while debating the legal requirement to appoint a woman to oversee female prisoners.
- Driven From Home: A Mother and Three Children at the Police Station
Found drunk in a waterfront saloon with her children in tow, a 23-year-old woman told a police matron a story of beatings and of a husband at a coal camp near Palmer who cast her out with the babies.
- The Hollow Victory of Spokane's Police Matrons
A budget cut threatens the hard-won placement of women in jails, proving that 'good government' battles are never truly finished.
- The Parade Ground Is Now a Ward: A Visitor Walks the Territory's Asylum
Where the 4th Infantry once drilled to fife and drum, a correspondent finds sagging fences, two overworked keepers to a men's ward, and a lone matron holding the women's department — all on an appropriation he calls 'a shame to our people.'
- 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.
- A Troubled Night at Ninth and Tacoma
A woman experiencing a mental health crisis caused a public spectacle at a city horse trough, prompting police to intervene.
- A Public Scrutiny of the Relief Home
A club woman challenges the management and endowment of the Ladies' Relief Society home, questioning its financial transparency and restrictive admissions.
- Protecting Young Women at the Train Depots
Fearing a repeat of the 'world's fair' disappearances, the YWCA seeks city funding for station matrons.
- Midnight Intruder Strikes Children's Home
A bold burglar is interrupted by the matron of a local children's home after being found standing at the head of her bed.
- Abandoned Children Seek Help in Seattle
Three children from Everett, deserted by their father, are picked up by the police matron while begging for food in the city.
- The Great Stink of 1882
When Makah schoolgirls in Neah Bay proved to their matron that rotting whale blubber smelled better than imported Limburger cheese.
- The Grandest Affair of the Year: Knights Templar and Eastern Star Unite for New Year's Eve
Seattle’s elite gathered at Commandery No. 10 for a lavish installation ceremony, complete with Indian impersonations, sword presentations, and a feast that lasted until dawn.
- The Lost Woman of Van Asselt
A respectable woman vanishes into the woods, only to reappear at police headquarters armed and in crisis.
- The Sawdust in Your Spice Cabinet
A Seattle newspaper exposé from 1888 reveals that the city's food supply was being systemically poisoned by greed, with sawdust in spices and grease in butter.
- The Kidnapping of the Kerr Child: A Battle for Custody and Morality
Charles L. Kerr and his new wife Viola Bell Thorndyke are accused of snatching an infant from a boat in Seattle, sparking a legal war over whether the child will be raised by her father or placed in a home deemed 'proper.'
- The Abandoned Infant on Third Street
An April Fool's Day prank turns somber when a prominent Seattle real estate developer finds a newborn left on his doorstep.
- The Tragic Death of an Infant and a Doctor's Arrest
A Seattle coroner’s jury implicates a local doctor following the discovery of a dead infant at a Madison Street residence.
- The Girl Who Didn't Come Back: Katie Hackworth's Vanishing
A 14-year-old Seattle girl disappears after leaving a Tacoma children's home, and the adults around her offer denials, rumors, and a promise that she is 'all right.'
- The Battle Over the Old Soldiers’ Home
Grand Army veterans accuse the home’s board of planting a hired engineer and laundress to force out Commandant S. E. Street—and they want a judge to rule on the ouster.
- Tacoma Contractor Held in Child Abuse Case
A prominent contractor faces serious charges after authorities allege he lured vulnerable girls to his home with candy and money.
- The Tragedy and Redemption of Alice Cady
After a young woman fled to Seattle to escape scandal, her father and lover reunited with her to formalize their bond.
- The Klondike Nightmare: A Millionaire’s Niece Returns Broken
After chasing gold in the frozen north, a woman with family connections to Chicago wealth returns to Seattle penniless and ruined in health, offering a grim warning to other hopeful prospectors.
- A Coxey Marcher's Family Left Destitute in Seattle
Two barefoot girls beg police for food after their father joins the industrial army marching on Washington and their mother is left unable to work.
- The Sad Case of Eight-Year-Old Albert
A young boy, orphaned and abandoned by his father, is sentenced to reform school for petty theft.
Also about this, in other words
- Harness Maker’s Mysterious Disappearance Leaves Family Destitute
After vanishing with his life savings, a local craftsman resurfaced in San Francisco claiming total amnesia, fueling rumors of foul play.
- The Social Climber and the Boarding-House Landlady
When an imposter claiming aristocratic ties tried to swindle a respectable family at a Seattle party, an uninvited cousin from Albany arrived to set the record straight.
- The Underground Prison Ring
Warden Catron uncovers a secret society of convicts at the Walla Walla prison, suspected of plotting to smuggle in opium.
- The Persistent Mailbox Bandit of the Pacific Coast
Mortimer Fox, a serial forger and letter-box thief, faces three years at hard labor after his final spree targeting Seattle businesses.
- The Maid of Honour, Nine Years Later
Anna Peterson stood at Myron Spath's first wedding. Now she came to Newport to marry the groom herself — and he failed to arrive.
- A Tragic End at K and 11th
A Tacoma carpenter, struggling with alcoholism and personal despair, takes his own life.