Research the archive
Narrow 27,002 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 |
|---|---|
| 1877 | 2 |
| 1878 | 1 |
| 1880 | 1 |
| 1882 | 1 |
| 1883 | 1 |
| 1885 | 1 |
| 1888 | 3 |
| 1889 | 3 |
| 1891 | 3 |
| 1892 | 4 |
| 1893 | 3 |
| 1894 | 3 |
| 1895 | 1 |
| 1898 | 1 |
| 1899 | 1 |
| 1902 | 1 |
| 1903 | 2 |
| 1904 | 5 |
| 1909 | 6 |
43 stories matching vagranc
- The Vagrancy Trap: A Precedent for Exclusion
A Marysville judge shuts down jury trials for those accused of vagrancy, empowering local police to forcibly remove 'bad characters' from the city.
- Vagrancy Arrests Punished by Public Works
Two men arrested for panhandling after running out of money during the Fourth of July celebration are sentenced to five days of street cleaning.
- Legal Troubles and Domestic Strife in Tacoma
A Chinese missionary arrested under the Geary Act and a father's charge of vagrancy against his daughter.
- A Mother's Sorrow at the City Jail
A woman travels from Spokane to Seattle to reunite with her son, only to find him imprisoned for vagrancy.
- Vagrancy Charges Used to Clear Neighborhood
Two women are jailed and ordered out of town following complaints from the garrison neighborhood.
- The Unwelcome Guest of Old Town
A Norwegian immigrant facing vagrancy charges finds himself sentenced to the street-sweeping squad.
- Two Women Jailed for an 'Unsavory' House That Drew Troopers After Dark
Mrs. Jack Smith and a woman named Griggs received three months in the county jail for vagrancy, with the specific charge tied to an unsavory establishment on the military reservation and complaints from neighbors.
- The Self-Appointed Reformer of Tacoma
A man claiming divine orders to improve the city is sentenced to 30 days in jail for vagrancy after repeated police interference.
- Policing the City's Morals
A look inside the 1893 police report shows a city grappling with 'disorderly conduct,' 'vagrancy,' and a scandal involving an officer accused of vote-buying.
- The Trial of Harry Bray
A vagrancy trial before Justice Cann leads to a hung jury and reveals the tense atmosphere of Washington Street.
- The Tragedy of the 'Professional Beggar'
A man sentenced to three months in the county jail for vagrancy writes a desperate letter from his cell, claiming he is dying and pleading for the bail money he cannot afford.
- Seattle's Vagrancy Sweep: Work, Leave Town, or Jail
A late-night police roundup netted more than thirty tramps, beggars, and tinhorn gamblers, who were given a lecture and a three-way choice: work, leave town, or jail.
- The Judge Who Stood Up to the Police
When an officer attempted to criminalize poverty, a Seattle judge refused to play along.
- Police Target Women in Walla Walla Morality Crackdown
Two young women are arrested for vagrancy as part of an ongoing campaign to police 'disreputable' behavior in the city.
- The Vagrant Preacher: An Elderly Man’s Desperate Plea for Dignity in Spokane
Paul Hoffman, a German Lutheran minister turned job-seeker, was arrested for vagrancy after collecting donations from churchgoers. In his cell, he wept as he recounted his fall from grace.
- The 'Messenger' Drug Ring Exposed
Detectives charge that a Tacoma messenger service was a front for a widespread cocaine and morphine trafficking operation.
- Vagrancy Laws and the Expulsion of 'Undesirables'
Two women appearing in police court are fined and banished from the city under the guise of public morals.
- The 'Grafter' of Seattle
A man’s admission of his profession in court highlights the early Seattle obsession with the city’s burgeoning reputation for civic corruption.
- The Vagrant and the 'Iron Jewelry'
A petty theft on the Duwamish River lands a drifter in a Seattle jail, where he must trade his freedom for hard labor.
- The Vagabond Fortune-Teller: Seattle Arrests 'Madame Malla' for the Crime of Telling Futures
In May 1877, the city’s law enforcement decided that predicting the future was a crime against public order. They dragged 'Madame Malla' from her shop, citing vagrancy, despite her having done nothing but read palms.
- The War on the Free Lunch
A Tacoma councilman moves to abolish the staple of the working-class saloon, calling it a magnet for vagrancy.
- The Boodle Battle: Political Corruption and Vagrancy in Tacoma
As local politicians fight for control of city offices, Tacoma's Populists take aim at 'boodlers' and the importation of vagrants to influence local elections.
- Hunger and Petty Theft at the Packing House
Two young boys admit to raiding a refrigerator car, offering a glimpse into the desperate poverty of the city's youth.
- The Vagrancy Question in Ritzville
Business owners and locals grow increasingly hostile toward transients passing through on the railroad.
- The Search for 'Handsome Harry'
A classic bit of local crime reporting reveals a clash between Seattle's police and the era's self-styled 'toughs' in 1889.