Donald Schmechel Oral History Collection
Watch oral histories with prominent figures in the Pacific Northwest including artists Jacob Lawrence and Kenneth Callahan; Governors Albert Rosellini and Dixy Lee Ray and Reverends David Colwell and Samuel McKinney.
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Jackson St. east from 5th Ave., May 30, 1968
View of Jackson Street east from 5th Avenue S. showing a variety of businesses, including Tanaka Restaurant, Takano photo studio, an appliance shop, International Realty Co., Jackson Loan Office and the Higo Variety Store. The Bush Hotel appears at the right side of the photograph.
Identifier: spl_dor_00007
Date: 1968-05-30
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Charles Odegaard Interview, 1984
Dr. Charles Odegaard (1911-1999) served as the president of the University of Washington from 1958 to 1973. Odegaard was born in Chicago Heights, Illinois. He attended Dartmouth College as an undergraduate and Harvard as a graduate student. After obtaining his PhD from Harvard, Odegaard worked as a history professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Odegaard served in the Navy during World War II. from scholar, educator and University president about his life and work. In 1953 he became dean of the University of Michigan’s College of Arts and Sciences. During his time as president at the University of Washington, the school saw unprecedented growth, going from 16,000 to 34,000 students and adding 35 new buildings to the campus.
Identifier: spl_ds_codegaard_01
Date: 1984
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Sam Smith Interview, April 28, 1988
Sam Smith (1922-1995) Smith was born in Gibsland, Louisiana. He was stationed in Seattle during World War II while serving in the Army. Following the war’s conclusion, he decided to stay in Seattle and attended Seattle University where he earned a degree in social science in 1951 and the University of Washington where he earned a degree in economics in 1952. After graduating, he began a career at Boeing. In 1958, Smith was elected to the Washington House of Representatives, becoming the third African-American to earn a seat in the State House. During his time there, he championed a bill banning discrimination in home sales and rentals based on race or religion. In 1967, Smith left the legislature to pursue a seat on the Seattle City Council. He became the first African-American to serve on the council and remained there until 1991. During this time on the city council he promoted an open housing initiative and ran for mayor four times.
Identifier: spl_ds_ssmith_01_01
Date: 1988-04-28
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Henry Kotkins Interview, July 16, 1987
Henry Kotkins was a native Seattlite, a Port of Seattle Commissioner and the founder of Skyway Luggage. Kotkins attended Garfield High School and the University of Washington. Kotkin’s father started the Seattle Suitcase, Trunk and Bag Manufacturing Company in 1910. Kotkins took over the business after his father’s death in 1936, when the Great Depression was threatening to shut it down. He turned the business around and changed the name to the Skyway Luggage Company, introducing innovations like wheeled suitcases in a variety of colors beyond black and brown. Kotkins served on the 1962 World’s Fair Committee and was a Port of Seattle Commissioner during the 1970s and 1980s. Kotkins was also a member of the Rotary Club of Seattle, the Corinthian and the Seattle Yacht Club.
Identifier: spl_ds_hkotkins_01
Date: 1987-07-16
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Madison Park, August 1996
Madison Park Beach overlooking Lake Washington, with view of the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (also known as the 520 Bridge) in the distance and partial view of the park's bathhouse.
Identifier: spl_dor_00015
Date: 1996-08
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Waterfront Street car stopped at Broad Street station, ca. 2000s
Tram number 518 stopped at the Broad Street station of the Waterfront Streetcar Line, with its barn in the background
Identifier: spl_dor_00045
Date: 2005?
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Samuel McKinney Interview, August 17, 1987
Reverend Samuel McKinney (1926-2018) was pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church for 40 years and a major leader in Seattle’s civil rights movement. McKinney was born in Flint, Michigan and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. He served in the Air Force during World War II and in 1949 graduated from Morehouse College where one of his classmates was Martin Luther King Jr. In 1952 he graduated from Colgate Rochester Divinity School and in 1953 married his wife Louise. Together the couple moved to Seattle in 1958 where McKinney became the pastor of Mt. Zion. McKinney was a tireless advocate for social and civil rights causes. He was one of the founders of the Seattle Opportunities Industrialization Center, an organization providing job training; helped start Seattle’s first black-owned bank to help community members obtain home loans after discirimation from other banks; advocated for Seattle’s fair housing act as a member of the Seattle Human Rights Commission and participated in civil rights marches and demonstrations nationwide.
Identifier: spl_ds_smckinney_01
Date: 1987-08-17
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West Seattle Bridge, August 1996
View of the West Seattle High-Rise Bridge (high bridge), which opened in 1984, and the Spokane Street Swing Bridge (low bridge), which opened in 1991 over the Duwamish River.
Identifier: spl_dor_00002
Date: 1996-08
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Webb Moffett Interview, February 9, 1986
Webb Moffett (1909-2008) was born in New York City in 1909. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York and graduated with a degree in engineering. He moved to Seattle in the 1930s where he worked as Assistant Director for the Army Corps of Engineers at the Ballard Locks. Moffett was heavily involved in developing Western Washington’s ski industry and helped to install the first tow ropes at Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker and Snoqualmie Pass. With his company Ski Lifts, Inc. he made additional improvements to Snoqualmie Pass introducing ski patrols, chair lifts, electric lighting to allow night skiing and snow grooming equipment. Moffett was inducted into the National Ski Hall of Fame in 1999.
Identifier: spl_ds_wmoffett_01
Date: 1986-02-09
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View north from Seward Park with Linda, June 26, 1960
Photograph shows view of Lake Washington from Seward Park, and Mercer Island in the background.
Identifier: spl_dor_00038
Date: 1960-06-26
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