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79 stories matching recess
- A Gavel, a Roar, and a Populist Ticket Born in Chaos
King County's People's Party convention at Turner Hall turned into a shouting, proxy-fighting, faction-splitting marathon—and buried Dr. J. Eugene Jordan and Jack McDonald on the way to nominating a ticket.
- 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 Statehouse Recesses—and an Impeachment Trial Waits
Lawmakers adjourn until August 11 to try Insurance Commissioner J.H. Schively on 26 counts, capping a special session that cost $117,984 and spawned investigations of the Supreme Court and a 'Nurses' Trust Bill.'
- 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.
- The Professor, the President, and the Champagne College Deal
A legislative investigation at Pullman exposes secret opposition, abandoned building plans, and site-selection hospitality that included brass bands and champagne.
- The Man Who Bought the Territory: Miles C. Moore’s Rise to Governor
From a Walla Walla bookstore clerk to the head of Washington Territory, Miles C. Moore’s appointment signals a shift in power from Seattle’s elite to Eastern Washington’s business barons.
- The Anti-Ring Republicans Meet—and One Calls Them 'Suckers'
A Fifth Ward reform club gathers at the Masonic Temple to denounce the city machine, but a member warns the 'ring' has a big sack and is well organized.
- The Legislature’s Endgame: Normal Schools Funded, a Central Board Killed
With ten days left, Washington lawmakers passed money for Cheney and Whatcom normal schools, killed a plan to consolidate state institutions, and left Cascade railroad routes in doubt.
- The Midnight Coup at City Hall
A bloodless revolution unfolds as the board of aldermen attempts to oust Acting Mayor Sweeney over a dispute regarding legalized gambling.
- The Night Federal Agents Made Chinatown Show Its Papers
A certificate sweep through Wa Chong’s rooms broke up card games and opium pipes and netted one man accused of lying in a deportation case.
- The Streets Seattle Was About to Give Away
A city council committee votes to vacate waterfront streets south of Charles Street, and the city engineer warns that private tide-land leases could cut Seattle off from deep water.
- The Northern Hotel Shooting: A Gambler’s Self-Defense Trial
Paul J. Page stands trial for killing Harry Fraser over a dice game at the Northern Hotel, while his lawyers drag the dead man’s gambling life into court.
- The Riotous Mock Legislature of 1886
A railroad-backed lobby, frustrated by their political losses at the Olympia legislative session, staged a rowdy mock government to harass and demean King County representatives.
- Washington's Fourth Legislature Adjourns After a Marathon Final Day
Lawmakers pass 53 bills, defeat a school-book trust, kill a Seattle-Tacoma bridewell, and bury woman suffrage for at least two years.
- Tragedy at the Puyallup Indian School
A young student is killed in a firearm accident during a gathering on the reservation.
- Benton County's Courthouse Fight Turns Into a Four-Commissioner Circus
A newly elected commissioner is kept waiting, a courthouse contract is let in defiance of a court order, and $125,000 in bonds leave just $1,362 for furnishings.
- The Secret Lunch of the Frugal Merchant
A chance encounter in a 'tough' neighborhood restaurant reveals the hidden economic anxieties of Seattle's business class during a local recession.
- The 175-Pound Ghost That Fought Back
A skeptic grabbed a séance spirit, discovered a 175-pound man under the gauze, and touched off a fistfight in a Fremont parlor.
- The Smuggler's Shield: How a Seattle Customs Chief Defended Himself in Tacoma
In the height of the 1888 opium smuggling scandal, Chief Inspector Gardner takes the stand in Tacoma, claiming he was set up by political rivals to cover his own failures.
- The Judge Who Lobbied for the Church
A scathing critique of Washington Territorial Judge Roger B. Greene, accused of using his office to force tax exemptions for church property through a back-door deal.
- The Acquittal of John Williams
A jury exonerates a man accused of killing William Lockenfritz, accepting a plea of self-defense.
- A Midnight Council Fight Over Rails, Rubbish and Residency
Newport's council spent a long May evening weighing a railroad franchise, ordering alleys cleaned, and questioning whether one of its own members actually lived in town.
- The Rowdy Election of 1872: When Seattle Politics Was a Bare-Knuckle Brawl
A stormy Republican County Convention in 1872 exposes the messy, insider-heavy machinery behind early Seattle's local government.
- Seattle Women Storm the Hospital Board—and Split Over How to Do It
At First Presbyterian Church, fifty women formed an auxiliary to Seattle General Hospital, but not before one faction insisted they should sit on the board as equals, not as a separate ladies' society.
- The Mayor's Boast and the City's Quiet Grumbling
Mayor Hartley claims he could easily win re-election, but labor organizers and local residents aren't buying the bravado after a year of utility rate complaints and industrial inaction.
Also about this, in other words
- A Musical Interruption in Hover
An account of a brief performance by two Black entertainers at a local schoolhouse, filtered through the era's jarring racial language.
- Summer Recess at the Puyallup Industrial School
The government-run school shifts operations as it manages land sales and student housing expansions.
- Smallpox in the Jury Box: Court Shut Down by a Newport Man's Illness
A five-day lumber trial in Colville collapses when George Perkins is diagnosed with smallpox, sending jurors home and raising fears the disease will spread across Stevens County.
- The High-Stakes Battle to Shut Down Racetrack Gambling
Legislators strip the emergency clause from the anti-racetrack bill, threatening to delay the ban on gambling at the Meadows during the upcoming exposition.
- The Colonel and the Dog Catcher
A Democratic campaign rally ends in chilly indifference, punctuated by a bit of slapstick oratory.
- City Council Faces Voter Backlash
Everett council members are accused of ignoring neighborhood ward clubs and killing a streetcar ordinance, a move that may seal their political fate.
- The Shadow Cabinet of the Tacoma Railway & Power Company
A critical report on corporate influence over municipal government and the 'nose counting' of city officials.
- A Judicial Attempt at Reconciliation
In a divorce proceeding, a local judge steps outside the bounds of the bench to urge a feuding couple to try again.